Psychosocial Development
Identity Development
The task of identity formation is to develop a stable, coherent picture of oneself that includes integrating one’s past and present experiences with a sense of where one is headed in the future. Before adolescence the child’s identity is like pieces of a puzzle scattered on a table. Both cognitive development and social situation encountered during adolescence push individuals to combine puzzle pieces-to reflect on their place in society, on the way others view them, and on their options for the future. For most individuals, puzzle pieces first form a coherent whole sometime during late adolescence and early adulthood. Erik Erikson, one of the most influential theorists in the area of psychosocial development, describes identity achievement as one of the main psychosocial tasks of the adolescent years. According to Erikson, “From among all possible and imaginable relation [the adolescent] must make a series of ever-narrowing selections of personal, occupational, sexual, and ideological commitments.”
Social forces play a large role in shaping an adolescent’s sense of self. Erikson argues that the key to identity achievement lies in adolescents’ interactions with others. The people with whom a young person interacts serve as mirrors that reflect information back to the adolescent about whom she or he is and who she or he ought to be. During the period of identity formation, adolescents also learn from others what they ought to keep doing and what they ought not to do. Society also plays an important role in determining the range of available alternatives open to young people involved in identity formation. Optimally, adolescents have the opportunity to explore a range of possible options related to ideologic, occupational, and interpersonal roles before making an identity commitment.
Progress toward identity achievement can be measured by the status of personal commitments in occupational, social, and ideologic domains. The status of personal commitments has four proposed levels: achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. Individuals who demonstrate identity achievement have established a coherent identity after actively exploring possible alternatives; individuals currently engaged in this exploration are in moratorium. Foreclosure refers to making identity commitments without a period of exploration experimentation, and identity diffusion refers to a lack of firm identity commitments, along with a lack of effort to make those commitments. During adolescence, many individuals progress from diffusion to moratorium to identity achievement, or, alternatively, from diffusion to foreclosure.
Experiences and opportunities within one’s social environment influence both the content of identity and progression toward identity achievement. Among minority adolescents identity foreclosure may be more common than among teenagers from the majority culture because of restricted opportunities to explore alternative roles. Identity diffusion also appears to be more common among minority boys and men than among other groups. Possible barriers to identity formation among minority youth may include conflicting values between the minority reference group and the broader society, a lack of adult role models who exemplify positive ethnic identity, and inadequate preparation for stereotyping and prejudice that are frequently experienced.
Development of Autonomy
Becoming an autonomous, self-governing person is another of the fundamental psychosocial tasks of adolescence. Autonomy includes emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. Emotional autonomy is that aspect of independence related to changes in an individual’s close relationships, and behavioral autonomy is the capacity to make independent decisions and follow through with them. Generally, emotional and behavioral autonomy are likely to surface as psychosocial concerns somewhat earlier during adolescence than value autonomy. Which usually does become a prominent concern until middle or late adolescence.
Individuals generally begin the process of emotional autonomy during early adolescence by becoming more emotionally independent from their parents but less separate from their friends. In the process of separating from their parents, younger adolescents often shift a portion of their emotional ties to other adults, often developing “crushes” on teachers, coaches, celebrities, or the parent of a best friend. By the end of adolescence, individuals are less emotionally dependent on their parents than they were as children. This emotional autonomy can be seen in several ways. First, older adolescents do not generally rush to their parents when they are worried or upset. Second, they no longer see their parents as all-knowing or all-powerful. Third, teenagers often have increasing amounts of emotional energy invested in relationships outside their families. Finally, older adolescents are able to see and interact with their parents as people, not just as their parents.
As adolescents increasingly find themselves in situations where adults are not present and where they must make decisions and take responsibility for their own actions, the extent to which they are capable of independent decision making and autonomous behavior takes on added importance. An individual who is behaviorally autonomous is able to turn to others for advice when it is appropriate, weigh alternative courses of action based on his or her own judgment and the suggestions of others, and reach an independent conclusion about how to behave. Behavioral autonomy includes the ability to make independent decisions based on one’s own choices rather than conforming to the opinions of others. Decision-making abilities improve over the adolescent years, with older adolescents being more likely than younger adolescents to be aware of risks involved with a particular decision, to consider future consequences, to turn to “experts” for advice, and to realize when vested interests may influence the advice of others. Conformity to parents’ opinions declines during early adolescence; however, conformity to peer influence increases during this time. During middle and late adolescence, conformity to both parents and peers declines, allowing for genuine behavioral autonomy. Subjective feelings of self-reliance increase steadily over the adolescent years.
