Emotional and Social Development in Adolescence
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
Methodology of Study - Piaget conducted observations and interviews with children ranging from ages to . - Marble Games: He watched children play marble games to identify how they used and thought about the rules of the games. - Ethical Inquiry: He asked children questions regarding ethical issues such as theft, lies, punishment, and justice.
Stages of Moral Development - Heteronomous Morality ( to years of age): - Rules are viewed as unchangeable and dictated by supreme authorities. - Behavior is judged strictly based on outcomes rather than the intentions behind the action. - There is an expectation of immediate punishment for breaking rules; children often look around worriedly after making a mistake, believing in immanent justice. - Autonomous Morality ( years old): - Rules and laws are understood as being created by people and are viewed as convenient conventions subject to change. - Both the intentions and the consequences of an action are considered important in moral judgment. - Punishment is no longer seen as inevitable or "immanent."
Drivers of Moral Change - Development occurs through increasing sophistication in thinking about social matters. - Peer interactions are a primary driver of this development. - One-sided parent-child dynamics, where authority is absolute, are believed to hinder moral development.
Limitations of Piaget’s Moral Development Theory
Underestimation of Abilities: Research suggests even preschoolers can consider intentions when judging moral situations.
Overemphasis on Cognition: The theory focuses heavily on cognitive development and neglects social, emotional, and cultural influences.
Cultural Bias: The theory may not account for moral development variations across different cultures.
Neglect of Emotion and Motivation: Piaget focused primarily on moral reasoning and rule understanding, largely ignoring moral emotions such as empathy, guilt, or shame, as well as moral behavior and specific motivation.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development: Methodology and The Heinz Dilemma
Clinical Interviewing Procedure - Studied year-old boys using hypothetical moral dilemmas. - Conducted longitudinal re-interviews at - to -year intervals over the course of years.
The Heinz Dilemma - Scenario: In Europe, a woman was near death from cancer. One drug discovered by a local druggist might save her, but the druggist charged ten times the cost of production. The husband, Heinz, could only borrow half the money. The druggist refused to sell it cheaper or allow payment later. Desperate, Heinz broke into the store to steal the drug for his wife. - Question: Should Heinz have done that? Why or why not?
General Structure of Stages - Pre-conventional ( age): Moral reasoning based on reward and punishment. - Conventional ( age): Moral reasoning based on external ethics. - Post-conventional (Adulthood): Moral reasoning based on personal ethics.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development: The Preconventional Level
Description: Morality at this level is externally controlled; children accept the rules of authority figures.
Stage 1: The Punishment and Obedience Orientation - Focus is on the avoidance of punishment. - Prostealing Argument: If you let your wife die, you will be blamed for not spending the money to help her and there will be an investigation into your wife's death. - Antistealing Argument: You should not steal the drug because you will be caught and sent to jail.
Stage 2: The Instrumental Purpose Orientation - Morality is based on personal benefit and mutual exchange (e.g., "You do this for me, and I’ll do that for you"). - Prostealing Argument: Heinz should steal the drug because his wife will do something nice for him later in return. - Antistealing Argument: Heinz is running more risk than it is worth to save a wife who is near death.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development: The Conventional Level
Description: Individuals conform to social rules to ensure positive human relationships and societal order, rather than for self-interest.
Stage 3: The “good boy–good girl” Orientation (Morality of Interpersonal Cooperation) - Desire to maintain the affection and approval of friends and relatives by being a "good person" (trustworthy, loyal, respectful, helpful, and nice). - Rules are obeyed because they promote social harmony within close personal ties. - Prostealing Argument: Your family will think you are an inhuman husband if you don't steal it; if you let her die, you can never look anyone in the face again. - Antistealing Argument: If you steal, you bring dishonor on your family and yourself.
Stage 4: The Social-Order-Maintaining Orientation - Emphasis is on obeying laws and respecting authority to maintain social order. - Moral choices no longer depend solely on close ties; laws are vital for ensuring societal cooperation. - Prostealing Argument: Heinz has a duty to protect his wife's life per his marriage promise. However, stealing is wrong, so he should take the drug with the intention of paying for it and accepting the legal penalty later. - Antistealing Argument: It is a citizen's duty to obey the law despite the circumstances. If everyone broke the law in a crisis, there would be no civilization, only crime and violence.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development: The Postconventional or Principled Level
Description: Rules and laws are questioned rather than blindly accepted; morality is defined by abstract principles applicable to all societies.
