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

Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 10: Adolescence

Chapter 10
Adolescence: Physical & Cognitive Development

I. Adolescent Development in a Cultural and Historical Context

A. RIGHTS OF PASSAGE – symbolic events or rituals to mark life transitions, such as from childhood to adult status.
1. As social circumstances change, adolescents react and adapt to the social relationships and institutions around them.

2. The social context in which development occurs must be considered in understanding adolescence.

B. Adolescence in the United States Today
1. Adolescents are largely age segregated, that is, they interact mostly with other adolescents and much less with younger children or adults.
a. Developmental niche: the interaction of various aspects of development - such as everyday physical & social settings, parenting & family customs & overall environmental context – that determines the unique world of each individual.

b. This separates the adolescent from younger children and thus deprives them of the opportunity to guide and tutor those who are less knowledgeable.

c. This also separates them from adult culture and they lack the chance to learn jobs by working with adults

2. Adolescents are also largely economically dependent on their parents

3. Adolescents are deeply affected by, and develop strong opinions about, the events of the time in which they live.

4. Adolescents are influenced by images projected by the mass media
a. They accept tragedy, sexuality, and brutality in a matter of fact way

b. Adolescents tend to gravitate to the more grizzly, counterculture aspects of media programming.

II. Physical Development and Adaptation

A. Physical Growth and Change
1. The biological hallmarks of adolescence are a marked increase in the rate of growth, rapid development of the reproductive organs, and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics such as body hair, increased body fat and muscle, and enlargement and maturation of genitalia

2. Some changes are the same for both boys and girls – increased size, strength, and stamina

3. Most changes are sex specific

4. The physical changes are largely controlled by HORMONES, which are the bio-chemical substances that are secreted into the bloodstream in very tiny amounts by internal organs called endocrine glands; hormones exert an effect on particular target organs or tissues.
a. ANDROGENS are male sex hormones; TESTOSTERONE is the most important androgen
b. ESTROGEN and PROGESTERONE are both female sex hormones
c. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland are the two areas of the brain that maintain the balance of hormones.
i. The hypothalamus initiates growth and eventual reproductive capability
ii. The pituitary gland produces both growth hormones and some trophic hormones

5. The increase in hormone output is followed by the ADOLESCENT GROWTH SPURT, a period of rapid growth in physical size and strength, accompanied by changes in body proportion. Especially for girls, the growth spurt is a sign of entry into puberty.

B. PUBERTY is the attainment of sexual maturity in both males and females
1. A SECULAR TREND toward earlier sexual maturation has occurred.
2. Changes in girls
a. Breast development
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. MENARCHE – the time of the first menstrual period
f. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands

3. Changes in boys
a. Growth of testes and scrotal sac
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of facial and underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. Growth of penis
f. Change in voice
g. First ejaculation of semen
h. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands

C. Body Image and Adjustment
1. MARGINAL GROUP is a group between cultures or on the fringe of a dominant culture that typically exhibits an intensified need to conform
2. Concerns about body image
a. ANOREXIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder in which a person is obsessed by thoughts of an unattainable image of perfect thinness; can result in death
b. BULIMIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder characterized by bingeing and purging
3. Early and late maturers
a. Girls mature on average 2 years earlier than boys
b. Early maturation is rarely a benefit for girls
i. One effect is that they have fewer opportunities to discuss their physical and emotional changes with friends
ii. They are significantly more likely to experience psychological distress over their maturity (e.g. lower self esteem).
c. Late maturation is rarely a benefit for boys.
i. They miss valuable childhood psychological development
ii. May be pressured into early sexual behavior
iii. More likely to experience psychological distress

III. Gender Identity and Sexual Practices
A. Four Decades of Changes in Sexual Practices
1. In the 1950’s and 1960’s most young people felt premarital sex was immoral
2. In the late 1960’s and 1970’s sexual attitudes changed partly because of the development of birth control
3. SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD is the view that sexual activity is more permissible for boys than for girls; this became less endorsed in the 1970’s
4. SAME SEX ORIENTATION is the sexual attraction toward members of one’s own sex
5. A sexual revolution was in full swing during the late 1970’s
6. In the 1980’s the revolution in changing sexual norms began to decline. People began to view the sexual attitudes of the 1970’s as irresponsible.
7. The 1990’s ushered in some stability in sexual attitudes.
8. Masturbation, homosexuality, cohabitation, premarital sex, “serial monogamy”, etc.

