Chapter 12: Socioemotional Development in Adolescence

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by compulsive starvation and extreme weight loss and accompanied by a distorted body image.

Autonomy

The ability to make and carry out decisions independently.

Binge Eating Disorder

An eating disorder characterized by binges, consuming an abnormally large amount of food (thousands of calories) in a single sitting coupled with a feeling of being out of control.

Biological Gender Transition

A medical process by which transgender individuals can undergo body changes to match their gender identity. Typically involves body changes that are induced by hormone therapy and permanent changes to the external genitals, accomplished by means of gender reassignment surgery.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating and subsequent purging; usually by induced vomiting and the use of laxatives.

Care Orientation

Gilligan’s feminine mode of moral reasoning, characterized by a desire to maintain relationships and a responsibility to avoid hurting others.

Civic Development

Fostering the skills, knowledge, and motivation for civic engagement, to participate in community and political life.

Cliques

A tightly knit peer group of about three to eight close friends who share similarities such as demographics and attitudes.

Critical Consciousness

The process of coming to understand, think about, and take action against systems of oppression, challenging social inequities; composed of three interacting components: critical reflection, critical action, and political efficacy.

Crowds

A large group of adolescents grouped based on perceived shared characteristics, interests, and reputation.

Cyberbullying

Bullying, or repeated acts intended to hurt a victim, carried via electronic means such as text messaging, posting in chat rooms and discussion boards, and creating websites and blogs.

Dating Violence

The actual or threatened physical or sexual violence or psychological abuse directed toward a current or former boyfriend, girlfriend, or dating partner.

Depression

Characterized by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and frustration; changes in sleep and eating habits; problems with concentration; loss of interest in activities; and loss of energy and motivation.

Eating Disorders

Mental disorders that are characterized by extreme over- or under-control of eating and behaviors intended to control weight such as compulsive exercise, dieting, or purging.

Ethnic-Racial Identity

A sense of membership to a racial or ethnic group and viewing the attitudes and practices associated with that group as an enduring part of the self.

Gender Intensification 

The view that young adolescents become sensitive to gender stereotypes and are increasingly likely to adhere to gender stereotypes.

Identity

A coherent organized sense of self that includes values, attitudes, and goals to which one is committed.

Identity Achievement

The identity state in which, after undergoing a period of exploration, a person commits to self-chosen values and goals.

Identity Diffusion

The identity state in which an individual has not undergone exploration or committed to self- chosen values and goals.

Identity Foreclosure

The identity state in which an individual has not undergone exploration but has committed to values and goals chosen by an authority figure.

Identity Status

A degree to which individuals have explored possible selves and whether they have committed to specific beliefs and goals, assessed by administering interview and survey measures, and categorized into four identity statuses.

Justice Orientation

A male mode of moral reasoning proposed by Gilligan that emphasizes the abstract principles of fairness and individualism.

Parental Monitoring

Parents’ awareness of their children’s activities, whereabouts, and companions.

Postconventiona Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg’s third level of moral reasoning emphasizing autonomous decision- making based on principles such as valuing human dignity.

Religiosity

Involves a relationship with a religion, a set of doctrinal beliefs and behaviors shared by a community, and religious practice, participation in its prescribed rituals and practices; sometimes overlaps with spirituality.

Psychosocial Moratorium

In Erikson’s theory, a period in which the individual is free to explore identity possibilities before committing to an identity.

Sexting

The exchange of explicit sexual messages or images via mobile phone.

Sexual Orientation

A term that refers to whether someone is sexually attracted to others of the same sex, different sex, or both.

Social Gender Transition

A process by which transgender individuals adopt social changes to match their gender identity, such as by changing pronouns and appearance.

Spirituality

Refers to a personal search for answers to ultimate questions about life, such as its meaning, and about ranscendent others, such as God; sometimes overlaps with religiosity.

Suicide

Death caused by self-directed injuries with the intent to die.