SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE

CHAPTER 12

IDENTITY: ASKING “WHO AM I?”

Identity: Asking "Who Am I?"

• Self consciousness takes center stage

• WHY?– More like adults intellectually– More like adults physically– More abstract view– Better insight into future

• More realistic• More nuanced• More complex

• Need quality/unbiased information sources

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Self Concept: What Am I Like?

Broader assessment of who they are •One's own view•Others' views

More organized and coherent •View self in terms of traits and multiple aspects

• Multiple simultaneous aspects is FO stage ability• Confusing in early FO stage

•Parents and adult friends can provide ‘backboards’ for serious discussions & mature counter balance to peers

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Self-esteem: How Do I Like Myself?

Knowing who you are & liking who you are 2 different things

•Adolescents are increasingly accurate in understanding who they are.

•But this knowledge does not guarantee that they like themselves any better

•Increasingly accurate in understanding themselves

•Parental/adult role must change to acknowledgement of real negative assessments

•Provide suggestions for modifications, growth, alternative strategies

•Provide support and understanding by listening w/o judgment

Self Esteem and Stereotypes

• Influenced by gender • Boys generally higher than girls• Early in adolescence girls have lower self esteem

– More concerned about physical appearance– More concerned about social success– More likely to be around older boys

• Early in adolescence boys have higher self esteem – Slower transition, maintain old social groups– More concerned about physical abilities– More likely to be around younger girls

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Self Esteem and Stereotypes

• Influenced by socioeconomic status (SES)• Higher SES usually higher self esteem• Minorities USE TO have lower SES• Complexity of factors has pushed concept of “ethgender”

– Joint influence of race and gender– A (single) recent study found

• Black & Hispanic males highest self esteem• Asian & Native American girls lowest self esteem

• Measurement scale is questionable: Consider the millionaire’s kid in a school where most parents are billionaires. SES is relative.

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Identity Formation: Change or Crisis?

Identity Formation: Crisis or Change?

Erikson: Identity-Versus-Identity Confusion Stage

(Also called adolescent identity crisis)

Adolescents try to determine what is unique & distinctive about themselves•Identity: An appropriate identity is found that sets foundation for future psychosocial development •Identity Confusion: An appropriate identity is not found so sense of self is "diffuse“ with vulnerability to adoption of socially unacceptable roles or just other’s assignment of role

Adolescents start to rely more on friends and peers than adults.

Erikson's Stages

Societal Pressures and Reliance on Friends and Peers

Societal pressures high during Erickson’s identity versus identity confusion stage •Must learn to form more complex, adult like relationships•Must make difficult choices about future plans

•Gender differences• Males more likely to step through stages in order

• Develop stable identity before making intimate relationships

• Females (historically) follow reverse order • Defining identities through relationships

Note that this research is likely less valid today where females see themselves as finically independent

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Female Mentoring in this stage

• Provide example female role models• Explain that, at least middle an up social class, home

makers play substantial role in family finical success– Purchase decisions– Home/property management– Investing/money management (Budget enforcer)– Managing workers on property– Managing social relationships

• Avoid demeaning comments about working women• Positive listening to dreams, desires, hopes, and plans

Erikson: Identity versus Confusion

Psychological moratorium

(letting go of responsibilities for awhile and explore new roles and possibilities)•Experimentation period

– Probably no lasting, negative psychological affects– Some benefits from working being independent

•Five years ago seen as economically impossible•However, with so many older adolescents living at home and jobs so scarce this possibility has increased.•Parents/adult friends should encourage positive activities

– Volunteering– Academic pursuits in & outside formal education– Skill development thru hobbies, activities, projects

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Limitations of Erikson's Theory

• Male identity development used as standard against which to compare female identity

• Erikson's view is based on male-oriented concepts of individuality and competitiveness.

Carol Gilligan suggested:

• women develop identity through the establishment of relationships.

• a key component of a woman's identity is the building of caring networks between herself and others.

• Difference feminism asserts that despite the equal moral status of men and women as persons, there are genuine differences between the sexes and those differences need not all be considered “equal.”[1]

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Marcia's Approach to Identity Development: Updating Erikson

Marcia's Approach to Identity DevelopmentA crisis is a period of identity development in which an adolescent consciously chooses between various alternatives and makes decisions. A commitment is a psychological investment in a course of action or an ideology.

An identity is usually defined later, after a struggle.

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

Many of these do not last. In late 20s beliefs and values tend to revert tothe beliefs and values of their parents and childhood.This is especially true as they become parents.

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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 humanityOr not

Identity, Race and Ethnicity

Forming an identity presents a particular challenge for members of ethnic and racial backgrounds because of contradictory societal values.• Society should be color blind, race & ethnic background

should not affect opportunity or achievement.

•Cultural assimilation model– individual cultural identities should be assimilated into a

unified culture (“melting pot model”). – Worked well for USA as a nation for 200 years•Recent “research” suggests that the cultural assimilation model denigrates the cultural heritage of minorities and lowers self esteem.

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Antidiscrimination Based Research

• This research is based on the principle of “antidiscrimination” which holds that any form of discrimination (assigning a difference in value) to different cultures is a form of racism.

