Adolescent Development week 5
By the end of this topic, you will be able to:
Describe how cognitive and cultural factors shape adolescents’ self-understanding and self-conceptions.
Explain the role of social comparison, self-consciousness, and self-protection in adolescent development.
Analyse patterns and influences on adolescent self-esteem, including gender and cultural differences.
Discuss the development of emotional awareness and regulation as components of the emotional self.
Evaluate Erikson’s theory of identity development and related frameworks, including Marcia’s identity statuses.
5.1 | Self-Understanding & Self-Conceptions
Self-Understanding in Adolescence
Adolescence is a critical developmental stage for the emergence of more complex and reflective self-conceptions. As cognitive abilities expand—particularly through the development of formal operational thinking (Piaget, 1972)—adolescents begin to think abstractly about themselves and consider who they are on multiple levels.
According to Susan Harter (1999), adolescents increasingly describe themselves using:
Abstract personality traits (e.g., “sensitive,” “outgoing”)
In contrast to the concrete, behaviour-based descriptions more typical in childhood
Adolescents also begin to differentiate among various aspects of the self:
Actual self – who they currently are
Ideal self – who they want to become
Feared self – who they worry about becoming (Markus & Nurius, 1986)
This multidimensional self-concept offers a richer understanding of identity, but also introduces potential internal conflicts and emotional complexity.
Discrepancies and Emotional Impact
As adolescents become more aware of the gap between their actual and ideal selves, this can result in:
Emotional distress
→ Larger discrepancies are linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms (Papadakis et al., 2006; Oyserman & James, 2009)
However, this gap can also be motivational. The vision of a possible self may:
Help adolescents set goals
Inspire personal development (Oyserman et al., 2006)
Thus, self-understanding in adolescence presents both challenges and opportunities, laying the foundation for future-oriented thinking and identity formation.
Complexity, Contradiction, and the False Self
Cognitive maturation enables adolescents to recognise contradictions within the self:
For example: “I’m shy with strangers, but loud with friends” (Harter et al., 1997)
This often leads to questions about authenticity, as adolescents ask themselves which version is the “real” one.
Many also become aware of the false self—a version of themselves they present to others that doesn’t reflect their true thoughts or feelings. This false self is:
Most commonly adopted in romantic or social situations
Often used to impress others or fit in (Sippola et al., 2007)
While managing multiple selves can be confusing, it also contributes to:
Social adaptability
Identity integration
These are key developmental tasks that support flexible and stable identity formation.
Cultural Influences on Self-Conception
Cultural values play a significant role in shaping how adolescents understand and express the self.
In individualistic cultures (e.g., the United States), the self is often viewed as:
Independent
Defined by personal attributes and achievements
Associated with the pursuit of high self-esteem (Raeff, 2010)
In collectivistic cultures (e.g., many Asian or Indigenous contexts), the self is more likely to be:
Interdependent
Defined through relationships and social roles
Oriented toward harmony and group cohesion (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)
These cultural frameworks also influence:
Whether self-enhancement is encouraged or discouraged
How adolescents experience and resolve internal conflicts (Heine et al., 1999)
Ultimately, self-development is not a universal process—it is shaped by the social values, traditions, and expectations that surround adolescents in their cultural contexts.
Key Concepts/Definitions
Self-understanding: Refers to the growing ability in adolescence to reflect on and describe oneself using abstract, multidimensional traits and concepts.
Possible selves: Include the actual self, ideal self, and feared self—representations that influence motivation, goal setting, and emotional well-being.
False self: A social persona that differs from one's internal experience, often adopted in peer or romantic contexts to gain approval or fit in.
Contradictory self-conceptions: Adolescents begin to recognise inconsistencies in their behaviour across contexts, prompting questions about their “real” self.
Cultural influences on the self: Shape how adolescents construct and express identity, with individualistic cultures promoting independence and collectivist cultures emphasising relational interdependence.
5.2 | Self-Comparisons
As adolescents develop a more sophisticated sense of self, they become increasingly engaged in social comparisons, especially with their peers. These comparisons help them evaluate their own:
Traits
Abilities
Social standing
According to Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory, individuals are naturally driven to assess themselves by using others as benchmarks. This tendency becomes particularly prominent in adolescence, due to:
Advancing cognitive capacities
The growing importance of peer relationships
Adolescents become highly attuned to how they compare to others in areas such as appearance, popularity, and competence—domains that are closely tied to self-esteem.
