Adolescent Social Cognition and Self-Esteem

• Identity changes during adolescence involve a significant reorganization of one's sense of self, coinciding with the development of intellectual capabilities to understand the importance of these changes.

Cognitive Change and Identity Development

• Adolescents' enhanced intellectual abilities enable them to contemplate themselves in novel ways, considering hypothetical scenarios and future possibilities.
• Adolescents can envision their "possible selves," exploring various potential identities, which may contribute to heightened self-consciousness.
• Increased "future orientation" allows adolescents to consider the potential outcomes of their decisions and choices, prompting questions about their future selves.
• Stronger future orientation correlates with more positive outcomes for adolescents.

Social Roles and Identity Development

• Changes in social roles present adolescents with new choices and decisions, prompting them to examine their place in society.
• Identity development is a series of interconnected changes in how individuals perceive themselves in relation to others and society.
• Self-conceptions, self-esteem, and a sense of identity all undergo changes during adolescence.

Changes in Self-Conceptions

• Adolescents' self-descriptions become more intricate, abstract, and psychologically nuanced compared to children's simple and concrete self-characterizations.
• An individual's "ideal self" becomes more stable over time.
• Self-conceptions become more differentiated and better organized during the transition from childhood to adolescence.
• Adolescents are more likely to link their traits and attributes to specific situations rather than using them as global characterizations.
• Adolescents understand that they present themselves differently to different people.
• Teens group conflicting aspects into structured claims.
• Self-conceptions become increasingly psychological, especially in cultures emphasizing feelings and social life.
• Recognizing inconsistencies in one's personality can cause distress initially, but the development of a more complex self-view aids in coping with faults and weaknesses.
• Individuals with more complex and clearer self-conceptions are less prone to depression or anxiety and have better relationships with their parents.
• A differentiated self-concept allows for distinguishing between one's real self, ideal self, and feared self.
• A healthy self-concept involves having an ideal self to counterbalance a feared self.

False Self Behavior

• Adolescents recognize that their behavior varies and may not always align with their true personality.
• Adolescents are more likely to behave inauthentically in romantic relationships and with peers, but less so with close friends and parents.
• "False self behavior" involves intentionally presenting a false impression to others.
• Adolescents' engagement in false self behavior varies, influenced by factors like emotional support, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.
• As self-conceptions abstract and explore psychological words, interest in understanding their personalities and motivations goes up.

Dimensions of Personality in Adolescence

• The "Five Factor Model" proposes five basic personality dimensions: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience.
• Both genetic and environmental factors influence personality, with the environment becoming more influential with age.
• Individuals inherit temperamental predispositions that may evolve into personality traits in response to the environment.
• Temperament and personality become increasingly stable with age as individuals gravitate towards environments that reinforce their traits.
• Extraversion tends to decrease between childhood and mid-adolescence, while maturity increases between adolescence and young adulthood.
• Many core personality traits remain stable from childhood to adulthood, although their outward expressions may change.

Changes in Self-Esteem

-Dramatic drop in self esteem happens in adolescence, but adolescents' feelings fluctuate day to day, notably in early adolescence.

• Self-esteem becomes more stable between childhood and early adulthood, with adolescents' feelings about themselves becoming more consolidated and less susceptible to daily fluctuations.
• Overall mood tends to become less positive during adolescence, leveling off around age 16, while self-esteem either remains stable or increases in middle to late adolescence.
• Fluctuations in self-image are most common between ages 12 and 14, with early and preadolescents experiencing lower self-esteem, increased self-consciousness, and greater self-image instability compared to older adolescents.
• This may be attributed to heightened egocentrism and increased importance of peers.
• Adolescents evaluate themselves across various dimensions, such as academics and athletics.
• Physical self-esteem is a key predictor of overall self-esteem, particularly for girls.
• Early adolescent girls are more vulnerable to self-image disturbances.
• Self-confidence is typically lower, self-consciousness is higher, and self-image is shakier among girls than boys, though these differences diminish over adolescence.
• Black adolescents tend to have higher self-esteem than White adolescents, followed by Hispanic, Asian, and Native American adolescents.
• A strong sense of ethnic identity enhances overall self-esteem.
• Asian adolescents often experience lower self-esteem compared to their peers, likely due to higher rates of peer rejection.
• The ethnic diversity of the adolescent's environment impacts self-image, with being in the minority increasing the likelihood of self-image issues.
• Self-esteem is boosted by approval from others, especially parents and peers, and by success in school.

Antecedents and Consequences of High Self-Esteem

• Teens wrap up self esteem in approval of others which puts them at risk for self image issues.
• Adolescents depend on their peers for social support
• Academic success leads to improvements in self feelings, not the other way around
• Low self image leads to depression and vice versa
• Neg feelings = less like to seek feedback and support --> believe others dont like them --> diminishing self esteem
• Low self esteem leads to delinquency and getting involved w delinquent peers --> teens earn peer approval --> delinquency

Adolescent Identity Crisis- Erikson

• Erikson's theory posits that individuals progress through eight social crises throughout their lifespan, with identity versus identity diffusion being the primary crisis during adolescence.
• Adolescence is when young adults feel the need to know their place in society, how others view them, and options for the future.
• Developing identity involves interactions with others who serves as mirror who reflects to info about should be
• Developing identity is social as well as mental
• Identity = mututal recognition btwn the young person and society: the adoelscent forges an identity, but society also identifies the adolescent

