The Self, Identity, Emotion, and Personality

The Self

• Self: All the characteristics of a person, playing a motivating role in life through a sense of self and uniqueness.

• Adolescents have a stronger sense of who they are and what makes them unique compared to children.

• This sense of self, whether real or imagined, is a motivating factor in their lives.

Self-Understanding and Understanding Others

• Self-understanding: An individual's cognitive representation of the self, including the substance and content of self-conceptions, and is a social cognitive construction.

• Self-understanding involves introspection but isn't completely internal; it's shaped by social context.

Dimensions of Self-Understanding in Adolescence:

• Abstraction and Idealism: Thinking about the self in abstract and idealistic ways.

• Differentiation: Recognizing variations in the self across different roles and contexts.

• Fluctuating Self: Experiencing instability and change in self-perceptions.

• Contradictions within the Self: Acknowledging conflicting self-attributes.

• Real vs. Ideal, True vs. False Selves: Distinguishing between actual characteristics, aspirations, and inauthentic presentations.

• Possible Self: What individuals might become, desire to become, or fear becoming.

• Social Comparison: Evaluating oneself in relation to others.

• Self-consciousness: Heightened awareness of oneself and concern about others' perceptions.

• Self-protection: Efforts to safeguard self-esteem.

• The Unconscious Self: Acknowledging aspects of the self that are not consciously recognized.

• Coherent, Integrated Self (not yet): Struggling to form a unified sense of identity.

Self-Understanding in Emerging Adulthood

• Self-understanding becomes more integrative.

• Self-awareness: Awareness of psychological makeup.

Self-Understanding and Social Contexts

• Self-understanding varies across relationships and social roles.

• Adolescents create different selves based on ethnic and cultural backgrounds, navigating multiple worlds (family, peers, school, community).

• Difficulty in navigating these worlds can lead to alienation and other problems.

Perceiving Others' Traits

• Adolescents develop a more sophisticated understanding of others as complex beings with public and private personas.

• Perspective taking: The ability to understand others' thoughts and feelings.

• Social cognitive monitoring becomes increasingly important.

Self-Esteem and Self-Concept

• Self-esteem: The global evaluative dimension of the self, also referred to as self-worth or self-image.

• Self-concept: Domain-specific evaluations of the self.

• Susan Harter emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between self-esteem and self-concept.

Measuring Self-Esteem and Self-Concept

• Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents assesses eight domains: scholastic competence, athletic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, close friendship, romantic appeal, and job competence, plus global self-worth.

• Multiple methods, including self-reporting, ratings by others, and observations, provide a more complete self-esteem picture.

Self-Esteem: Perception and Reality

• Self-esteem reflects perceptions that may not align with reality.

• Narcissism: A self-centered, self-concerned approach toward others, contributing to adjustment problems.

• Narcissistic adolescents are more aggressive when shamed.

• Two types of narcissism include:

  • Vulnerable narcissism: Excessive self-absorption, introversion, and insecurity.

  • Grandiose narcissism: Exaggerated sense of superiority, extroversion, and domineering behavior.

• It is controversial whether recent generations have higher self-esteem and are more narcissistic than earlier generations.

Changes in Self-Esteem During Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

• Self-esteem often decreases during the transition from elementary to middle school.

• Gender differences in self-esteem (higher in males) narrow between ninth and twelfth grades.

• Self-esteem fluctuates across the lifespan, with males generally reporting higher self-esteem.

• Some argue that the decrease in self-esteem during adolescence is slight.

• There's concern that college students receive inflated praise, leading to inflated self-esteem.

• One study with over 300,000 individuals showed self-esteem drops in adolescence and late adulthood, and females have lower self-esteem than males through most of the lifespan.

Link Between Self-Esteem and Academic Success/Initiative

• School performance and self-esteem are moderately correlated.

• High self-esteem does not necessarily produce better school performance.

• Adolescents with high self-esteem show greater initiative, but outcomes can be positive or negative.

Domains Linked to Self-Esteem

• Physical appearance is a strong contributor to self-esteem in adolescence.

• Global self-esteem correlates strongly with physical appearance in the US and other countries.

Social Contexts and Self-Esteem

• Social contexts like family, peers, and schools influence self-esteem.

• Home environment quality (parenting, cognitive stimulation, physical environment) is linked to self-esteem in early adulthood.

Consequences of Low Self-Esteem

• Low self-esteem can lead to overweight/obesity, anxiety, depression, suicide, and delinquency.