The Imaginary Audience and Heightened Self-Consciousness
This increased focus on peer evaluation contributes to self-consciousness—a psychological state in which adolescents believe they are constantly being watched and judged by others. David Elkind (1967) termed this phenomenon the imaginary audience.
Adolescents imagine they are the centre of others’ attention
This leads to heightened awareness of physical appearance and behaviour
As a result, many adolescents experience:
Fluctuating self-esteem
Increased emotional sensitivity
Self-doubt and a strong desire to fit in, particularly during early adolescence when peer approval is especially influential (Larson & Richards, 1994)
Self-Protective Strategies
In response to social pressures, adolescents often adopt self-protective strategies. One common strategy is the false self—a socially curated version of the self that is more desirable but less authentic (Harter et al., 1997). Research suggests:
The false self is most often used in romantic settings
It is less common with close friends, where authenticity is more likely
Other forms of self-protection include:
Emotional distancing
Downplaying personal goals to avoid the risk of embarrassment or rejection
While these behaviours can help adolescents navigate complex social situations, they may also:
Undermine identity consolidation
Compromise emotional authenticity over time
Individual and Cultural Differences
Adolescents differ in how much they engage in self-comparisons and self-protection, influenced by:
Personality traits
Attachment history
Cultural context
For example:
In collectivistic cultures, adolescents may be socialised to suppress self-enhancement and prioritise group harmony, which can reduce self-consciousness but may also limit open self-expression (Heine et al., 1999)
In individualistic cultures, where confidence and uniqueness are celebrated, adolescents may engage in more frequent and evaluative self-comparisons, which can lead to both vulnerability and self-promotion
Key Concepts/Definitions
Social comparison: The process by which adolescents evaluate themselves by comparing their traits and abilities to those of their peers, particularly in areas like appearance and popularity.
Imaginary audience: A concept describing adolescents’ belief that others are constantly watching and judging them, contributing to heightened self-consciousness.
False self: A socially constructed version of the self that adolescents present to gain approval, often used in romantic or evaluative settings.
Self-protective strategies: Behaviours such as emotional distancing or goal suppression used to avoid social rejection or embarrassment.
Cultural influences on self-evaluation: Cultural values shape how adolescents engage in self-comparison and expression, with collectivist cultures discouraging self-enhancement and individualist cultures promoting it.
5.3 | Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem in Adolescence
Self-esteem—defined as a person’s overall sense of worth and well-being—undergoes significant changes during adolescence. These changes are closely linked to cognitive developments that allow adolescents to engage in more:
Abstract thinking
Self-evaluation
Social comparison
Adolescents begin to reflect not only on who they are, but also on how they are valued by others, especially by peers. As a result, self-esteem becomes:
More global (reflecting overall self-worth)
More domain-specific, varying across areas like:
Academic ability
Physical appearance
Social acceptance
It also becomes more variable, often shifting from day to day—a pattern referred to as barometric self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1986; Harter, 2006a).
Trajectory and Influences
A well-established finding is that self-esteem tends to decline in early adolescence, followed by a gradual increase in late adolescence and emerging adulthood (Huang, 2010; Robins & Trzesniewski, 2005). This early dip is largely attributed to:
Increased self-consciousness (e.g., Elkind’s [1967] imaginary audience)
Heightened sensitivity to peer evaluations
Pubertal changes—especially for girls
During this period, adolescents become highly attuned to how others perceive them. Perceived failures in social, academic, or physical domains can lead to:
Feelings of inadequacy
Decreased self-worth (Alberts et al., 2007)
Gender Differences
Gender patterns in self-esteem also emerge during adolescence. Research shows that:
Girls, particularly in Western cultures, often experience a steeper decline in self-esteem compared to boys
This decline is linked to:
Body dissatisfaction
Greater emphasis on physical attractiveness in media and peer evaluations (Gentile et al., 2009; Frost & McKelvie, 2004)
However, this trend is not universal. For instance:
African American girls tend to report higher body satisfaction and self-esteem than White girls, possibly protecting them from the typical decline (Kelly et al., 2005; Greene & Way, 2005)
Contextual and Relational Influences
Self-esteem is strongly shaped by adolescents' relationships and social environments. Higher self-esteem is associated with:
Supportive relationships with parents, peers, and teachers
Experiences of warmth, encouragement, and emotional availability
In contrast, criticism, neglect, or emotional unavailability from key figures is linked to lower self-esteem (DuBois, 2003; Berenson et al., 2005).
