Chapter 11: Adolescence: Personality & Sociocultural Development

Chapter 11
Adolescence: Personality & Sociocultural Development

I. Developmental Tasks of Adolescence

A. Most theorists agree that adolescents must confront two major tasks
1. Achieving autonomy and independence from their parents

2. Forming an identity

B. Self regulation and interdependence
1. SELF REGULATION – in adolescence, making one’s own judgments and regulating one’s own behavior

2. INTERDEPENDENCE – reciprocal dependence, where both parties depend on each other

C. Forming an identity
1. IDENTITY FORMATION – gaining a sense of who you are and how you fit into society
2. SOCIAL REFERENCE GROUPS – narrow or broad groups with which people identify, and in so doing, help to define themselves

3. Erikson’s concept of identity
a. IDENTITY VERSUS IDENTITY CONFUSION – for Erikson, the critical developmental task for adolescents, which focuses on forging an answer to the question, “Who am I?”

b. The adolescent tries out various alternative identities as they attempt to sort through the options to make sense of who they are


c. If they do not decide, they withdraw and become isolated or they conform to expectations of whoever exerts the greatest power over their lives

4. Modes of identity formation
a. Erikson believed that identity formation involved an IDENTITY CRISIS – a period during which individuals grapple with the options available and ultimately make a choice and commitment as to which path their lives will take

b. Other researchers though defined identity formation into four modes or statuses
i. COMMITMENT – for Marcia, the part of identity formation that involves making a personal investment in the paths one chooses
ii. FORCLOSRE STATUS – the identity status of those who have made commitments without going through much decision making or through an identity crisis
iii. DIFFUSIO STATUS – the identity status of those who have neither gone through an identity crisis nor committed to an occupational role or moral code
iv. MORATORiIM STATUS – the identity status of those who are currently in the midst of an identity crisis or decision making period
v. IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT – the identity status of those who have gone through an identity crisis and have made commitments

c. influences on identity formation
i. Identity status influences an adolescent’s social expectations, self image, and reactions to stress

ii. The environment, age, and gender also influence identity formation

D. Identity formation, culture and context
1. Collectivist societies place much less emphasis on autonomy and more on a child becoming and remaining interdependent with others

2. Western societies stress becoming a distinct, relatively autonomous individual as opposed to becoming a contributing member of a cooperative group

II. Family Dynamics
A. Intergenerational communication
1. Research shows that there is much less conflict between adolescents and their families than often assumed

2. Conflict occurs more frequently in early adolescence than in later adolescence

B. Family alliances
1. Family alliances shape behavior before adolescence
a. A person dominated by an older sibling is likely to dominate his/her younger siblings
b. A “daddy’s girl” at age 6 will still be close to her father at age 16

2. Parenting styles and parental monitoring
a. Three primary parental styles
i. Adolescents who have experienced authoritarian parenting become dependent and anxious in the presence of authority figures or may become defiant and resentful
ii. Adolescents who have experienced permissive parenting may have difficulty setting boundaries and defining appropriate behavior
iii. Adolescents who have authoritative parents display normal and healthy behavior
b. Adolescents have fewer conflicts with their fathers, which suggests that fathers interfere less and allow greater freedom for teenagers

c. Mothers interact with their children more both in and out of the home and this can cause greater strain, but it also tends to create greater closeness

d. Parental monitoring occurs when the adolescent moves closer to adulthood since the parents cannot be with the adolescent at all times and teens do not offer full disclosure about their life

III. Peer Relationships During Adolescence
A. Social comparison
1. SOCIAL COMPARISON – evaluating yourself and your situation relative to others

2. Teens define themselves in a diverse peer arena made up of many different kinds of young people
3. Initially they focus on appearance and personality characteristics

4. Teens seek few close friendships and more loose friendships

5. As intimacy in friendship increases sharing of personal feeling and concerns occurs

B. Cliques and crowds
1. CROWD – adolescent peer group with perhaps 15 to 30 members
2. CLIQUE – adolescent peer group with as few as 3 members or as many as 9; more cohesive than crowd
3. Loners are those who do not belong to identifiable cliques or crowds. When it is voluntary it can provide creativity and relief from pressure

C. Dating
1. Adolescence is a stage of testing, imagining, and discovering what it is like to function in mixed groups and pairs
2. Young adolescents look for dates who are physically attractive, dress well, and are liked by others
3. Older adolescents are less superficial and are more concerned about personality characteristics

D. Peers and parents: a clash of cultures
1. As peers replace parents as the primary socializing force in a teenager’s life, parents become concerned about the characteristics of the peers
2. If the peers are different than the parents would prefer a clash of cultures occurs
3. This conflict is usually more serious for girls because disparities in hairstyles and dress are greater for women

IV. Risk and Resilience in Adolescence
A. Risk taking
1. Adolescents engage in sex, possibly without protection or with multiple partners, or abuse drugs
2. Adolescents’ judgment may not be fully developed and they could not understand the risks they are taking
3. When they develop self esteem, competence, and belonging they are less likely to engage in risky behavior

B. The use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs
1. Mostly prevalent in latter part of teenage years and in early adulthood
2. Tobacco
a. Smoking becomes alluring because it is a perceived symbol of maturity
b. Boys tend to smoke more and earlier
3. Alcohol
a. Alcohol is also perceived as something that lends itself to maturity and adulthood
b. Is most prevalent in teens whose friends drink
c. Binge drinking is especially problematic
4. Marijuana
a. The third most widely used drug in the US
b. Short term effects include impaired coordination, memory, attention, and perception, rise in heart rate, and rise in blood pressure
c. Long term effects are comparable to smoking cigarettes
5. Other drugs
a. Use of cocaine, heroine, LSD have been low
b. Designer drugs like ecstasy have become popular at raves
c. Methamphetamine use has increased primarily in rural areas
C. Delinquency
1. DELINQUENTS - people under age 16 or 18 who commit criminal acts
2. Association between crime and living in disadvantaged or stressful environments have been noted to contribute to delinquency
3. Other factors include the mass media and because adolescents seek to be members of delinquent peer groups

D. Sexual abuse of adolescents
1. Abuse is a problem for many adolescents, both male and female
2. Female
a. In early adolescence it is primarily between a female and an older adult male relative or family friend

b. Older adolescents are subjected to date rape

c. Sexually abused and traumatized girls often feel depressed, guilty and ashamed

d. Abuse is often long term

3. Male
a. Also most likely to be abused by a male who is not a family member
b. Feel particularly ashamed since they were forced to engage in same sex acts and they were powerless to defend themselves

V. Stress, Depression, and Coping
A. Depression
1. At any time about 8% of adolescents are suffering from moderate to severe depression

2. An interactive approach
a. Results from a combination of risk factors that interact, including biological, psychological, and social systems variables
b. Can be treated with prescription drugs
3. Adolescent suicide
a. Suicide rates have quadrupled for ages 15 & 19
b. They are not responding to one disturbing event, rather the context of long standing personal or family problems
c. copycat suicides are likely in adolescents because of the belief that the future is beyond their control

B. Risk factors for psychological problems tend to fall into four categories:
1. Teenage sexual activity
2. Abuse of alcohol
3. Antisocial and unproductive behavior
4. Poor school performance

C. Protective factors and coping responses
1. For adolescents whose lives have been easy, most risk factors are minor problems and positive adjustment is a likely outcome

2. Problematic adjustments are usually the result of experiencing several negative risk factors along with the interactions among them

3. Good intellectual functioning and appealing personalities, strong positive family support, good schools, and favorable organizations are likely to be associated with adolescents who can deal effectively with bad circumstances