In contrast to popular stereotypes, the development of autonomy during adolescence does not typically involve rebellion, nor is it usually accompanied by strained or tense family relationships. Especially in households where guidelines for adolescent behavior are clear and consistently enforced; where changes in guidelines are open to discussion; and where an atmosphere of interpersonal warmth, concern, and fairness exists, family relationships nurture gradual and smooth maturational process over the course the adolescent years. Problems in the development of autonomy are often understandable reactions to excessively controlling circumstances or to growing unpin the absence of clear standards. In addition to dispelling the myths that major parent-child conflicts and adolescent rebellion are essential to the development of autonomy, research has shown that parent and peer influences are not necessarily opposing forces bus play complementary Roles in the development of a healthy degree of individual independence.
Achievement
Another set of psychosocial tasks encountered during adolescence centers around achievement. Broadly speaking, achievement concerns the development of motives, capabilities, interests, and behaviors related to performance in evaluative situations. The study of achievement during adolescence during adolescence has focused almost exclusively on young people’s performance in educational settings and on the development and implementation of plans for future scholastic and occupational careers. Various theories have attempted to explain why some young people achieve at higher levels in school. Some have focused on differences in in individuals’ motivations to succeed. Others have examined young people’s beliefs about success and failure. Still others have pointed to differences in adolescent’s opportunities for success and to the roles of important adults and peers in their lives. Various indicators of achievement are highly interrelated. For example, success in school during the early elementary leads to higher levels of educational attainment, which in turn lead to more challenging forms of employment with greater earning power.
Although there are distinct differences among different occupations, the actual process leading toward occupational achievement can be a lengthy one in contemporary society. Because career options have expanded and changed so dramatically, and because increasing number of individuals enter college after completing high school, many adolescents do not decide on a career until well into early adulthood.(See Critical thinking Exercise)
A definite relationship exists between social class and both educational and occupational achievement. A significant problem facing those interested in promoting achievement during adolescence is socioeconomic disparities in educational and occupational achievement. Beginning in early childhood, through no action of their own, many individuals find themselves on an educational course that directs them toward low levels of academic achievement, curtailed schooling, and limited occupational mobility. They reach adulthood with little hope and few dreams for their future. Understanding how this course is set in motion and identifying factors that help individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds succeed despite tremendous barriers are necessary steps in building interventions that promote the development and health of these young people.
Sexuality
Adolescence represents a critical time in the development of sexualit
Psychosocial Development
Identity Development
The task of identity formation is to develop a stable, coherent picture of oneself that includes integrating one’s past and present experiences with a sense of where one is headed in the future. Before adolescence the child’s identity is like pieces of a puzzle scattered on a table. Both cognitive development and social situation encountered during adolescence push individuals to combine puzzle pieces-to reflect on their place in society, on the way others view them, and on their options for the future. For most individuals, puzzle pieces first form a coherent whole sometime during late adolescence and early adulthood. Erik Erikson, one of the most influential theorists in the area of psychosocial development, describes identity achievement as one of the main psychosocial tasks of the adolescent years. According to Erikson, “From among all possible and imaginable relation [the adolescent] must make a series of ever-narrowing selections of personal, occupational, sexual, and ideological commitments.”
Social forces play a large role in shaping an adolescent’s sense of self. Erikson argues that the key to identity achievement lies in adolescents’ interactions with others. The people with whom a young person interacts serve as mirrors that reflect information back to the adolescent about whom she or he is and who she or he ought to be. During the period of identity formation, adolescents also learn from others what they ought to keep doing and what they ought not to do. Society also plays an important role in determining the range of available alternatives open to young people involved in identity formation. Optimally, adolescents have the opportunity to explore a range of possible options related to ideologic, occupational, and interpersonal roles before making an identity commitment.
Progress toward identity achievement can be measured by the status of personal commitments in occupational, social, and ideologic domains. The status of personal commitments has four proposed levels: achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. Individuals who demonstrate identity achievement have established a coherent identity after actively exploring possible alternatives; individuals currently engaged in this exploration are in moratorium. Foreclosure refers to making identity commitments without a period of exploration experimentation, and identity diffusion refers to a lack of firm identity commitments, along with a lack of effort to make those commitments. During adolescence, many individuals progress from diffusion to moratorium to identity achievement, or, alternatively, from diffusion to foreclosure.
Experiences and opportunities within one’s social environment influence both the content of identity and progression toward identity achievement. Among minority adolescents identity foreclosure may be more common than among teenagers from the majority culture because of restricted opportunities to explore alternative roles. Identity diffusion also appears to be more common among minority boys and men than among other groups. Possible barriers to identity formation among minority youth may include conflicting values between the minority reference group and the broader society, a lack of adult role models who exemplify positive ethnic identity, and inadequate preparation for stereotyping and prejudice that are frequently experienced.