According to Susan Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (1989, 2006a), there are eight key domains of self-esteem, including:
Scholastic competence
Social acceptance
Physical appearance
Romantic appeal
Close friendship
Of these, physical appearance has consistently emerged as the strongest predictor of overall self-esteem during adolescence (Harter, 2006b; Shapka & Keating, 2005).
Cultural Influences
Culture plays a critical role in shaping how adolescents experience and express self-esteem.
In individualistic cultures (e.g., the United States), high self-esteem is seen as a developmental goal, tied to:
Confidence
Personal independence
In collectivistic cultures, greater value is placed on:
Humility
Group harmony
Self-criticism, rather than overt self-enhancement (Heine et al., 1999)
As a result, adolescents in collectivist cultures may report lower self-esteem scores, but this does not necessarily reflect lower self-worth. Instead, it may indicate cultural norms that discourage explicit self-praise (Nishikawa et al., 2007).
Key Concepts/Definitions
Self-esteem: Refers to an individual’s overall sense of self-worth, which becomes more abstract, evaluative, and domain-specific during adolescence.
Barometric self-esteem: Describes the frequent fluctuations in adolescents’ self-worth in response to daily experiences and social feedback.
Relational and contextual influences: Support from parents, peers, and teachers is linked to higher self-esteem, while criticism or neglect can contribute to lower self-worth.
Gender differences in self-esteem: Girls, particularly in Western cultures, often show a sharper decline in early adolescence due to body image concerns and societal pressures.
Cultural influences on self-esteem: Individualistic cultures emphasise high self-esteem and confidence, whereas collectivistic cultures value humility, often leading to more modest self-assessments.
5.4 | The Emotional Self
The Emotional Self in Adolescence
During adolescence, the emotional self becomes increasingly complex, as young people begin to experience, interpret, and regulate emotions in more nuanced ways. This evolution is supported by key cognitive developments, including:
Increased perspective-taking
Advanced abstract thinking
These changes enable adolescents to reflect on their internal states, leading to greater emotional self-awareness (Steinberg, 2014). However, this heightened awareness is a double-edged sword—while it promotes more sophisticated empathy and moral reasoning, it also contributes to emotional sensitivity and mood volatility, particularly in early adolescence (Larson & Richards, 1994).
Emotional Differentiation and Meta-Emotions
A hallmark of adolescent emotional growth is the emergence of emotional differentiation—the ability to experience mixed or conflicting emotions at the same time. For example, adolescents may feel:
Proud and ashamed
Excited and anxious
Angry and guilty
This capacity, while sometimes disorienting, reflects growing emotional maturity (Harter, 2012). Adolescents also begin to develop meta-emotions—emotions about emotions—such as feeling guilty about feeling happy (Saarni, 1999). These deeper emotional processes often accompany identity development, as adolescents try to understand themselves through their emotional reactions to various life situations.
Emotion Regulation and Brain Development
The development of emotion regulation is a central task of adolescence and is closely tied to the maturation of the prefrontal cortex and its integration with limbic system structures, such as the amygdala (Casey et al., 2011). During this period, adolescents begin to shift from behavioural regulation strategies (e.g., avoidance) toward more cognitively based strategies, such as:
Cognitive reappraisal – reinterpreting situations to manage emotional responses (Gross & Thompson, 2007)
However, because these systems are still developing, adolescents often show emotional reactivity and mood swings. Effective emotion regulation is not only vital for mental health, but also supports:
Social relationships
Academic success (Morris et al., 2007)
Emotions and Identity Development
Identity exploration in adolescence often triggers strong emotional responses, as young people grapple with questions about:
Personal values
Life goals
Social belonging
Erikson (1968) emphasised that identity formation has an emotional component, with adolescents frequently experiencing:
Confusion
Insecurity
Excitement
Emotions like pride, shame, and self-doubt are commonly tied to how adolescents perceive their success or failure in becoming the person they aspire to be (Bosma & Kunnen, 2001). Additionally, many adolescents experience emotional ambivalence as they oscillate between childhood dependence and adult responsibilities, contributing to the inner turbulence typical of this life stage.
