1. Emotional and Social Development in Adolescence
Chapter 12
Emotional and Social
Development
in Adolescence

2. Erikson’s Theory: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Constructing an identity involves defining who you are, what you value, and your direction you chose to pursue in life
According to Erikson, teenagers experience an identity crisis, which is a temporary period of distress as they experiment with alternatives before settling on values and goals
Erikson called the psychological conflict of adolescence identity versus role confusion

3. Erikson’s Theory: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Lack of direction and self-definition
Earlier psychosocial conflicts not resolved
Society restricts choices
Unprepared for challenges of adulthood

4. Self-Concept in Adolescence
In describing themselves, adolescents unify separate traits (smart and curious) into more abstract descriptors (intelligent).
At first their generalizations are not interconnected and are often contradictory
Gradually, cognitive changes enable teenagers to combine their traits into organized system

5. Self-Esteem in Adolescence
Teenagers add several new dimensions:
close friendship
romantic appeal
job competence
Self esteem rises, but drops temporarily at school transitions
Parenting style affects quality and stability of self-esteem
Authoritative parenting predicts high self esteem
Teenagers who experience feedback that is negative and inconsistent may rely on peers to affirm their self esteem

6. Path to Identity Identity Status Description Page Identity achievement
Identity achieved individuals are committed to a clearly formulated set of self-chosen values and goals. They feel a sense of psychological well being and have a sense of where they are going
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Identity moratorium
Identity moratorium means delay. These individuals have not yet made definite commitments. They are in the process of exploring, gathering information and trying out activities, with the desire to find values and goals to guide their life.
Identity foreclosure
Identity foreclosed individuals have committed themselves to values and goals without exploring alternatives. They accept a ready made identity chosen for them by authority figures, usually parents but sometimes teachers…
Identity diffusion
Identity diffused individuals lack clear direction. They are not committed to values and goals, nor are they actively trying to reach them.

7. Factors That Affect Identity Development
Personality
Child-rearing practices:
Attachment
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Peers, friends
Schools, communities
Culture
Societal forces

8. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development- (p. 323-324)
The Preconventional Level
The punishment and obedience orientation
The instrumental purpose orientation
The Conventional Level
The good boy-good girl orientation
The social-order maintaining orientation
The Postconventional or Principled Level
The social contract orientation
The universal ethical principle orientation

9. Sex Differences in Moral Reasoning
Kohlberg: emphasis on rights and justice orientation
Gilligan: emphasis on “ethic of care” orientation
Each sex uses both orientations, but females may stress care more, because of greater involvement in activities involving care and concern for others
Males either stress justice or focus equally on justice and care

10. Influences on Moral Reasoning
Child rearing practices- adolescents who gain most in moral understanding have parents who engage in moral discussions, encourages prosocial behavior, and create a supportive atmosphere by listening and asking questions and presenting higher level reasoning
Schooling-higher education introduces young people to social issues. Young people who are aware of social diversity tend to be advanced in moral reasoning
Peer interaction- interactions among peers who present different viewpoints promote moral understanding
Culture- individuals in industrialized nations advance to higher levels of moral understanding that individuals in village societies. Why is this the case?

11. Moral Reasoning and Behavior
Factors influencing behavior include
maturity of moral reasoning
emotions: empathy, sympathy, guilt
temperament
cultural experiences and beliefs
moral identity
parenting practices: inductive discipline, moral standards
schooling: just educational environments

12. Religious Involvement and Moral Development
Formal religious involvement declines in adolescence
Religious involvement linked to
responsible academic, social behavior; less misconduct

13. Gender Intensification
The arrival of adolescence is typically accompanied by gender intensification
Gender intensification refers to increased gender stereotyping of attitudes and behavior and movement towards a more traditional gender identity
When gender intensification is evident, it seems to be stronger for adolescent girls
In young people, who do exhibit gender intensification, biological, social, and cognitive factors are involved.
For example parents with traditional gender role beliefs may encourage gender appropriate activities and behavior more than they did earlier on
Gender intensification declines by late adolescence