Stage 5: The Social Contract Orientation - Right and wrong are based on social contracts (mutual agreements) and individual rights. - Laws should serve society’s best interests; unjust or outdated laws can be questioned and reformed. - Prostealing Argument: While a law against stealing exists, it was not meant to violate a person's right to life. The law needs reinterpretation to account for natural rights to live. - Antistealing Argument: No antistealing responses are typically provided at this level.
Stage 6: The Universal Ethical Principles Orientation - Reasoning is based on abstract universal ethical principles (justice, human rights) that may conflict with existing laws. - Focus is on the absolute respect for the worth and dignity of every person. - Prostealing Argument: Respect for property cannot be placed above respect for life. Human life and personality are absolute, and people have a mutual duty to save one another. - Antistealing Argument: No antistealing responses are typically provided at this level.
Gilligan’s Theory: The Care Perspective
Critique of Kohlberg: Gilligan argued Kohlberg’s theory was biased toward male experiences, prioritizing justice, rights, and abstract principles (Rights and Justice Orientation).
Caring and Responsiveness Orientation: Gilligan proposed that girls and women focus more on care, relationships, and responsibility.
Empirical Findings: - Females often reason at the same or higher moral stages as males in hypothetical and everyday dilemmas. - Both sexes utilize both orientations (justice and care). - Context profoundly affects the use of a care orientation. - The female emphasis on care may reflect greater societal involvement in care and concern for others.
Factors Influencing the Maturity of Moral Reasoning
Personality: A flexible, open-minded approach is linked to higher gains in moral reasoning.
Child-rearing Practices: Authoritative and warm parenting is associated with moral maturity in adolescence.
Schooling: Moral reasoning typically advances as long as a person remains in formal education.
Peer Interaction: Exposure to differing viewpoints during peer interaction promotes moral understanding.
Culture: Individuals in industrialized nations tend to move through Kohlberg’s stages more quickly and reach higher levels than those in village/traditional societies.
Additional Influences on Moral Behavior and Identity
Non-Cognitive Factors: - Emotions such as empathy, sympathy, and guilt. - Individual differences in temperament. - Cultural experiences and intuitive beliefs.
Moral Identity: - Defined as the degree to which morality is central to an individual's self-concept. - Teenagers with strong moral identity display exceptional levels of community service. - Note: High moral identity does not necessarily mean higher moral reasoning stages compared to agemates.
Challenges and Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory
Gender Bias: Prioritizes justice-based reasoning over care-based reasoning.
Cultural Bias: Based largely on Western priorities of rights, autonomy, and justice. Collectivist cultures may emphasize duty, community, and harmony.
Reasoning vs. Behavior: The theory focuses on how one reasons about an issue rather than how one actually behaves.
Stage Invariance and Universality: Kohlberg claimed fixed order and universality, but studies show people reason at different levels depending on the context, and not everyone reaches the highest stages.
Gender Typing and the Gender Intensification Hypothesis
Hypothesis: Adolescence involves increased gender stereotyping of attitudes and behavior, moving toward a more traditional gender identity.
Research Status: Findings are mixed; when evident, the effect is stronger for adolescent girls.
Influencing Factors: Biological, social, and cognitive factors.
Decline in Late Adolescence: Gender intensification typically decreases as adolescents move into later stages because: - Identity becomes more stable, leading to less pressure to conform. - Increased questioning of stereotypes allows for flexible gender expression. - Growing independence reduces the influence of peer and societal pressure.
Evolution of Parent–Child Relationships in Adolescence
Striving for Autonomy: - Emotional Autonomy: Relying more on oneself and less on parents. - Behavioral Autonomy: Making decisions by weighing personal judgment against others’ suggestions.
Shift in Focus: Attention shifts away from the family and toward peers.
Deidealization: Teenagers begin to see parents as regular people rather than idealized figures.
Effective Parenting: Requires striking a balance between maintaining connection and allowing for separation.
Parenting Practices and Adolescent Competence
Supportive Ties: Warm, supportive parent–adolescent relationships foster autonomy. - Benefits: High self-reliance, effortful control, academic achievement, positive work orientation, favorable self-esteem, and ease of transition to college.
Negative Practices: Coercive or psychologically controlling parents interfere with autonomy development. - Consequences: Linked to low self-esteem, depression, drug and alcohol use, and antisocial behavior, which may persist into early adulthood.
