Adolescence: Peers, Family, and Identity Development

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering identity theories, self-concept, self-esteem hypotheses, family dynamics, and peer group structures in adolescent development.

Ego Identity

A conscious sense of individual uniqueness combined with an unconscious and conscious striving for continuity of experience across time and situations.

Psychosocial Moratorium (Erikson)

A developmental period during which adolescents experiment with possible adult roles and values without the burden of permanent adult responsibilities to find a unique fit.

Marcia's Identity-Status Model

A framework outlining how individuals select meaningful personal directions (in vocation, ideology, and sexual identity) based on levels of exploration and commitment.

Identity Achievement

The identity status characterized by high exploration followed by firm commitments; individuals show high achievement motivation, logical decision-making, and high levels of intimacy.

Foreclosure

The identity status characterized by high commitment without prior exploration; commitments are adopted directly from parental values and significant others, often accompanied by high conformity and authoritarianism.

Moratorium (Marcia)

The identity status characterized by active exploration of adult roles and values without having yet formed firm commitments; individuals often exhibit anxiety, an information-oriented cognitive style, and a 'pre-intimate' relational status.

Identity Diffusion

The identity status marked by a lack of both exploration and commitment; individuals exhibit low autonomy, procrastination, defensive avoidance of issues, and isolated or shallow peer relationships.

Exploration in Breadth

The degree to which adolescents actively search for different alternatives regarding their goals, values, and beliefs before establishing commitments.

Exploration in Depth

An in-depth, continuous evaluation of existing choices and commitments to ascertain how closely they align with internal standards.

Identification with Commitment

The degree to which adolescents feel certain about, internalize, and feel confident in their chosen commitments.

Ruminative Exploration

A maladaptive, repetitive, and passive cycle of exploration that contributes to feelings of hopelessness, uncontrollability, heightened anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

Autobiographical Reasoning

The process of using autobiographical arguments to create causal-motivational coherence between life events and changes in personality, values, or life circumstances, synthesizing them into a narrative identity.

Relational Self-Worth

The differentiated perception of self-esteem that varies across specific relational contexts, such as with parents, teachers, male peers, or female peers.

Deviance Hypothesis

The theory proposing that pubertal timing that deviates from peers (either early or late) hinders adaptation because it places the adolescent into a socially deviant category.

Developmental Stage Termination Hypothesis

The theory proposing that early maturation interrupts the consolidation of middle-childhood adaptive skills, placing adolescents at risk by involving them in roles they lack the ability to handle.

Overload Hypothesis

The explanation for declining self-esteem during school transitions asserting that adolescents face too many changes simultaneously without sufficient coping strategies.

Mismatch Hypothesis

The theory asserting that school transitions decrease self-esteem because stricter rules and increased control occur at the exact developmental period when adolescents strive for independence.

Clique

A small peer group (typically averaging around 5 members, ranging from 3 to 10) characterized by a circumscribed membership and a shared friendship orientation.

Crowd

A large, reputation-based peer group established by shared identity labels or abilities (e.g., jocks, brains, skaters) rather than daily interaction.

Liaison (Clique Structure)

An individual who maintains social ties with members of two or more distinct cliques, serving as a connective link between them.

Isolate (Clique Structure)

An adolescent who has virtually no social ties to any recognized peer clique.

Normative Regulation

A mode of peer influence defined by commonly accepted attitudes and behavior patterns that are expected and enforced within a friendship group.

Dunphy's Five Stages of Peer Group Development

A developmental sequence tracing peer socialization from unisexual cliques, to mixed-sex group socialization, the emergence of crowds, close association of heterosexual cliques, and finally the disintegration of the crowd into loosely associated couples.