Adolescence Chapter 9. Objectives Define Adolescence Describe the physical, cognitive, and ideological changes that characterize adolescence Describe

Adolescence

Chapter 9

Objectives• Define Adolescence

• Describe the physical, cognitive, and ideological changes that characterize adolescence

• Describe research related to the sexual attitudes and roles of adolescents

• Discuss the social development of the adolescent and the role of peers and family

Key Terms

• Androgynous

• Asynchrony

• Authoritarian Families

• Authoritative Families

• Conformity

• Democratic Families

• Identity Crisis

• Initiation Rites

• Laissez-Faire Families

• Menarche

• Permissive Families

• Puberty

• Rationalizatio

n

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• Sex Identity

• Sex Role

• Social Learning Theory

• Spermarche

Article

• Teens brains

Adolescence

• Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood. And while we all have an idea what adolescence is, defining it precisely is difficult

• Initiation rites: Rites of passage from one age or status to another, that mark admission into adulthood• Birthdays, Bar mitzvahs, graduation,

weddings

Views of Adolescence

• Are years between late childhood and early adulthood the best that life has to offer?• A carefree time to act on ideals

unburdened by practical concerns?• Or is adolescence a time of crisis,

rebellion, and unhappiness?

• It depends on who you ask…

How Adults view Adolescence

• Every adult has lived through adolescence

• However, the teenage years of most adults do not always help them understand the concerns and difficulties of today’s adolescents

• Adults vary their attitudes toward teenagers in general and certain adults have conflicting feelings about them


• Many adults admire young people• Their values, music, fashions, and activities (mass

media)

• Through dress, cosmetics, consumer purchases, and a variety of physical activities, some adults attempt to look and feel as healthy and active as adolescents

• Older people who live and work directly with teenagers often value the influence young people have in their lives. Teenagers help them stay connected to a larger world outside their own

How Adults View Adolescence

• Bonus:• Ask an adult if they would like to

change places with you and go back to their adolescence. Why?

• Paragraph


• Do adults feel threatened by the youth?

• Maybe when adults see their own children develop into mature bodies and their bodies start declining physically

• Adults see themselves being outperformed by youth

• May regret the loss of their own youth and envy those who are still young


• News and popular press portray teenagers in a negative light• Disruptive • Disturbed• Teenage crime

• Different view of adolescents?• Different generations sometimes hold

different ideas of morality• Sexual activity, war, environment


• Adolescents may provoke a negative reaction from their parents by possibly displaying traits their parents see as a reflection of themselves that they would prefer not to see• Examples?

• Some look at adolescents in a positive light, in horror, burden of stress, tension, conflict.

• EXTREME VIEWS

Activity

• Computer paper, One picture

• You, staff member, & family member

• Adolescents• Concerns/Difficulties• Attitudes• “Who am I?”• What do I want to be as a a person?”• What are the things that are important to

me?”

How Adolescents View Themselves

• Knowing how adults view adolescents, does that shape how adolescents view themselves?

• According to psychologists, the answer is yes!

• Adolescents tend to regard themselves the way they think others see them• Adults stereotypes serve as a mirror for them

How Adolescents View Themselves

• For many, adolescence is a period of searching for identity.

• Adolescents are continually struggling with such questions:• “Who am I?”• What do I want to be as a a person?”• What are the things that are important

to me?”

Article

• How adults view teens

Extension Activity

• Adolescents and Alcohol

Theories of Adolescence

• G. Stanley Hall• Adolescence as a transitional stage

from beast to human• Fully grown animal in a cage, sees

freedom but doesn’t know quite when freedom will occur or how to handle it

• Storm & stress, confused, troubled, frustrated


• Margaret Mead•Found that in some

cultures adolescence is highly enjoyable time of life


• Robert Havighurst• Every adolescent faces challenges,

development tasks that must be mastered1. Accepting ones’ physical make-up &

acquiring a masculine or feminine sex role2. Developing appropriate relations with

agemates of both sexes3. Becoming emotionally independent of

parents and other adults4. Achieving the assurance that one will

become economically independent


5. Deciding on, preparing for, and entering a vocation

6. Developing the cognitive skills and concepts necessary for social competence

7. Understanding and achieving socially responsible behavior

8. Preparing for marriage and family9. Acquiring values that are harmonious with an

appropriate scientific world picture

• Tasks present a challenge, adolescents generally handle it well. Most face some stress but finds ways to cope with it

