Transcript Identity: Asking "Who Am I?"

CHAPTER 12
SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE
Learning Objectives
IDENTITY:
ASKING “WHO AM I?”
Identity: Asking "Who Am I?"
• Self consciousness takes center stage
• WHY?
– More like adults intellectually
– More like adults physically
Self Concept: What Am I Like?
View broadens
• One's own assessment of who they are
• Others' views
More organized and coherent
• View self in terms of traits and multiple aspects
Self-esteem: How Do I Like Myself?
Knowing who you are and liking who you are two
different things
• Although adolescents increasingly accurate in
understanding who they are, this knowledge does not
guarantee that they like themselves any better
• Increasingly accurate in understanding self
• Influenced by gender and SES
Identity Formation: Change or Crisis?
Identity Formation: Crisis or Change?
Identity-Versus-Identity Confusion Stage
•Identity = appropriate identity that sets foundation for
future psychosocial development
•Confusion = sense of self is "diffuse“ with adoption of
socially unacceptable roles
Erikson's Stages
Societal Pressures and Reliance on Friends
and Peers
Societal pressures high during identity versus identity
confusion stage
• Difficult choices about future plans
• Gender differences
Erikson: Identity versus Confusion
Psychological moratorium
• Experimentation period
– Probably no lasting, negative psychological affects
– Some benefits
Limitations of Erikson's Theory
• Male identity development used as standard against
which to compare female identity
Marcia's Approach to Identity Development:
Updating Erikson
Marcia's Approach to Identity Development
Religion and Spirituality
• Questions of religion and spirituality begin to be asked
during adolescence
• Increasing cognitive abilities facilitate more abstract
thinking about religious matters
• Adolescents begin to develop core set of beliefs and
values
Religion and Spirituality
Fowler's stages of understanding and practice of faith
and spirituality
• Childhood
– Fairly literal view of God and biblical figures
• Adolescence
– Individuative-reflective stage of faith with possible
multiple views of God
• Adulthood
– Conjunctive stage which includes broad, inclusive
view of religion and humanity
Identity, Race and Ethnicity
• Cultural assimilation model
• Pluralistic society model
• Bicultural identity
Bicultural Identity in the US
Figure 12-1 Bicultural Identity in the United States
The number of Americans who identified themselves as belonging to
more than one race grew substantially between 2000 and 2010. Almost
10 percent report belonging to three or more races.
(Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011.)
Psychological Difficulties in Adolescence
Gender Differences in Depression
• Higher incidence among girls than boys
• Stress more pronounced for girls due to many,
sometimes conflicting demands of traditional female
gender role
Adolescent Suicide
Rate
• Triples in last 30 years
• One teen suicide every 90 minutes; 12.2 suicides per
100,000 adolescents
• Cluster suicide
Gender
• Success higher in boys; attempts higher in girls
What contributes most to the increased suicide
rate among US adolescents today?
Adolescent Difficulties
Family, peer
relationships, and
self-esteem problems
were most often
mentioned by
adolescents
contemplating
suicide, according to
a review of phone
calls to a telephone
help line.
(Source: Based on
Boehm & Campbell,
1995.)
Warning Signs
Direct or indirect talk
School difficulties
Making arrangements as if preparing for long trip
Writing a will
Changes in eating habits
General depression
Dramatic behavior changes
Preoccupation with death
How Can You Help?
• Take 5 minutes to brainstorm about ways you might help
a friend you believe is at risk for suicide.
• Find a class partner/group to share your ideas.
• Identify the top three suggestions in your group.
• Share your suggestions with the class.
Adolescent Suicide: How to Help
• Listen without judging
• Talk specifically about suicidal thoughts
• Evaluate the situation, trying to distinguish between
general upset and more serious danger
• Be supportive, let the person know you care
• Take charge of finding help
Adolescent Suicide: How to Help
• Make the environment safe
• Do not keep suicide talk or threats secret
• Do not challenge, dare, or use verbal shock treatment
• Make a contract with the person
• Don't be overly reassured by a sudden improvement of
mood
For immediate help with a suicide-related
problem, call:
(800) 784-2433
or
(800) 621-4000,
national hotlines staffed with trained
counselors
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Self-concept during adolescence grows more ____ as
the view of the self becomes more ____, broader, and
more ____, and takes account of the views of ____.