Social Contexts of Identity Development

• The social context in which one attempts to establish their identity has a significant impact on the process and its outcome.
• Society's recognition plays a crucial role in shaping which identities are possible alternatives.
• Erikson suggests that modern society necessitates a "psychosocial moratorium," a period where individuals are free from excessive obligations to experiment with different roles and personalities.
• "Time out" helps teens self discover
• Experiments of roles important in order to identify an idenity
• Moratorium of a sense of identity isnt established --> its a problem for teens!
• Establishing a coherent sense of identity = sense of wellbeing, being home, sense of knowing where one is going
• Establishing identity = series of crises that can concern diff aspects of one's identity
• Adolescents explore identity through social

Problems in Identity Development

• Problems in identity development can arise from unresolved earlier crises or from an environment lacking a psychosocial moratorium.
• Identity diffusion: unorganized sense of self, disrupted sense of time, problems in work and/or school, and difficulty forming intimate relationships.
• Identity foreclosure: premature establishment of identity without sufficient role experimentation.
• Negative identity: adopting an identity that is undesirable to others, which is an attempt to forge self-definition under difficult circumstances.

Research on Identity Development

• Identity status is defined by where an adolescent is at a given time.
• Exploration and commitment are how most researchers determine status.
• Dynamic process which can be exploration in depth and breadth
• Healthy identity = experimentation and exploration before final decision.
• Individuals can be in one of four identity states based on responses: achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion.
• Eriksons thoery supported- shows correlations btwn traits and identity states.
• Approaches to making identity decisions:
  • Informational orientation (identity achievers)- seeking info
  • Normative orientation (identity forclosed)- conform to fam and get it over w
  • Diffuse/ Avoidant (identity diffusion)- procrastinate and avoid
• Personaility affects identity
• A defining part of getting a sense of identity = appraoching decisions w a strong sense of agency.
• Strong sense of personal agency = predicts identity achivement in ethnic and socioeconomic groups
• Becoming an adult is a psychological transition as much as it is entering formal roles.
• Parents that are authoritative --> good environment for well established identity
• Not established before 18–especially true with boys
• Decline in moving w moratorium or diffusion Self examination happens in teens but consolidation of identity doesnt take place till later
• Late teens and early 20s = key years in identity

Identity Development Over Time

• Identity achievement, like foreclosure, can be temporary, and regressions to less mature identity statuses are normal.
• Moratorium in adolescence is beneficial, but isn't always if it continues in young adulthood. Factors provoke turns in identity:
  • Internal: unahappy -External: life changing events
• One makes decisions based on the circumstances to better understand themselves
• Reminiscence bump- recalling life --> tend to put emphasis on the events that happened during teens and young adulthood

Identity and Ethnicity

• For non-majority, integrating ethnic identity into their identity is important.
• For white individuals, there is weaker sense of ethnic identity
• Immigrant teens struggle to identify between ethnic identity and where they are orginally from

How it Develops

• Its similar to general identity development
• Unquestioning view of self that gets offsetted by crisis
• Learn more about ethnic culture
• The need to have a strong ethnic identity becomes clear
• Indentifying strong ethnic identity helps w mental health
• Helps create value meaning
• Ethnic socialization: develop understanding with ethnic / social backgrounds- known as "racial socialization"
• Parent's use the way they were raised with teaching:
  • Understanind one culture
  • Dealing w racism
  • Succeeding in society
• Help think good things about background- stronger self identity
• Ethnic health impacted by orientation to mainstream culture
• Having good positive ethnic identity and being aware of descrimination --> good
• Foreign teens- positive about american ideals than US peers
• Idea that measures are more positive about their own adjustment
• Recent parents = control where kids are at

Identity and Discrimination

• Identity is hard for majority than minority adoelscents
• Dev influenced by the social contexts of their lives- specifically minorities should understand contemporary society.
• Discrimination, sterotypes, the costs and benefits of identifying w group

Discrimination

• The effects are very intense amoung the adults that have ethnic and parents born here
• Discrimination in school leads to losing contorl and leading into depression
• Leads to deviant peers and increases with risky
• Believe the public has low regard for their group
• High sensitive
• cope with it or see more subtle signs of bias.
• Identity development with strong attachment and the effects

Multiethnic

• Challenges for bi racial teen
• Change over time with others from biracial to monoracial group

Gender

• Sex assigned vs identity
• Orientations
• Traditions
• Traditional model
• Fluid
• Aggressions
• Sex role socialization during adolescence.
• The norms of their culture, and what they go to school with.
• High rate of mental health with teens Adolsecent males and femalses arent that diff

Gender Roles and Development

• Not diff in the brain
• diff within mal and fem groups- than diff btwn Most consistent difference= boy and girls express
• aggression- males more aggressive than females
• intimacy- fem verbal, males activity Also- extent which they are prone to low self esteem and deprssion- females prob to both Gender intensification hypothesis: pressure to behave in sex way during teens Expects of genders= flexible in teens b/c conigtive changes Influences on gen role = hormonal changes Victimized (not act masculine enoguh and feminine enough Adolescents are intolerant abt the peers way or sexual orientaions The norms or studying in behavior changes, depends on if its asked, history, or the situation

Masculinity and Femininity

• People vary in how Fem. and Masc
• Overtime = the stability
• Accepted by peers --> better abt themselves
• The gender of the atypical is greater and more important for boys.
• Not accept and show what is stereotype during adoselcene= make high bully
• Be pressure more from outside
• Punished and be called a deivian
• Girls are pressured from the way they look