14. Parent-Child Relationships
A variety of changes within the adolescent support autonomy
As young people look more mature, parents give them more independence and responsibility
Adolescents at this stage begin to solve problems and make decisions more effectively
And an improved ability to reason about social relationships leads teenagers to idealize their parents, viewing them as “just people”
As a result, adolescents no longer bend as easily to parental authority as they did when they were younger
Facilitates adolescents’ identity and autonomy
Signals parents to adjust parenting style

15. Family Influences on Adolescents’ Adjustment
Parents who are financially secure, not overloaded with job pressures, and content with their marriages usually find it easier to grant teenagers appropriate autonomy and experience less conflict with them
Attachment between siblings remain strong for most young people
Siblings who established a positive bond in early childhood continue to display greater affection and caring, which contribute to more favorable adolescent adjustment

16. Characteristics of Adolescent Friendships
Fewer best friends
More emphasis on intimacy or psychological closeness, mutual understanding and being loyal
Friends tend to be similar in
identity status,
educational aspirations,
political beliefs and
deviant behavior

17. Sex Differences in Adolescent Friendships
Girls
Emotional closeness is more common between girls
Get together to “just talk and provide support for each other
Boys
Boys gather for an activity usually sports and competitive games
Boys focus on their accomplishments or achievements

18. Friendship Risks Internet communication: sexual obscenity harassment
reduced quality of face-to-face interaction

19. Benefits of Adolescent Friendships
Opportunities to explore self
Opportunities to deeply understand another
Foundation for future intimate relationships
Help in managing stress
Improved school attitudes and involvement

20. Cliques and Crowds Cliques: small groups: 5–7 good friends
similar in family background, attitudes, and values
Crowds:
larger: composed of several cliques
membership based on reputation, stereotype

21. Changes in Dating During Adolescence
Mixed-sex cliques prepare teenagers for dating
Dating goals change with age:
early adolescence: recreation, peer status
late adolescence: intimacy, compatibility, affection, social support
Relationships with parents and friends contribute to security of romantic ties

22. Dating Problems Too-early dating: drug use, sex, delinquency
poor academic achievement
Along with a history of uninvolved parenting and aggression in family and peer relationships, increase the likelihood of dating violence
For gay and lesbian youths:
finding partners
peer harassment, rejection

23. Depression in Adolescence
Depression-feeling sad, frustrated, and hopeless about life, accompanied by loss of pleasure in most activities and disturbances in sleep, appetite, concentration, and energy is the most common psychological problem of adolescence
About 15% to 20% of teenagers have had one or more major depressive episodes
Teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to report persistent depressive moods
Heredity plays an important role in depression
Genes can induce depression by affecting certain structures in the brain
Depressed parents can cause their children self esteem to be impaired

24. Adolescent Suicide Suicide rate jumps sharply at adolescence
The number of boys who kill themselves exceed the number of girls
Girls use methods from which they are likely to be revived such as taking an overdose of sleeping pills
Boys tend to chose techniques that lead to instant death such as the use of firearms
African Americans and Hispanics have lower suicide rates than Caucasians
Suicidal adolescents have a family history of emotional and antisocial disorders
In addition, they are likely to have experienced multiple stressful life events including those who are economically disadvantaged, those who parents are divorced and those who experience abuse and neglect.
Suicides tend to occur in two types of young people
Those who are intelligent, withdrawn
Those who are antisocial

25. Preventing Suicides Provide adult and peer support
Teach coping strategies
Remove access to means: gun control legislation

26. Delinquency
Juvenile delinquents are children or adolescents who engage in illegal acts.
Widespread in early and middle adolescence, then declines
low intelligence, poor school performance, peer rejection, association with antisocial peers are factors linked to delinquency
Adolescents from low income families from certain ethnic groups are more likely to be arrested, charged and punished compared to adolescents from higher income families
Boys are more likely to commit serious crimes than girls
Ineffective parenting can promote and sustain children’s aggression and this can lead to violent offenses in adolescence

27. Path to Chronic Delinquency

28. Preventing Adolescent Delinquency
Prevention must start early
Positive family relationships, authoritative parenting, high quality teaching in schools, and communities with healthy economic and social conditions go a long way towards reducing adolescent antisocial acts.
There is the need to implement zero tolerance policies which punish all disruptive behaviors usually with suspension or expulsion
Using multisystematic therapy involves counseling combined with family intervention in which violent youths are made to work and perform leisure activities, thus preventing them in engaging with deviant peers.