Cultural and Relational Influences
The development of the emotional self is strongly shaped by cultural values and relational environments:
Cultural norms vary in their expectations around emotional expression:
Emotional restraint is often promoted in East Asian cultures
Emotional expressiveness is more common in many Western cultures (Matsumoto et al., 2008)
Family dynamics also play a crucial role:
Adolescents who experience emotional support and open communication with parents tend to demonstrate:
Better emotion regulation
A more positive sense of self (Morris et al., 2007)
Key Concepts/Definitions
Emotional self-awareness: Refers to adolescents’ growing ability to recognise, reflect on, and interpret their own emotional states, enabled by cognitive development.
Emotional differentiation: The capacity to experience and identify mixed or conflicting emotions simultaneously, signalling increased emotional maturity.
Emotion regulation: Involves the use of cognitive and behavioural strategies to manage emotional responses, which continues to develop throughout adolescence.
Emotion and identity: Strong emotions often accompany identity exploration, as adolescents grapple with self-concept, values, and social roles.
Cultural and relational influences: Emotional development is shaped by cultural norms and family relationships, which guide how emotions are expressed and managed.
5.5 | Identity
Identity Development in Adolescence
One of the most significant developmental tasks of adolescence is the formation of a coherent and stable identity. According to Erikson (1968), this process is captured in the psychosocial conflict of Identity vs. Role Confusion, which he viewed as the central challenge of this life stage. Adolescents must integrate various aspects of the self—including values, beliefs, goals, and social roles—into a unified sense of who they are and who they aim to become.
Successful resolution of this conflict leads to identity achievement
Failure may result in role confusion, characterised by uncertainty about one’s direction, purpose, or sense of self
Erikson’s View: Personal and Social Identity
Erikson conceptualised identity as both a personal and social construct:
Personally, it involves a sense of inner continuity and self-coherence
Socially, it involves recognition and validation from others
This dual dimension is especially relevant during adolescence, when young people begin seeking greater autonomy from parents while simultaneously striving for peer acceptance.
Exploration is central to this process. Adolescents often experiment with different:
Roles
Beliefs and ideologies
Career interests
Political, religious, or relational affiliations
Though this can lead to anxiety or confusion, it is a necessary part of identity consolidation (Kroger, 2007; Marcia, 1966).
Marcia’s Identity Status Model
James Marcia (1966) expanded on Erikson’s theory by identifying four identity statuses, based on the dimensions of exploration and commitment:
Identity Achievement – commitment following active exploration
Moratorium – active exploration without commitment
Foreclosure – commitment without exploration (often based on parental or cultural expectations)
Identity Diffusion – neither exploration nor commitment, often linked to:
Lower self-esteem
Greater psychological risk (Côté & Levine, 2016)
These statuses are not fixed stages, but rather fluid states that adolescents may move between over time.
Cultural Influences on Identity
Culture shapes both the process and experience of identity development. In individualistic societies (e.g., many Western countries), identity is often framed as a personal journey involving self-expression and autonomy. In contrast, collectivistic cultures place greater emphasis on:
Role fulfilment
Interdependence
Social and familial responsibilities (Phinney & Baldelomar, 2011)
In such contexts, identity achievement may involve honouring family obligations or fulfilling group roles, rather than asserting individual preferences.
Identity as a Lifelong Process
Identity formation is not just about “finding oneself,” but about constructing a coherent narrative that links:
Past experiences
Current realities
Future aspirations
Erikson (1968) described successful identity formation as achieving fidelity—the capacity to commit to oneself and others despite contradictions or uncertainty.
Although adolescence is a key period for identity development, the process often continues into emerging adulthood and beyond. Adolescents benefit from supportive environments that allow for:
Safe exploration
Experimentation with different roles
Guidance from family, peers, and school settings
Creating these conditions helps adolescents navigate this complex but essential developmental task and move toward a clearer, more stable sense of self.
Key Concepts/Definitions
Identity vs. Role Confusion: Erikson’s psychosocial stage describing the central task of adolescence—integrating values, goals, and roles into a coherent sense of self.
Identity statuses: Marcia’s framework categorising adolescents into identity achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, or diffusion based on levels of exploration and commitment.
Exploration: The active process of trying out different roles, beliefs, and affiliations, which is essential for identity development and consolidation.
Cultural influences on identity: Identity development differs across cultures, with individualistic societies emphasising personal expression and collectivistic cultures prioritising social roles and obligations.
Fidelity: Erikson’s term for the ability to commit to values and relationships despite uncertainties, representing successful resolution of identity development.