W10 L2: Adolescence II

identity in adolescence

  • puberty plays part

  • advances in cognitive development - self reflection opportunity

self efficacy - how skilled someone believes they are going to be

self esteem - individuals confidence in their own worth or abilities

self concept - view constructed of ones self, developed through experiences and evaluations from others

self evaluation - perception and beliefs that a person holds about themselves, thinking about oneself positively or negatively, can differ across life domains

self esteem: theoretical approaches

I

  • James (1892) - high self esteeem results from good performance in domains deemed important

  • empirical work demonstrates this for individuals (Harter 1999) as well as for groups (Harter 1990)

  • physical appearance is main domain predicting self esteem (in US and UK samples)

II

  • Cooley (1902) - looking glass self opinions of others a large determinant of self esteem

  • additive model supported by data from older children and adolescents (Harter, 1987, 1990)

development of self concept

  • shifts from concrete to abstract self portraits

  • shift from social comparisons & normative standards during childhood/ early adolescence to internalised standards in later adolescence

  • shift towards differentiation to self into multiple domains

  • final task: integration of multiple selves into a unified self concept

imagined selfs

  • Rogers, 1950: adolescents able to distinguish between actual and real ideal selves

  • Strachen and Jones, 1982: greatest discrepancy in middle adolescence

  • Markus and Nurius, 1986: possible selves - balance between ideal and feared self

  • true vs false selves

  • Harter and Lee, 1989: presentation dependent on audience

  • identify formation

  • task to describe self in terms of attributes but also considering general roles within society

Erik Erickson (1902 - 1994)

  • freud’s student

  • emphasised societal factors in development

  • contributed the theory of psychosocial development across the life span (1982)

  • 8 stages, each with a specific crisis to resolve

  • adolescence stage - crises between identity and identify diffusion

  • men - must achieve a stable identity prior to intimacy

  • woman - after intimacy

Marcia’s 4 identity statues

  • achievement: individuals who aster a period of exploration emerge with firm identity commitments

  • moratorium: the active period of exploration when individuals examine alternatives in an attempt to arrive at a choice

  • foreclosure: individuals have adopted identities prescribed by parents or other authority figures without ever exploring options or experiencing an identity crises

  • diffusion: individuals who have little sense of commitment and are not actively seeking to make decisions

identity status continued

  • continues well into adulthood - STUDY

  • parental influences - STUDY

attachment with freedom to voice opinions - achievement or moratorium

overly close bonds w/out separation - foreclosure

low warmth w/ open communication - diffusion

  • cultural / historical influences

self concept and life outcomes

- positive associations

  • general wellbeing

  • quality of life

  • confidence in actions and abilities

- negative associations

  • adjustment problems

  • externalising problems

  • internalising problems

self concept and emotional disorders

  • negative self concept - higher anxiety and depression

  • worthlessness and guilt

  • fear of negative evaluation from others

  • positive self concepts function as protective factor in development of emotional disorders as these individuals are more resilient to life’s stressors

  • adolescents with social anxiety are more likely to perceive relationships with peers as more negative - perceptions

  • they consider themselves to be less attractive and less athletic

  • more emotional unstable

  • low self esteem + concept associated with depression - overlapping abstracts

  • early onset psychosis associated with low self concept - could play a role in the development in psychosis symptoms

  • STUDY - longitudinal, as self concept declined there is a higher risk of developing psychosis symptoms

Gender differences

  • females significantly more negative self concepts than males

  • adolescents girls on average rate themselves more poorly than boys

  • adolescent girls outperform boys academically but boys rate themselves higher than girls rate themselves academically on average