Personal Development

• Becoming an adult involves much more than becoming physically mature

• Transition from childhood-adulthood involves:• Changes in patterns of

• Reasoning• Moral thinking• Personality• Sexual behavior


• Physical changes• Puberty: Sexual maturation, biological event that

marks the end of childhood• Girls:

• About age 10. • Rather suddenly begin to grow. • Before growth, fat tissues develop, making girl appear

“chubby”. Girls retain fat tissue• Once spurt begins, growth 2-3.5 inches a year• During spurt, breasts and hips begin to fill out• Pubic hair• Between 10-17 (12 or 13) menstrual period, Menarche• 12-18 months will pass until she is able to conceive a child• Most societies consider menarche the beginning of

motherhood


• Boys:• Begins at about age 12• Boys lose fat tissues quickly, making them look lanky

or lean. • Pubic hair and genitals grow• Growth occurs 24-27 months later than girls• Growth lasts 3 years longer• Once growth occurs, it rapid and boys fill out• Broad shoulder and thick trunk• Acquire more muscle tissue, larger heart and lungs

than girls• Voice deepens• Hair begins to grow on face and chest


• Asynchrony: Condition during the period of adolescence in which growth or maturation of bodily parts is uneven

• Ex: Hands, feet larger than rest of body

• Clumsiness starts to diminish

Reactions to Growth

• Adolescents desperately want to be accepted by peers

• Girls ranked boys attributes they seek 1. Intelligence2. Attractiveness3. Ability to hold conversation

Reactions to Growth

• Boys ranks girls attributes they seek1. Attractiveness2. Friendliness3. Intelligence

Reactions to Growth

• Individual differences grow significantly that affect personality of young adolescents• Research indicates boys have the

advantage• Heroes in sports • Leaders in formal and informal activities• Other boys look up to them• Girls have crushes on them• Adults tend to treat them more mature• More self-confident and independent

Reactions to Growth

• With girls pattern is somewhat different• Girls who mature early may feel

embarrassed rather than proud of their height or figure

• Some date older boys and become “bossy” with people their own age

• Late-maturing girls tend to get along better with people their age

• Late teens, girls that matured earlier may be more popular

Reactions to Growth

• Does physical growth have powerful psychological effects?• Self-Fulfilling prophecy: A belief,

prediction, or expectation that operates to bring about its own fulfillment • If boy thinks he doesn’t fit his culture’s

physical ideal, may view himself differently

Changes in Thinking

• Abstract thinking • What would the world be like if people

lived to be 200?

• Rationalization: Individual seeks to explain an often unpleasant emotion or behavior in a way that will preserve self-esteem

Moral Development

• Kohlberg• Psychologists agree that a person’s

moral development depends on many factors, especially the kind of relationship the individual has with parents

• Changes in college

Erik Erikson’s Theory of the Identity Crisis

• According to Erikson, building an identity is a task that is unique to adolescence.

• Children are aware of what other people (adults and peers) think of them• Are there labels are kids?

• Good• Bad• Funny• Talented• Brave• Hot

• Does not figure in who they really are or where they are going• Children live in the present, adolescents think about the future

Erik Erikson’s Theory of the Identity Crisis

• Most adolescents must go through what Erikson called an identity crisis• Identity Crisis: A time of storm and

stress during which they worry intensely about who they are• Factors

• Physiological changes• Cognitive developments• Sexual drives• See future as a reality

4 Adolescent Personality Types

• Says Erikson is correct in pointing out the adolescent identity crisis.

• Crisis arises because individuals must make commitments on such important matters as occupation, religion, and political orientation• Marcia points out 4 adolescent

personality types


1. Identity moratorium adolescents: Who have not experiences a crisis or made a commitment on any of the important matters facing them

2. Identity foreclosure adolescents: Who have not had a crisis but have made a commitment based not on their own choice, but on the suggestion of others


3. Identity confused adolescents: Who are in a continual search for meaning, commitment, and self-definition, and thus experience life as a series of ongoing crises

4. Identity achievement adolescents: Who have experiences crises, considered many possibilities, and freely committed themselves to occupations and other life matter


• Do not interpret rigidly, one can transition from one category to another

• Can belong to different categories

Criticism of Erikson’s Theory

• A.C. Peterson:• Says crisis is not a normal state of

affairs for adolescents• Change in external circumstances

creates crisis, not a biological clock

• Albert Bandura• Social Learning Theory: Continuous

process of human development through interaction

Sexuality: Attitudes & Roles

• Sexual attitudes:• Belief when sexual intercourse is

appropriate• Morally different views between young

people and adults?• Would you agree?