• Thus all cultures are of equal moral and ethical value and have equal quality of outcomes.

• Cultures which kill those of different religions are as ‘good’ as those which allow many religions.

• Cultures where a few wealthy families control all aspects of life are as ‘good’ as democracies.

• Cultures which prevent women from attending schools are the equal to those who promote female education.

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Identity, Race and Ethnicity

Forming an identity presents a particular challenge for members of ethnic and racial backgrounds because of contradictory societal values.•Racial and ethnic factors should be a central part of teenagers’ identities.

•Pluralistic society model•The U.S. society is made up of diverse, coequal cultural groups that should preserve their individual cultural features (“tossed salad model”). •Has not worked work for Canada as a nation which has continuous ethnic strife

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Identity, Race and Ethnicity

Forming an identity presents a particular challenge for members of ethnic and racial backgrounds because of contradictory societal values.

•adolescents can draw from their own culture and integrate themselves into the dominant culture (“the middle ground model”).

•Bicultural identity•Suggests teens live as a member of two cultures, & have two cultural identities without having to choose one.•No good example exists for this model except, perhaps, some Native American examples.•Some evidence that divided loyalties are problematic.

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Bicultural Identity in the US

Figure 12-1 Bicultural Identity in the United StatesThe 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.)

Note: This is entirely based on US Censes decision to allow selection of more than one check box in the Race category!

NOT “bicultural” but diverse racial heritage identification

Psychological Difficulties in Adolescence

Depression - Incidence

• More than one-quarter of adolescents report periods of feeling sad and hopeless for two or more weeks in a row.

• But only a small number (3 percent) experience major depression (often called ‘clinical depression’)• a full-blown psychological disorder • depression is severe and lingers for long periods.

• Note that the adult expression of depression in males is ANGER

• So a male feeling sad is not likely to have “clinical depression”

Depression - Causes

• Depression has several causes, including biological, environmental, and social factors. • Genetic predisposition• Death of loved one• Depressed parent• Unpopular• Few close friends• Experiencing rejection

• Note that the vast majority of humans experience the above ‘causes’ with out suffering clinical depression.

• Also note that exposure to chemicals, hormone mimics, drugs (both prescription & OTC), or injury is not listed.

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Depression - Gender

• Girls have higher incidences of depression than boys • But, the cause is not clear.

• Are there more stresses on the female gender role? • Is this the results of girls' tendencies to react to stress

by turning inward, thus experiencing helplessness and hopelessness?

• Little evidence that hormones are a factor.• However, in males low hormone levels are a known

cause of sadness, lassitude, low motivation, etc.• This is similar to the feelings described by ‘depressed’

females

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Depression - Race

• African-Americans and Native Americans also have higher depression rates

• same suspected reasons as for girls.• Are there more stresses on minority role? • Is this the results of these minorities tendencies to

react to stress by turning inward, thus experiencing helplessness and hopelessness?

• • Not all research supports this conclusion.

• Local culture has large affect on data:• Upper middle class black or NA family• Reservation of inner-city research

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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

•Prior to WWII teen suicide likely to be reported as accidental•Last 20 years accidents likely to be reported as suicide

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Adolescent Difficulties

Family, peer relationships, and self-esteem problems were most often mentioned by adolescents contemplatingsuicide, according to a review of phone calls to a telephone help line.(Source: Based on Boehm & Campbell, 1995.)

Suicide Warning Signs

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

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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

DO SOMETHING!

• Virtually all suicides have warning signs• Virtually all incidents of mass violence have warning

signs• In nearly every successful case warning signs were

ignored by– Friends– Family– Authorities

• The unfortunate response to any form of mental illness in today’s society is acceptance and avoidance

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For immediate help with a suicide-related problem, call:

(800) 784-2433 or

(800) 621-4000, national hotlines staffed with trained

counselors

RELATIONSHIPS: FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Family Ties: Changing Relations with Relations

• Parental relations shift– adolescents begin to question their parents' views– sometimes rebel against their parents' views

• Role shifts– quest for adulthood– Quest for autonomy

• Cultural factors– degree of autonomy achieved by adolescents – degree in which adolescents feel obligated to family

duties and support• Recognize and accept changes

• Support rather than challenge independence

• Share “how I decided” but realize “times are different”

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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

The Quest for Autonomy -relational symmetry At the start of adolescence

•Relationship tends to be asymmetrical •Parents hold most of the power and influence over the relationship.

By the end of adolescence •power and influence have become more balanced•parents and children end up in a more symmetrical, or egalitarian, relationship. •Power and influence are shared•although parents typically retain the upper hand

– Financial – Property ownership/control

Changing View of Parents

As adolescents become older, they come to perceive their parents inless idealized terms and more as individuals. What effect is this likely to have on family relations?(Source: Based on Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986.)