Adolescent Friendships: Characteristics and Trends
Friendship Quantity: The number of "best friends" generally declines.
Core Characteristics: Intimacy (psychological closeness), mutual understanding, and loyalty.
Homophily (Similarity): Teenage friends tend to share similar identity status, educational aspirations, political beliefs, and patterns of drug use or lawbreaking.
Self-Disclosure Trends (Figure 16.1): - Increases steadily toward friends and romantic partners during adolescence. - Declines toward parents during early adolescence.
Gender Differences and Adjustment in Adolescent Friendships
Nature of Closeness: Emotional closeness is more common among girls. Girls focus on communal concerns, while boys focus on achievement and status.
Co-rumination: Closeness can lead to co-rumination, which triggers anxiety and depression, especially in girls.
Composition: Same-sex friends remain most common, though the number of other-sex friends increases with age.
Benefits of Close Friendships: - Exploration of the self and deep understanding of others. - Foundation for future intimate relationships. - Assistance in managing adolescent stress. - Improved attitudes and involvement in school.
Adolescent Dating: Trends and Risks
Cultural Influence: Cultural expectations dictate the onset of dating.
Early Adolescence: Dating is primarily for recreation and group activities; relationships are often shallow.
Late Adolescence: Seekers of greater psychological intimacy.
Risks: - Too-early dating is associated with drug use, delinquency, and poor academic achievement. - of adolescents experience dating violence.
General Trend: Romantic relationships increase significantly throughout adolescence (Figure 16.3).
Peer Conformity and Reward-Seeking in Adolescence
Greatest Pressure Topics: Dress, grooming, and participation in social activities.
Proadult Influence: Peer pressure also exists to engage in positive, proadult behaviors.
Biological Basis: Increased reward-seeking and receptiveness to peer influence is linked to brain changes, though this declines with age.
Protective Factors: Authoritative parenting serves as an antidote to negative peer pressure.
Psychological Problems: Adolescent Depression
Prevalence: The most common psychological problem in adolescence.
Statistics: Approximately of adolescents experience one or more major depressive episodes.
Gender Difference: Girls are twice as likely as boys to report persistent depressed mood.
Influencing Factors: Heredity, child-rearing practices, "feminine" gender-typed coping styles, and experiencing multiple negative life events.
Adolescent Suicide: Statistics and Factors
Rate: Suicide rates jump sharply during adolescence.
Causes for the Increase: - Rising depressed mood. - Improved cognitive ability to plan ahead and take purposeful steps. - Cognitive changes involving the "personal fable," leading to feelings of absolute isolation and despair.
Gender Ratios and Methods: - Boys kill themselves at a ratio of compared to girls. - Boys have more risk factors, including substance abuse and physical aggression. - Girls make more unsuccessful suicide attempts. - Boys typically choose more lethal/instant techniques.
Adolescent Delinquency: Statistics and Causes
Prevalence: Adolescents account for of arrests in the USA.
Pattern: Most adolescents commit some minor crimes; delinquency rises in early/mid-adolescence and declines later.
Motivation: Primarily reward-seeking and peer approval.
Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Ethnicity: Strong predictors of arrests, reflecting systemic tendencies to arrest and punish low-SES and ethnic minority youths more frequently than white and Asian counterparts.
Chronic Delinquency Factors: Difficult temperament, low intelligence, academic failure, peer rejection, and association with antisocial peers.
The Two Routes to Adolescent Delinquency
Early-Onset Route: - Behavior begins in childhood. - Results from a combination of biological risk factors and negative child-rearing practices.
Late-Onset Route: - Behavior begins around puberty. - Conduct problems typically arise from the peer context of early adolescence.
Chronic Path: Figure 16.4 outlines the path for childhood-onset antisocial behavior leading to chronic delinquency.
Prevention, Treatment, and Resilience in Adolescence
Delinquency Intervention: - Prevention must be multi-level and start early. - Treatment for serious offenders requires intensive, lengthy approaches including parent training (communication, monitoring, discipline) and cognitive/social skill improvement for the youth.
Factors Fostering Resilience: - Balance between family connection and separation. - Effective family problem solving and rational decision-making models. - Parental monitoring and involvement in school. - Close, supportive friendships. - High-quality vocational education. - Culturally sensitive school and community environments. - Affiliation with religious organizations. - Participation in extracurriculars, youth organizations, and community service.