CHAPTER 4: ADOLESCENCE
Teenagers! Gross.
INITIATION RITES
• Def: ceremonies or rituals in
which an individual is admitted to
new status or accepted into a
new position
THEORIES OF ADOLESCENCE
• G. Stanley Hall---a period of
storm and stress
• Margaret Mead---storm and
stress is a byproduct of
industrialized societies---culture
plays a role in development
• Robert Havighurst---every
adolescent faces developmental
tasks that must be mastered
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• PUBERTY: sexual maturation;
the end of childhood and the
point when reproduction is first
possible
• Triggered by hormones
• Some girls start at 8; some boys
as early as 9
• Begins with a growth spurt (rapid
increase in height and weight)
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT FEMALES
• Girls: breasts, hips, and pubic
hair develop
• Menarche: first menstrual period
• Usually between 12 and 13
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT MALES
•
Spermarche: period during which
males achieve first ejaculation
•
Acquire more muscle tissue and
larger lungs and heart
•
Both sexes can experience
Asynchrony: condition in which the
growth or maturation of bodily parts
is uneven
REACTIONS TO GROWTH
•
Can become self-conscious
•
Conform to ideals of how males and
females their age should act, dress,
and look
•
Early male maturing: more selfconfident and independent
•
Late male maturing: withdrawn,
rebellious
•
Early female maturing: awkward at
first, more favorable self-image
•
Late female maturing: friendly with
peers
SEXUAL ATTITUDES
•
Varies based on society
•
Some shelter children, some are open
•
Sexually transmitted diseases affect
views on sex
•
Some choose abstinence
The transition from childhood to adulthood involves changes in patterns of reasoning and
moral thinking, as well as the development of one’s identity…
SECTION 2: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Piaget’s formal operations
• Thinking becomes more abstract
• Understand principles of
hypotheticals and ability to deal
with analogies and metaphors
• Rationalization: a process by
which an individual seeks to
explain an often unpleasant
emotion or behavior in a way that
will preserve his/her self-esteem
• Change in thinking brings
changes in personality
PERSONALITY CHANGES
•
Dr. David Elkind
•
Problems that result from immaturity
and abstract thought:
•
1) Finding fault with authority figures
•
2) Argumentativeness
•
3) Indecisiveness
•
4) Apparent hypocrisy: have difficulty
understanding an ideal and living up
to it
•
5) Self-consciousness
•
6) Invulnerability and “messiah
complex”
ERIKSON’S THEORY OF THE IDENTITY CRISIS
•
Erik Erikson
•
Identity Crisis: a period of inner
conflict during which adolescents
worry intensely about who they are
•
Contributing factors: physiological
changes, cog development, and
awakening sexual desires
•
Conflict mostly from intense desire
to be unique coupled with desire to
fit in
•
Role confusion is normal
JAMES MARCIA’S IDENTITY CRISIS
•
Identified 4 attempts to achieve a
sense of identity:
•
1) Identity moratorium adolescents:
seriously considering issues; made
no commitments
•
2) Identity foreclosure adolescents:
firm commitment to issues based on
suggestion of others
•
3) Identity confused adolescents: no
serious thought to issues, no clear
identity
•
4) Identity achievement adolescents:
considered many identity options
and committed to important life
matters
SOCIAL LEARNING VIEW
• Proposed by Albert Bandura
• Social Learning Theory:
emphasizes interaction
• Our development depends on
other’s reactions to our behavior
• Our peers also serve as models
for behavior
Adolescents undergo many changes in their social relationships, adjusting to new
relationships with parents and the influence of peers…
SECTION 3: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
ROLE OF THE FAMILY
• Principle adolescent task
involves becoming independent
of families
• Parents can help or hinder
• Teens long for freedom but are
concerned with failing
• This conflict can result in
“adolescent rebellion”
ROLE OF PEERS
•
Clique: a small, exclusive group of
people within a larger group
•
Fulfills need for belonging and helps
define identity, builds selfconfidence, develops sense of
independence, clarifies values
•
Conformity: acting in accordance
with some specified authority
•
Peers influence: fashion, music,
school related issues
•
Parents influence: marriage, religion,
educational plans
TEENAGE DEPRESSION
• Depression in teens appears
mostly as anger
• They can appear frantic and
intensely hyperactive
• Withdrawal and rebellion are
common clues
• Communication is the best
solution
• Be attentive, be sensitive, be
responsive
EATING DISORDERS
•
Anorexia nervosa: disorder
characterized by a fear of gaining weight
that results in prolonged self-starvation
and dramatic weight loss
•
Miss menstrual cycles
•
Treatment: focus on encouraging weight
gain and therapy
•
Bulimia nervosa: disorder characterized
by compulsive overeating usually
followed by self-induced vomiting or
abuse of laxatives
•
Excessively concerned with weight and
body shape
•
Treatment: therapy and antidepressants
SECTION 4: GENDER ROLES AND
DIFFERENCES
GENDER IDENTITY AND ROLES
• Gender Identity: the sex group
to which an individual biologically
belongs
• Identity learned around age 2-3
• Gender Role: the set of
behaviors that society considers
appropriate for each sex
• Roles give social meaning to
identity
GENDER STEREOTYPES
•
Def: an oversimplified or distorted
generalization about the
characteristics of men and women
•
What society sees as masculine or
feminine
•
New ideas in recent time
•
Androgynous: combining or
blending traditionally male and
female characteristics
•
Bem Sex Role Inventory
•
Sandra Bem argues androgyny
should be a goal
GENDER DIFFERENCE IN PERSONALITY
•
Males more confident in science and math
•
Males are more aggressive physically
•
Females are more verbally aggressive
•
Reason: males have lower levels of serotonin
•
Women talk more than men
•
Females use more “hedges” (kind of, you know)
•
Females use disclaimers (I may be wrong, I’m not sure)
•
They use tag questions (Okay?)
•
Women display warmth, men display dominance
•
Women more sensitive to nonverbal cues
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE ABILITIES
• High school males tend to be
better at problem solving
(changing)
• Males perform better on spatial
ability
• Women are better at tracking
objects
• There are very few cognitive
differences
ORIGINS OF GENDER DIFFERENCES
BIOLOGICAL THEORY
• Emphasizes role of anatomy,
hormones, and brain
organization
• Gender roles come from early
men and women
• Certain genetic traits evolved
specific to males and females
PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY
• Gender identity comes
from identifying with the
same sex parent
• Between ages 3 and 5
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• Emphasized the role of
social and cognitive
processes on how we
perceive, organize, and
use info
• We learn gender roles
through observation
COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
• Gender roles acquired through
interaction with the environment
and thinking about those
experiences
• Child must identify as male or
female
• Then behavior is organized
around that schema
• Gender schema: a set of
behaviors organized around how
either a male or female should
think and behave