Development of Autonomy
Becoming an autonomous, self-governing person is another of the fundamental psychosocial tasks of adolescence. Autonomy includes emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. Emotional autonomy is that aspect of independence related to changes in an individual’s close relationships, and behavioral autonomy is the capacity to make independent decisions and follow through with them. Generally, emotional and behavioral autonomy are likely to surface as psychosocial concerns somewhat earlier during adolescence than value autonomy. Which usually does become a prominent concern until middle or late adolescence.
Individuals generally begin the process of emotional autonomy during early adolescence by becoming more emotionally independent from their parents but less separate from their friends. In the process of separating from their parents, younger adolescents often shift a portion of their emotional ties to other adults, often developing “crushes” on teachers, coaches, celebrities, or the parent of a best friend. By the end of adolescence, individuals are less emotionally dependent on their parents than they were as children. This emotional autonomy can be seen in several ways. First, older adolescents do not generally rush to their parents when they are worried or upset. Second, they no longer see their parents as all-knowing or all-powerful. Third, teenagers often have increasing amounts of emotional energy invested in relationships outside their families. Finally, older adolescents are able to see and interact with their parents as people, not just as their parents.
As adolescents increasingly find themselves in situations where adults are not present and where they must make decisions and take responsibility for their own actions, the extent to which they are capable of independent decision making and autonomous behavior takes on added importance. An individual who is behaviorally autonomous is able to turn to others for advice when it is appropriate, weigh alternative courses of action based on his or her own judgment and the suggestions of others, and reach an independent conclusion about how to behave. Behavioral autonomy includes the ability to make independent decisions based on one’s own choices rather than conforming to the opinions of others. Decision-making abilities improve over the adolescent years, with older adolescents being more likely than younger adolescents to be aware of risks involved with a particular decision, to consider future consequences, to turn to “experts” for advice, and to realize when vested interests may influence the advice of others. Conformity to parents’ opinions declines during early adolescence; however, conformity to peer influence increases during this time. During middle and late adolescence, conformity to both parents and peers declines, allowing for genuine behavioral autonomy. Subjective feelings of self-reliance increase steadily over the adolescent years.
In contrast to popular stereotypes, the development of autonomy during adolescence does not typically involve rebellion, nor is it usually accompanied by strained or tense family relationships. Especially in households where guidelines for adolescent behavior are clear and consistently enforced; where changes in guidelines are open to discussion; and where an atmosphere of interpersonal warmth, concern, and fairness exists, family relationships nurture gradual and smooth maturational process over the course the adolescent years. Problems in the development of autonomy are often understandable reactions to excessively controlling circumstances or to growing unpin the absence of clear standards. In addition to dispelling the myths that major parent-child conflicts and adolescent rebellion are essential to the development of autonomy, research has shown that parent and peer influences are not necessarily opposing forces bus play complementary Roles in the development of a healthy degree of individual independence.
Achievement
Another set of psychosocial tasks encountered during adolescence centers around achievement. Broadly speaking, achievement concerns the development of motives, capabilities, interests, and behaviors related to performance in evaluative situations. The study of achievement during adolescence during adolescence has focused almost exclusively on young people’s performance in educational settings and on the development and implementation of plans for future scholastic and occupational careers. Various theories have attempted to explain why some young people achieve at higher levels in school. Some have focused on differences in in individuals’ motivations to succeed. Others have examined young people’s beliefs about success and failure. Still others have pointed to differences in adolescent’s opportunities for success and to the roles of important adults and peers in their lives. Various indicators of achievement are highly interrelated. For example, success in school during the early elementary leads to higher levels of educational attainment, which in turn lead to more challenging forms of employment with greater earning power.
Although there are distinct differences among different occupations, the actual process leading toward occupational achievement can be a lengthy one in contemporary society. Because career options have expanded and changed so dramatically, and because increasing number of individuals enter college after completing high school, many adolescents do not decide on a career until well into early adulthood.(See Critical thinking Exercise)
A definite relationship exists between social class and both educational and occupational achievement. A significant problem facing those interested in promoting achievement during adolescence is socioeconomic disparities in educational and occupational achievement. Beginning in early childhood, through no action of their own, many individuals find themselves on an educational course that directs them toward low levels of academic achievement, curtailed schooling, and limited occupational mobility. They reach adulthood with little hope and few dreams for their future. Understanding how this course is set in motion and identifying factors that help individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds succeed despite tremendous barriers are necessary steps in building interventions that promote the development and health of these young people.
Sexuality
Adolescence represents a critical time in the development of sexualit
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