Emotional and Social Development in Adolescence

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms in adolescent emotional and social development, including identity formation, moral reasoning, family and peer influences, and common adolescent problems.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Erikson’s psychosocial conflict of adolescence in which youths seek a coherent sense of self or risk feeling directionless.

Identity

An adolescent’s understanding of who they are, what they value, and the life directions they plan to pursue.

Identity Crisis

A period of exploration during adolescence aimed at forming a stable, authentic sense of self.

Identity Achievement

Identity status marked by firm commitment to goals and values following a period of exploration.

Identity Moratorium

Identity status involving active exploration of alternatives without yet making commitments.

Identity Foreclosure

Identity status characterized by commitment without prior exploration, often adopting parents’ or authority figures’ values.

Identity Diffusion

Identity status lacking both exploration and commitment, leaving the adolescent apathetic or uncertain.

Self-Understanding

The increasingly complex, organized, and consistent view of oneself that emerges in adolescence.

Self-Esteem

Overall self-evaluation that typically rises or stabilizes in adolescence and is shaped by peers, parenting, and other contexts.

Identity Status

Framework describing four patterns—achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion—of exploration and commitment.

Personality–Identity Link

Concept that identity status both influences and is influenced by the adolescent’s personality traits.

Attachment & Identity

Warm parent-child bonds that allow expression of opinions foster healthier identity achievement.

Foreclosure Parenting Pattern

Close parental bonds that restrict healthy separation and exploration, predicting identity foreclosure.

Low Parental Support

Parenting low in warmth and communication, associated with identity diffusion.

Peer & Community Influence

Interactions with peers, school, and community settings that encourage adolescents to explore values and roles.

Ethnic Identity

Sense of membership in an ethnic group, along with the attitudes and feelings tied to that membership.

Acculturative Stress

Psychological distress resulting from conflict between minority culture and the host culture.

Bicultural Identity

Integrating and adopting values from both one’s subculture and the larger dominant culture.

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Theory proposing three moral reasoning levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

Preconventional Level

Moral reasoning based on obedience to authority and the consequences of actions.

Conventional Level

Moral reasoning centered on maintaining social order and gaining approval from others.

Postconventional Level

Moral reasoning based on abstract, self-chosen ethical principles; few individuals reach this level.

Moral Identity

The degree to which morality is central to an individual’s self-concept.

Communalist Society

Culture emphasizing close, direct relationships in which moral reasoning rarely surpasses Stage 3.

Autonomy (Adolescent)

Growing sense of being a separate, self-governing individual during adolescence.

Adolescent Friendship

Peer relationships based on intimacy, mutual understanding, and loyalty

Online Interaction

Digital communication that can enrich social connections but, when overused, may result in unsatisfying relationships.

Clique

Small group of about 5–7 friends who resemble one another in background, attitudes, and values.

Crowd

Larger, reputation-based peer group that is more loosely organized than a clique.

Depression (Adolescent)

Most common adolescent psychological problem, arising from interacting biological and environmental factors.

Adolescent Suicide

Teen suicide rate increases; girls attempt more often, but boys’ attempts are more likely to be fatal.

Delinquency

Law-breaking or antisocial acts that rise in adolescence and are linked to harsh, inconsistent parenting and disadvantaged environments.

Parenting for Positive Outcomes

Supportive parenting that balances autonomy with appropriate demands and monitoring predicts favorable teen adjustment.

Moral Behavior Influences

Empathy, guilt, temperament, culture, and identity all shape the modest link between moral reasoning and actual behavior.

Individualistic Society Moral Response

Cultural context where moral reasoning extends beyond personal relationships and becomes more ‘other’-directed.

Emphasis in adolescent friendships

Girls - emotional closeness

Boys - shared activities + accomplishments