• Self-esteem, too, grows increasingly differentiated as
the adolescent develops the ability to place different
____ on different ____ of the self.
• Both Erikson's ____ ____ ____ ____ stage and
Marcia's four ____ statuses focus on the adolescent's
struggle to determine an identity and a ____ in society.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• One of the dangers that adolescents face is
____, which affects girls more than boys.
• ____ is the third most common cause of death
among 15- to 24-year-olds.
Review and Apply
APPLY
• What are some consequences of the shift from
reliance on adults to reliance on peers? Are
there advantages? Dangers?
RELATIONSHIPS: FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Family Ties: Changing Relations with Relations
• Parental views questioned
• Role shifts
• Cultural factors
The Quest for Autonomy
Adolescents increasingly seek autonomy,
independence and a sense of control
• Primary developmental task
• Grows gradually over course of adolescence
• Consists of changes in relational symmetry
Changing View of Parents
As adolescents become older, they come to perceive their parents in
less idealized terms and more as individuals. What effect is this
likely to have on family relations?
(Source: Based on Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986.)
Culture and Autonomy
• Cultural and gender factors play an important role
– Western societies
– Asian societies
• Adolescents from different cultural backgrounds also
vary in degree of felt family obligation
• In general, male adolescents are permitted more
autonomy at earlier age than female adolescents
Family Obligations
Adolescents from
Asian and Latin
American groups
feel a greater
sense of respect
and obligation
toward their
families than those
adolescents with
European
backgrounds.
(Source: Fulgini,
Tseng, & Lam,
1999.)
The Myth of the Generation Gap
Generation gap
• Social, political, and religious issues
• Dress, music, friends
• Difference in values and attitudes between teens is
greater than the difference between parent and teen
What's the Problem?
Conflicts with Parents
• Primary issues
• Cultural differences
What do you think the main issues are?
Time Spent by Adolescents with Parents
Relationships with Peers:
The Importance of Belonging
Peer relationships
• Critical during adolescence
• Provide opportunity for social comparison and
information
Reference groups
Cliques and Crowds: Belonging to a Group
• Cliques
• Crowds
• Sex cleavage
Race Segregation:
The Great Divide of Adolescence
• Adolescents of different ethnicities and races interact very
little
• Adolescents who interact regularly and extensively with those
of different races earlier in their lives are more likely to have
friends of different races
• Schools that actively promote contact among members of
different ethnicities in classes help create an environment in
which cross-race friendships can flourish
• More generally, cross-group friendships promote more
positive intergroup attitudes
Why does racial and ethnic segregation often
exist, even in schools that have been
desegregated for some time?
Popularity and Rejection
Adolescent social world is complex
• High status categories
• Low status categories
The Social World of Adolescence
• An adolescent's popularity can fall into one of four
categories, depending on the opinions of his or her peers
• Popularity is related to differences in status, behavior
and adjustment
What determines status in high school?
Conformity: Peer Pressure in Adolescence
Susceptibility and conformity
• Few empirical studies
Brown how much pressure peers exerted
• Overall perception
• Gender differences
• Kinds of peer pressure
Juvenile Delinquency:
Crimes of Adolescence
Who are they?
• Undersocialized delinquents
• Socialized delinquents
R U Friends 4 Real?: Are Digital Communications
Changing Teenagers’ Friendships?
Adolescents are missing out on the kinds of connections that help
them to learn social cues, nuanced emotional expressions, and
nonverbal communication such as body language and facial
expressions
•Adolescents’ mode of communication is rapidly changing
•Communication is less personal, and emotion and other nuances of
conversations are more difficult to convey
Pew Research Center
•Text messaging has overtaken every other form of interaction between
teenagers
•Social networking rivals face-to-face conversations in popularity
•Sexting
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• The search for autonomy may cause a ____ in
relations between ____ and their ____, but the
generation gap is ____ ____ than is generally thought.
• Cliques and crowds serve as ____ groups in
adolescence and offer a ready means of ____ ____.
• ____ ____ gradually diminishes, until boys and girls
begin to pair off.