Restricted range issue

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

• In Western societies, value individualism, adolescents seek autonomy at a relatively early stage of adolescence

• In Asian societies adolescents’ aspirations to achieve autonomy are less pronounced

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

• Parents & teens mostly in synch

• Differences between teens greater than diff w/ parents

•Dress, music, friends

•Highly dependent upon WHICH generations

• Example: my brother & I did not share music (17 yrs apart)

• But my kids and I (40 yrs apart)

Conflicts with Parents W/in culture

• Primary issues• Conflicts likely to arise during early adolescence.• Parents trying to discern what is appropriate conduct,

children more likely to be argumentative and assertive.

• As parents trust more, combativeness declines.• Most teenagers have stable family relationships, but

as many as 20 percent have a rough time.

• Trust is key

Conflicts with Parents across cultures

• Cultural differences• Less conflict in “traditional,” unindustrialized countries

than in developed countries.• Adolescents expect more independence and

individualism in industrialized cultures.• In more traditional societies, individualism, and thus

independence, not as highly valued

Time Spent by Adolescents with Parents

Relationships with Peers: The Importance of Belonging

Peer relationships•Critical during adolescence •More influence than any other time of life•Provide opportunity for social comparison and information

Reference groups: a group of people with whom one compares oneself. •groups present a set of norms or standards•Provides ruler against which adolescents judge their social success

Cliques and Crowds: Belonging to a Group

• Cliques (2 to 12 who have frequent interaction).• Crowds (larger groups where people share some

characteristic but often don't interact with each other.)• Membership in cliques and crowds determined by

degree of similarity with members in a group.• Stereotypes: jocks, brains, druggies, motorheads,• Strong expectations that people in a particular crowd

behave in specific ways.

Gender Relations

• Gender relations change during adolescence. • SEX CLEAVAGE is characteristic of early adolescence

where girls play with girls, boys with boys. • With puberty, there is hormonal and social pressure to

interact and eventually most adolescents are in mixed-sex cliques.

• At the end of adolescence, cliques become less powerful and male-female relationships become the focus.

• Adult like relationships coalesce • Typically, small ‘friendship groups” become the norm• Specialty groups – work, professional, hobbies, sports

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Race Segregation: The Great Divide of Adolescence

• Adolescents of different ethnicities & races interact very little • Even if they have a friend of a different ethnicity w/in school, most

adolescents don't interact with that friend outside of school

• 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

Is this true?

Why does racial and ethnic segregation often exist, even in schools that have been

desegregated for some time?

Segregation Rational

• Minority students may actively seek support from others who share their minority status

• Associating primarily w/ members of their own group, members of minority groups affirm their own identity.

• Members of different racial & ethnic groups may be segregated in the classroom.

• Because members of groups have been historically discriminated against, they tend to experience less school success than members of the majority group.

• Ethnic and racial segregation in high school may be based not on ethnicity itself, but on academic achievement.

• Lack of contact among students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds in school may also reflect prejudice, both perceived and real, toward members of other group.

Popularity and Rejection

Adolescent social world is complex•High status categories

• Popular adolescents, who are most liked.• Controversial adolescents, who are like by some and

disliked by others.

•Low status categories• Rejected teens, who are uniformly disliked.• Neglected teens adolescents, who are neither liked

nor disliked.

Not dissimilar to previous age group

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?

Would you expect the same values from working class men & women?

Conformity: Peer Pressure in AdolescenceSusceptibility and conformity•Few empirical studies•Some kids more susceptible•In general, pressure does not rise •Overall conformity decreases•Confidence grow they can make own decisions

B.B. Brown how much pressure peers exerted•Overall perception - only 1/3 say one of hardest to face•Gender differences – girls more than boys•Kinds of peer pressure•dating attitudes, sexual activity, and use of drugs and alcohol, but not with relationships with parents

Juvenile Delinquency: Crimes of Adolescence

Who are they?

• Undersocialized delinquentsare raised with little parental supervision or discipline: they have not been appropriately socialized. – They tend to be relatively aggressive and violent early

in life; rejected by peers; likely to have ADHD; and are usually less intelligent than average.

– They are relatively unlikely to be rehabilitated.

Overall violent crimes by juveniles decreasing, but 16 percent of arrests for serious crimes involved juveniles.

Who are they?

• Socialized delinquentsare adolescent delinquents who know and subscribe to the norms of society, and who are fairly normal psychologically. •They are usually influenced by a group •Criminal behavior is usually committed with a group. •Crimes by this group tend to be minor.

R U BFFs 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

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

• Learning about ‘partnering’• Doing things as a couple• Working out conflicting wants

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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.)

Note: Data self reported

The average age at which adolescents first have sexual intercourse has been steadily declining over the last 50 years.Many teenagers are postponing sex. The number of adolescents who say they have never had sexual intercourse increased by nearly 10 percent from 1991 to 2001

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 long-term, 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– Identical twins are more likely to both be homosexual.– Hormones may play a factor.

• Family and peers– Inappropriate identification with same sex parent?

• Conditioning– Rewarding homosexual experience versus

unsatisfying heterosexual encounters.

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

• Rate of sexual intercourse among teenagers has declined

• Use of condoms & other forms of contraception increased

• Substitutes for sexual intercourse may be more prevalent– Oral sex touted by Libertines but is NOT without risk!

• Morality is changing – One example: the increase youth opposition to abortion