Ch 9 Moving Into The Adult Social World

Question 1

What are the four major characteristics of adolescents thinking? Provide an example for each one.

Answer 1

Adolescent egocentrism - when J’s father breaks his leg, all J cares about is if he now can borrow the care more often.
Imaginary audience - people trip and fall all the time, but if J trips, he will know that everyone saw him and they’re laughing at him.
Personal fable - J asked a girl out and she said “no”; J was absolutely certain that noone else has ever felt such humiliation.
Illusion of invulnerability - J goes to hike a mountain where better hikers have been lost and found dead. That’s OK, though, since it could never happen to John.
(Elkind,1978) (Elkind & Bowen,1979)

Question 2

Marcia’s 4 identity statuses.

Answer 2

Diffusion
Foreclosure
Moratorium
Achievement

Question 3

What factors influence adolescents’ self-esteem?

Answer 3

Abilities and skills:
- competence in various domains increases self-esteem.
Being valued by others:
- parenting: affectionate and involved parents, requiring moderate discipline, ready to discuss the reasons for rules with their children
- how highly their peers think of them