B. Factors that Influence Early Sexual Relationships
1. The age at which a person first becomes sexually active varies by both gender and ethnicity.
2. Sexual activity is also associated with the adolescent’s family situation
a. Adolescents from two parent families have less and later sexual experience than those from single parent families
b. Overly restrictive and overly permissive parenting are associated with earlier sexual activity
c. Education is also positively correlated with the age sexual activity occurs

C. Consequences of Adolescent Sexual Behavior
1. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
a. One of the most serious problems of adolescent sexual activity
b. About 20% of sexually active teenagers have an STD
2. Why teenagers become pregnant
a. 8% of teenaged girls become pregnant
b. 75% of girls and 82% of boys do not use contraception at first intercourse
c. Adolescents feel uncomfortable making demands of their partner in times of high excitement
d. Pregnancy rates have been decreasing in the last decade

3. The Effects of Early Parenthood
a. For the mother
i. Less likely to marry the father of their first child
ii. More likely to become divorced
iii. More likely to spend twice as much time as a single parent prior to age 30
iv. More likely to drop out of school
v. Less likely to earn a high school diploma by age 30
vi. More likely to work more hours at a lower rate of pay
b. For the father
i. Less likely to earn a high school diploma
ii. More likely to work in a blue collar ocupation
iii. More likely to experience lower income levels
iv. More likely to engage in delinquent and criminal behaviors
c. For the Child
i. More likely to be born premature and of low birth weight
ii. More likely to experience serious or life threatening medical conditions at birth
iii. Less likely to receive quality medical care and nutrition
iv. Less likely to receive necessary emotional support and cognitive stimulation
v. More likely to drop out of school
vi. More likely to become involved in delinquent and criminal behaviors
vii. More likely to have children before marriage
d. For society
i. Increased financial burden to taxpayers and extended families
ii. Additional strain on the resources of governmental programs and systems

IV. Cognitive Changes in Adolescence
A. Brain Development in Adolescence
1. Brain Imaging
a. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technologies are providing researchers a clearer look at how brain cells develop
b. Children’s brains contain more nerve cells than the adult brain will retain
c. Important changes continue to occur within the brain long past childhood, adolescence and perhaps even into early adulthood
2. Changes in the Adolescent Brain
a. Gray matter levels at the age of 25
b. White matter increases until about the age of 40
c. The processes of pruning and increasing myelinization first start in the back of the brain and then occur in brain areas responsible for coordination and end in areas that control decision making and problem solving
3. The Influence of Hormones on the Brain
a. Hormones tend to target areas of the brain related to emotional regulation such as the amygdale
i. When the amygdale is triggered, emotions become volatile
ii. Stimulus seeking behavior and risk seeking tendencies also occur
b. The emotional outbursts and overly emotional responses seen in teen behavior are the result of the pace with which different regions of the brain mature
c. Changes in how adolescents experience emotion, make judgments about risky behavior and actually think are associated with changes in the brain

B. Piaget’s Period of Formal Operations
1. Formal Operational Thought
a. FORMAL OPERATIONS – the final stage of cognitive development that is characterized by the ability to reason hypothetically and think about abstract concepts
b. Adolescents also show an increasing ability to plan and to think ahead
2. Expanding Piaget’s View
a. Information processing functions also occur because they involve the development of increasingly effective strategies for thought
b. Not all individuals attain the abilities associated with formal thought
c. Moreover those who attain it do not use it consistently.

C. The Scope and Content of Adolescent Thought
1. Examining the World and the Family
a. Adolescents contrast their ideal parent with the real parent and the real parents have a difficult time meeting the adolescent’s expectations, therefore, bickering tends to escalate during early adolescence (“The Foundling Fable”)
b. Teens tend to battle for their independence through means of negotiation
c. Research indicates that those with parents who offered guidance but allowed their children to develop their own points of view, had the strongest sense of themselves as individuals
2. Adolescent Egocentrism
a. The self centered view assumes that other people are as fascinated with them as they are with themselves
b. IMAGINARY AUDIENCE – adolescents’ assumption that others are focusing a great deal of critical attention on them
c. PERSONAL FABLE – adolescents’ belief that they are so special that they should be exempt from the laws of nature, that nothing bad can happen to them, and they will live forever
3. Moral Development in Adolescence
a. Cognitive changes that occur during adolescence contribute to moral development as well
b. Some of the decisions have complex consequences, but the adolescent may not have the moral framework to deal with the pressures until well into adolescence or even early adulthood
c. Kohlberg specified that the ability to reason through moral dilemmas proceeds developmentally, from preconventional, through conventional, to postconventional thinking
d. Presenting a child with increasingly complex moral issues creates disequilibrium forcing the child to resolve contradictions