Pride and guilt

In middle childhood, the self conscious emotions of pride and guilt start to become more clearly governed by personal responsibility. Children are now able to experience pride in new accomplishments, but may also experience guilt over doing something wrong, even when no adult is present to tell them off.

A sense of pride can motivate children to take on further challenges, whereas guilt can encourage them to strive for self-improvement.

If however, children are criticised harshly or insensitively by adults, for example "everyone else can do it why can’t you?" this can lead to feelings of intense shame which can have subsequent negative implications for self-esteem.