• Sex identity: One’s biological inheritance, includes genetic traits and sex-linked behaviors

Sexuality: Attitudes & Roles

• Sex role: Defined by genetic makeup, but mainly by society and culture.

• Tells us how we are expected to behave, look, think, and feel in order to be considered by others, and to consider ourselves “masculine” or “feminine”

• Can change over time

• Sex-role stereotypes

• Sandra Bem:

• Androgynous: Roles that involve a flexible combination of traditionally male and female characteristics

Social Development

• The Family• Changes based on divorce & income

• Regardless of these changes, one of the principle developmental tasks of adolescents is becoming independent of their families

• Mixed feeling on both sides

• Some parents have built their lifestyles around the family and are reluctant to let the child go

• Parents know they will soon have to find someone else on whom to shift their emotional dependence

Social Development

• Family continued• Parents whose children are old enough to leave

home sometimes have to wrestle with their own fears of advancing age

• Same time, young people long to get out on their own and try themselves against the world, they worry a lot about failing

• Struggled is mirrored by adolescent’s unpredictable behavior, which parents interpret as “adolescent rebellion”.

Parenting Styles

• The way in which adolescents seek independence and the ease with which they resolve conflicts about becoming adults depends in large part on the parent-child relationship

Parenting Styles

• Diana Baumrind (1971,1973)• Observed and interviews nursery school

children and their parents. She observed and questioned both how the children interacted with their parents, and what the parents did

• Follow-up observations when the children were 8 or 9 led to several conclusions about the impact of three distinct parenting styles on children

Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian families: • Parents are the bosses• Do not feel they have to explain

their actions or demands• Parents may feel the child has no

right to question parental decisions

Parenting Styles

• Children raised in authoritative families• Resent all authority• Rebel without a cause

Parenting Styles

• Democratic or authoritative families• Adolescents participate in decisions

affecting their lives• Great deal of discussion & negotiation• Parents listen to their children’s

reasons for wanting to go somewhere, do something, and make an effort to explain their rules & expectations

• Adolescents make many decisions for themselves, but parents retain the right to veto plans they disapprove

Parenting Styles

• Studies suggest children raised in democratic or authoritative families are:• More confident of their own values and goals

than other young people• More likely to want to make their own decisions

with or without advice

• 3 reasons• Child able to assume responsibility gradually, not

given too much responsibility too soon• Child more likely to identify with parents who love and

respect them than parents who treat them bad• Through behavior or child, parents present a model of

responsible, cooperative independence for the growing person to imitate

Parenting Styles

• Permissive or Laissez-faire families• Children have the final say• Parents attempt to guide, but give in

when children insist on having their way

• Parents may give up their child-rearing responsibilities• Setting no rules about behavior• Making no demands• Voicing no expectations• Virtually ignoring young people in their

house

Parenting Styles

• Children raised in permissive families• Tend to feel unwanted • Doubt their own self-worth• Often do not trust themselves• Tend to be more aggressive• Low self-esteem• Poor control over impulsive

behavior

Parenting Styles

• Maccoby & Martin (1983)• Later identified a fourth parenting

style• Uninvolved parents were typically

very self-centered in their child rearing

• Seemed uncommitted to their role• Distant from their child

Parenting Styles

• Research says that authoritative parenting yields the best results• Why?

• Establishment of limits on the child• Responding to the child with warmth and

support

• But it would be wrong to conclude that parents are solely responsible for the way their children turn out• Adolescents themselves contribute to the

style parents embrace; with consequences for their own personal development

Peer Group

• Adolescents can trust that their peers will not treat them like children• Teens need and use each other to define

themselves

• High schools• Well defined groups• Cliques • Crowds

• Name them…?

Peer Group

• Early in adolescence, groups are usually divided by gender, but later they mix

• What determines whether an adolescent will be accepted by a peer group?

Peer Group

• Belonging to a clique (a group within a set) is very important to most adolescents and serves several functions• Need for closeness to others• Means to define oneself• Establish an identity

• Help individual achieve self-confidence• Sense of independence• Provide feedback

Peer Group

• One of the greatest fears teenagers have is to be disliked• Leads to conformity

• Conformity: Act in accordance with some specified authority

Documents

Adolescence Chapter 9. Objectives Define Adolescence Describe the physical, cognitive, and ideological changes that characterize adolescence Describe