• Research is correlational; associations don't prove causation, such as low self-esteem causing depression or vice versa.

Improving Self-Esteem

• Identify causes of low self-esteem in important life domains.

• Provide emotional support and social approval.

• Foster achievement.

• Help adolescents cope with challenges.

Self-Regulation

• Self-regulation involves controlling one’s behavior without relying on others, including self-generation and cognitive monitoring to reach goals.

• It includes effortful control, such as:

  • Inhibiting impulses and destructive behavior.

  • Focusing and maintaining attention despite distractions.

  • Initiating and completing tasks with long-term value.

• Early development of self-regulation is key to adult health and longevity.

Identity

• Identity is who people believe they are, integrating self-understanding.

• Erik Erikson’s theory is a comprehensive theory of identity development.

Erikson’s Ideas on Identity

• Identity vs. Identity Confusion: Erikson’s fifth developmental stage during adolescence.

• Adolescents experience a psychosocial moratorium, a gap between childhood security and adult autonomy.

• Unresolved identity crisis leads to identity confusion.

• Role Experimentation: Adolescents try out different roles and behaviors during moratorium.

• Vocational roles become central to identity development in late adolescence, especially in technological societies.

Components of Identity

• Identity is a self-portrait composed of:

  • Vocational/career identity

  • Political identity

  • Religious identity

  • Relationship identity

  • Achievement, intellectual identity

  • Sexual identity

  • Cultural/ethnic identity

  • Interests

  • Personality

  • Physical identity

Contemporary Thoughts on Identity

• Identity development is a lengthy, gradual process.

• Physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development allow adolescents to integrate childhood identities and work towards adult maturity.

• A concern is that many youths aren’t moving toward identity resolution, characterized by indecision, confusion, and ambivalence.

The Four Statuses of Identity

• James Marcia classifies adolescents based on crisis and commitment, using Erikson’s terms: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, identity achievement.

• Crisis: A period of choosing among meaningful alternatives.

• Commitment: Personal investment in intended actions.

Marcia’s Four Statuses of Identity:

• Identity Diffusion: Absent crisis, absent commitment.

• Identity Foreclosure: Absent crisis, present commitment.

• Identity Moratorium: Present crisis, absent commitment.

• Identity Achievement: Present crisis, present commitment.

• Criticisms of Marcia’s approach include that it distorts and oversimplifies Erikson’s concepts; however others maintain it is a valuable approach for understanding identity.

Additional Considerations for Identity

• Effective identity development involves ongoing evaluation of commitments.

• Dual-cycle identity model: Separates identity development into formation and maintenance cycles.

• Narrative approach: Individuals tell life stories to evaluate meaningfulness and integration.

Developmental Changes in Identity

• During early adolescence, most youth are in diffusion, foreclosure, or moratorium statuses.

• Important aspects for identity formation include:

  • Parental support.

  • Sense of industry.

  • Self-reflection about the future.

• Key changes in identity often occur in emerging adulthood (18–25 years).

• College can stimulate identity changes through increased reasoning skills and new experiences.

• Developing a positive identity in emerging adulthood requires self-discipline and planning.

• Identity consolidation continues into early and middle adulthood.

Family Influences on Identity

• Parents play a role in identity development.

• A family atmosphere promoting individuality (self-assertion and separateness) and connectedness (mutuality and permeability) is important.

Identity and Peer/Romantic Relationships

• Exploring identity is linked to the quality of peer, friendship, and romantic relationships.

• Friends offer safe contexts for exploring identity.

• Romantic relationships involve constructing one’s identity while providing a context for partner exploration.

Identity Development and the Digital Environment

• Digital platforms provide ways for adolescents and emerging adults to express and explore identity.

• Youth often present themselves positively online, receiving both positive and negative feedback.

Cultural and Ethnic Identity

• Ethnic minority groups struggle to maintain ethnic identities while integrating into the dominant culture.

• Ethnic identity: Enduring sense of membership in an ethnic group, with related attitudes and feelings.

• Bicultural identity: Identifying with both ethnic group and majority culture.

• Time spent in the dominant culture influences ethnic identity, with indicators differing across immigrant generations.

• Contexts of ethnic minority youth influence identity development, and programs can contribute positively.

• Racial identity: Collective identity of a group socialized to think of themselves as a racial group.