• ____ separation increases during adolescence,
bolstered by socioeconomic status differences, different
____ ____, and mutually distrustful attitudes.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Degrees of popularity in adolescence include
____, ____, ____, and ____ adolescents.
• Adolescents tend to conform to their peers in
areas in which they regard their peers as ____,
and to adults in areas of perceived adult ____.
• Adolescents are ____ involved in criminal
activities, although most do not commit crimes.
• Juvenile delinquents can be categorized as ____
or ____ delinquents.
Review and Apply
APPLY
• Thinking back to your own high school days,
what was the dominant clique in your school,
and what factors were related to group
membership?
DATING, SEXUAL BEHAVIOR, AND TEENAGE
PREGNANCY
Dating: Close Relationships in the 21st Century
Dating
• Learning to establish intimacy
• Learning to engage in entertainment
• Shaping identity
Cultural influences affect dating patterns
What are the functions of dating?
• Pattern of courtship that lead to marriage
• Way to learn to establish intimacy
• Mechanism to provide entertainment and prestige
• Resource to develop a sense of one's own identity
Dating and the Development of Psychological
Intimacy
• Dating in early and middle adolescence is not terribly
successful at facilitating intimacy
• True intimacy becomes more common during later
adolescence
• Gay and lesbian couples experience a variety of
challenges related to dating
Sexual Relationships
Hormonal changes of puberty not only trigger the
maturation of the sexual organs, but also produce a
new range of feelings in the form of sexuality
• Maturation of sexual organs
• Initiation into sexuality
• Masturbation
• Sexual intercourse
Adolescents and Sexual Activity
The age at which
adolescents have
sexual intercourse for
the first time is
declining, and around
three-quarters have
had sex before the
age of 20.
(Source: Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly
Report, 2008.)
Permissiveness with Affection
• In past, gender-related double standard for premarital
sexual activity
• Today premarital intercourse is viewed as permissible for
both men and women if it occurs in the context of longterm, committed, or loving relationship
• Significant cultural and subcultural variation about
premarital sex
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexuality,
Homosexuality, and Bisexuality
Sexual orientation questions occur at adolescence
• Heterosexuality
• Homosexuality
• Bisexuality
What Determines Sexual Orientation?
• Genetic and biological factor
• Family and peers
• Conditioning
Teenage Pregnancies
Number of teenage pregnancies has decreased
significantly in the last two decades
• In 2012, the birth rate for U.S. teenagers was the lowest
level ever reported in the seven decades that the
government has been tracking pregnancies
• Birth rates disparities remain, with the rate of teenage
births higher for non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics
• Overall, the pregnancy rate of teenagers is 34.3 births
per 1,000
Teenage Pregnancy Rates
What contributes to the decline in teenage
pregnancy?
• New initiatives have raised awareness among teenagers
of the risks of unprotected sex
• The rates of sexual intercourse among teenagers has
declined
• The use of condoms and other forms of contraception
has increased
• Substitutes for sexual intercourse may be more
prevalent
Does “Just say NO” work?
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Dating in adolescence serves a number of
functions including ____, ____, and ____.
• ____, once viewed very negatively, is now
generally regarded as a normal and harmless
practice that continues into adulthood.
• Sexual intercourse is a major milestone that most
people reach during ____.
• The age of ____ ____ reflects cultural differences
and has been declining over the last 50 years.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
• Sexual orientation, which is most accurately viewed as
a ____ rather than categorically, develops as the result
of a complex combination of factors.
• Teenage pregnancy is a problem in the United States,
with ____ consequences for adolescent mothers and
their ____.
Review and Apply
APPLY
• What aspects of the social world of
adolescents work against the achievement of
true intimacy in dating?
EPILOGUE
Before we move to the next chapter, recall the experience of
Teodoro Moreno and Beatriz Portillo, who were having difficulty
maintaining their commitment to remaining celibate until
marriage. Consider the following questions.
• What environmental factors (e.g., cultural, religious) do you
think are motivating Teodoro?
• Do you think Teodoro and Beatriz are equally committed to
virginity? Will their commitment change as they grow a year or
two older?
• Do you think peer pressure will affect the couple's resolve?
Are they likely to receive different messages from their
parents stronger?
EPILOGUE
• What tentative conclusions can you draw about how
Teodoro's and Beatriz's personalities relate to their
notions about sexuality? How typical do they seem to
be?