Write to Discuss

Recall and write about a teacher who showed you that you “mattered.”

How did you know? How did he/she show you that?

Mattering Theory

Kevin Moberg

PSYC 353: Adolescent PsychologyJune 20, 2008

“To be of importance to others is to be alive.” – T. S. Eliot

Agenda

• Review and discuss major concepts of Mattering Theory

• Apply those concepts to your own experiences

• Apply those concepts to your work as a teacher

Mattering Defined

• Fundamental need that we have to feel important and significant to others

• Extent to which we make a difference in the world around us

• To whom and to what degree we perceive that we matter

Mattering Theory

►Definition

Assumptions

Implications

Assumptions

• Humans need to matter—it’s not merely a nice perk of social living but is instead a fundamental component of our self-identity.

• Society, too, needs humans to matter—social bonding and interdependence depend on our wanting to matter to one another.

Mattering Theory

Definition

►Assumptions

Implications

Discuss

• Why does society depend on our feeling as though we matter?

• Why would a school community depend on its members’ feeling as though they matter?

Mattering Theory

Definition

►Assumptions

Implications

Not Mattering

• If we don’t notice, believe, or receive indicators from others that we matter

• Consequence we must find or create ways to cope with the realization that we do not matter

• Even negative attention is preferable to no attention whatsoever.

Mattering Theory

Definition

Assumptions

►Implications

Not Mattering

• “Shunning” in US military academies

• Ignoring others of a lower social class

• What are other examples?• What are potential reactions by

those receiving no attention?– Internalized reactions– Outward reactions

Mattering Theory

Definition

Assumptions

►Implications

Types of Mattering

• General (Awareness– mattering in

a broad sense to society

• Interpersonal (Relationship)– mattering to

specific other people

Types of Mattering

Awareness

Relationship

Importance

Reliance

Authenticity

Mattering

Relationship Awareness

Importance Reliance

Awareness

• We matter if others recognize, acknowledge, and pay attention to us.

• Negative attention is better than no attention at all.

• What are examples of ways to obtain others’ attention– in a positive way?– in a negative way?

Types of Mattering

►Awareness

Relationship

Importance

Reliance

Authenticity

Relationship—Importance

• We matter if others are interested in, concerned about, and invested in us.

• We matter if we are someone’s “ego extension”—if they take pride in our accomplishments and feel shame over our shortcomings.

Types of Mattering

Awareness

►Relationship

►Importance

Reliance

Authenticity

Relationship—Reliance

• We matter if others depend on us for resources for their needs or wants.

• What are the benefits of this reliance for– the person being depended

upon?– the person doing the

depending?

Types of Mattering

Awareness

►Relationship

Importance

►Reliance

Authenticity

Genuine Mattering

• When others attend to, care about, or rely on us as an end unto itself—not as a means to gain something for themselves

• Insincerity: “I will pretend that you matter to me because [insert potential benefit to me].”

• What examples from a school setting can you think of?

Types of Mattering

Awareness

Relationship

Importance

Reliance

►Authenticity

Positive Relationship

Mattering and• Self-esteem—evaluation of

our own attributes• Self-monitoring—control of

self-representations that we put forth every day

• Social support—resources that others provide us to aid us in our lives

Relating Other Constructs

►Positive relationship

Negative relationship

Connections

Discuss

Why might you expect a sense of mattering in someone who has

• healthy self-esteem?• control of his/her self-

representation?• strong social support?

Relating Other Constructs

►Positive relationship

Negative relationship

Connections

Negative Relationship

Mattering and• Self-consciousness—chronic

tendency to be the object of our own attention

• Alienation– Meaninglessness—thinking that

there are no rules for life, so social interactions are unpredictable

– Normlessness—thinking that social rules are ineffective and should be broken

Relating Other Constructs

Positive relationship

►Negative relationship

Connections

Discuss

Why might you expect a low sense of mattering in someone who has

• high self-consciousness?• a sense of meaninglessness?• a sense of normlessness?

Relating Other Constructs

Positive relationship

►Negative relationship

Connections

Connections

Mattering to others • High self-concept• High self-significance• Physical wellness• Psychosocial well-being• Social support• Job satisfaction

Relating Other Constructs

Positive relationship

Negative relationship

►Connections

Connections

Not mattering to others • Depression• Loneliness• Academic stress• Job-related stress• Deviant behavior

Relating Other Constructs

Positive relationship

Negative relationship

►Connections

Mattering as a Teacher

• We feel we matter to those whom we help.– Sense of mattering brings meaning

and satisfaction to our work.

• How will you tend to your own sense of mattering when– selecting a teaching job?– interacting with colleagues?– teaching students?

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

►With yourself

With your students

With this course

Mattering as a Student

• Students whom we help feel they matter to us.– Sense of mattering leads to

confidence, persistence, graduation, dedication, success, etc.

• How will you tend to your students’ sense of mattering when– interacting with them

• in the classroom?• outside the classroom?

– responding to their behavior?

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

►With your students

With this course

Expressing How Others Matter• The perception of mattering

—a sense of social support—is what’s important.

• Others’ indicators that we matter won’t mean anything unless we notice those indicators.

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

►With your students

With this course

Discuss

In your role as a teacher meaning to communicate to a student that he/she matters, how might you do so– verbally?– non-verbally?

How can you check that he/she has noticed your verbal or non-verbal indicators?

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

►With your students

With this course

Students’ Differing Needs

More study required:• Age• Sex• Ethnicity• Socioeconomic background• Sexual orientation• Family structure

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

►With your students

With this course

Key Concepts in Mattering

• Attention—the sense that we are noticed

• Importance—the belief that what we say or do has importance

• Ego extension—the feeling that others will be proud or disappointed in us

• Dependence—the sense that someone is counting on us

• Appreciation—the view that our efforts are appreciated

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

With your students

►With this course

Discuss

Return to your writing from the beginning of class.

• How can you interpret your experience with that teacher through the “lens” of mattering theory?

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

With your students

►With this course

Assignment

See our course page on iMoberg.com for assignments:– On-line discussion– Reading– Writing

Putting Mattering Theory into Practice

With yourself

With your students

►With this course