• Ethnic identity formation may occur earlier for those taking on family responsibilities or later for those in college due to the complexity of navigating a bicultural identity.

Gender and Identity

• Traditional views reflected gendered divisions: males oriented towards career/ideology, females towards marriage/childbearing.

• Gender differences in identity have diminished as females develop stronger vocational interests.

Identity and Intimacy

• Intimacy should develop after establishing a stable identity.

• Intimacy vs. Isolation: Erikson’s sixth stage in early adulthood.

• Healthy friendships and intimate relationships lead to intimacy; otherwise it could result in isolation.

• Positive identity development in adolescence predicts better intimacy in romantic relationships in emerging adulthood.

Emotional Development

• Emotion: Feeling or affect in important states or interactions, especially concerning well-being.

• Emotion is closely tied to self-esteem and contributes to identity development through experiences like sexual encounters and driving.

Emotions of Adolescence

• Adolescence is seen as a time of emotional turmoil, though this can be stereotypical.

• Early adolescence involves more frequent emotional highs and lows.

• Moodiness is normal, but intense negative emotions can indicate problems.

Hormones, Experience, and Emotions

• Significant hormonal changes occur during puberty, potentially contributing to emotional fluctuations.

• Pubertal changes are associated with increased negative emotions.

• Environmental experiences may have a greater influence on emotions than hormones.

Emotion Regulation

• Managing and controlling emotions is key to positive outcomes.

• Adolescents improve emotion regulation through:

  • Cognitive strategies.

  • Modulating arousal.

  • Managing situations.

  • Coping with stress.

Emotional Competence

• Adolescents become more aware of their emotional cycles, improving their ability to cope.

• Emotional competence includes:

  • Awareness of the role of emotional expression in relationships.

  • Adaptive coping with negative emotions.

  • Understanding that inner states don’t have to match outer expressions.

  • Awareness of one’s emotional states without being overwhelmed.

  • Ability to discern others’ emotions.

Social-Emotional Education Programs

• Educating adolescents broadly should include socioemotional development.

• Programs like Second Step and CASEL improve socioemotional skills.

Personality Development

• Personality: Enduring personal characteristics.

• Big Five Factors of Personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism (OCEAN).

• Conscientiousness and agreeableness increase in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.

• Optimism: Positive outlook, minimizing problems, linked to lower risk of depression and distress, better health, and academic achievement.

• Most psychologists are interactionists, considering both traits and situations.

• The trait approach alone overemphasizes stability.

Temperament

• Temperament: Behavioral style and characteristic way of responding, forming the foundation of personality.

Temperament Categories

• Chess and Thomas identified three types of temperament:

  • Easy child: Positive mood, regular routines, adapts easily.

  • Difficult child: Reacts negatively, slow to accept new experiences.

  • Slow-to-warm-up child: Low activity level, somewhat negative, low intensity of mood.

• New classifications include:

  • Positive affect and approach: Similar to extroversion/introversion.

  • Negative affectivity: Easily distressed, related to introversion and neuroticism.

  • Effortful control: Ability to control emotions.

Developmental Connections and Contexts

• Temperament shows both continuity and change from childhood to adulthood.

• Easy temperament in childhood is linked to optimal development/adjustment.

Varying experiences modify links between temperament and personality

• Varying experiences with caregivers, the physical environment, peers, and schools may modify links between temperament in childhood and personality in adulthood.

• Example:

  • Inhibited children with sensitive caregivers and stimulus shelters may develop extroverted, emotionally stable personalities.

  • Inhibited children with controlling caregivers and chaotic environments may develop introverted personalities with emotional problems.

Goodness of Fit

• Goodness of fit: Match between temperament and environmental demands, important for adjustment.

• Effortful control, manageability, and agreeableness reduce adverse environment effects, while negative emotionality increases them.

Here are the answers to your questions based on the provided notes:

Self-Understanding in Adolescents:
Self-understanding is an individual's cognitive representation of the self, including the substance and content of self-conceptions, and is a social cognitive construction. Adolescents differ from children in their self-understanding in several ways:

1. Abstraction and Idealism: Adolescents think about themselves in more abstract and idealistic ways compared to children.

2. Differentiation: Adolescents recognize variations in themselves across different roles and contexts, unlike children who have a more unified sense of self.

3. Fluctuating Self: Adolescents experience more instability and change in their self-perceptions than children.

Self-Esteem vs. Self-Concept:
Self-esteem is the global evaluative dimension of the self, referring to overall self-worth or self-image. Self-concept, on the other hand, involves domain-specific evaluations of the self (e.g., academic, athletic).

Narcissism:
Narcissism is a self-centered, self-concerned approach toward others. Personality characteristics of a narcissist include:

1. Self-absorption

2. A sense of superiority

3. Extroversion/Introversion

4. Domineering behavior/Insecurity

Self-Esteem in Males and Females:
During adolescence and emerging adulthood, males generally report higher self-esteem than females. However, gender differences in self-esteem narrow between ninth and twelfth grades. Self-esteem fluctuates across the lifespan, with these differences persisting into adulthood, though some research suggests only slight decreases during adolescence.

Parts of Identity:
Identity is composed of multiple parts, including:

1. Vocational/career identity

2. Political identity

3. Religious identity

4. Relationship identity

5. Achievement/intellectual identity

Contemporary View of Identity Development:
Contemporary views of identity development emphasize that it is a lengthy, gradual process influenced by physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. Many youths aren’t moving toward identity resolution, characterized by indecision, confusion, and ambivalence.

James Marcia's Four Identity Statuses:
James Marcia classifies adolescents based on crisis and commitment:

1. Identity Diffusion: Absent crisis, absent commitment.

2. Identity Foreclosure: Absent crisis, present commitment.

3. Identity Moratorium: Present crisis, absent commitment.

4. Identity Achievement: Present crisis, present commitment.

Revisions and Extensions of Marcia's Theory:
Revisions and extensions of James Marcia's theory include:

• Dual-cycle identity model: Separates identity development into formation and maintenance cycles.

• Narrative approach: Individuals tell life stories to evaluate meaningfulness and integration.

Family Influences on Identity:
A family atmosphere promoting individuality (self-assertion and separateness) and connectedness (mutuality and permeability) is important for identity development.

Challenges for Ethnic Minority Adolescents:
Ethnic minority groups struggle to maintain their ethnic identities while integrating into the dominant culture. Challenges may include navigating multiple worlds (family, peers, school, community) and dealing with discrimination.

Emotional Competence:
Emotional competence includes awareness of the role of emotional expression in relationships, adaptive coping with negative emotions, understanding that inner states don’t have to match outer expressions, awareness of one’s emotional states without being overwhelmed and the ability to discern others’ emotions. Examples include:

• Being aware of their emotional cycles.

• Exhibiting adaptive coping mechanisms.

• Awareness of the need to manage situations based on their emotions.

Big Five Factors of Personality:
The Big Five factors of personality are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN). Research has revealed conscientiousness as a critical predictor of adjustment and competence. Conscientiousness is linked to academic achievement and better health.

New Classifications of Temperament:
The three new classifications of temperament include:

• Positive affect and approach: Similar to extroversion.

• Negative affectivity: Easily distressed, related to introversion and neuroticism.

• Effortful control: Ability to control emotions.

Additional Concepts:

• Inhibited vs. Uninhibited Children: Discusses differences in temperament reflecting how children react to new situations, with inhibited children being more reserved and uninhibited children being more outgoing.

• Conscientiousness: The best predictor of adjustment and competence.

• Characteristics and Possible Outcomes of Easy, Difficult, Slow-to-Warm-Up Temperament: Describe how the level of mood/ adaptability impacts development.

• Control of Emotions Throughout Development: The ability to manage emotions to achieve a set goal for self, and others.

• Differences of Self-Understanding Between Children, Adolescents, and Emerging Adults: Increased nuanced views of themselves as they age.

• Ethnic Identity: Enduring sense of membership in an ethnic group, with attitudes/feelings of identity.

• Outcome of Empty Praise: Inflated self-esteem with poor results.

• Outcome of Family Cohesiveness and Communication: Promotes an increased feeling of self-worth.

• Self-Concept Compared to Self Esteem (Susan Harter): Self-esteem = Global and Self-concept = Domain-specific.

• Real-Self vs. Ideal-Self, According to Carl Rogers: Real-self as who you are and Ideal-self is who you want to be.

• Gisela Labouvie-Vief: Coherent, integrated worldview of self-understanding.

• Outcomes of Self-Regulation: Self-regulation aids in inhibiting destructive behaviors, attention focusing, and task completion.

• Hormones and Emotions: Puberty leads to increased negative emotions.

• Emotional Highs and Lows: Occur more frequently in early adolescence.