The social world pt 1

Question 1

The three identity “processes” and identity “contents”

Answer 1

1. Role confusion (also called “identity diffusion”)
   * Adolescent does not seem to know or care what his or her identity is
   * Erikson’s term for the fifth stage of development, in which the person tries to figure out “Who am I?” but is confused as to which of many possible roles to adopt
2. Foreclosure
   * Erikson’s term for premature identity formation, which occurs when an adolescent adopts or rejects traditional roles and values wholesale, without questioning or analysis (e.g., following parental expectations for a career without personal analysis)
3. Moratorium (note: mostly not until during emerging adulthood; see p. 357)
   * A choice of a socially acceptable way to postpone making identity-achievement decisions (college is a common example; military service)
   
   • note: also searching during college (vs. complete avoidance)
     Erikson (1968/1994) highlighted aspects of identity
     * Religious identity (strong parental influence for adolescence)
     * Political identity/ethnic identity (strong parental influence for adolescents)
     * Gender identity (perhaps most under “active work”; cultural, societal factors)
   • a social and cultural construction

Question 2

Beneficial parenting during adolescence; how family closeness and
parental monitoring can help adolescents; psychological control

Answer 2

• Finding a balance between closeness and distance is best -> supporting healthy
  development and autonomy for the adolescent
  (pp. 315-326)
  Four aspects of family closeness
• Communication: Do parents and teens talk openly with one another?
• Support: Do they rely on one another?
• Connectedness: How emotionally close are they?
• Control: Do parents encourage or limit adolescent independence?
  Remember: family functioning is more important than family structure!
  Parental monitoring: Parents’ knowledge about children’s
  whereabouts, activities and companions
• Positive: Part of a warm, supportive relationship (youth willingly share!)
• Negative: Overly restrictive, controlling, punitive (potential rebellion, “bad” habits)

Question 3

How parents & peers both affect development; peer pressure

Answer 3

• Peer relationships are special, yet do not negate need for parental support
• Healthy parent-adolescent relationships enhance later peer friendships and more reciprocal romances

Question 4

Normative developments among peers during adolescence

Answer 4

• Concerns for status among peers peak in early adolescence
  
  • peer acceptance & popularity
• Aggression
  
  • increases during (early) adolescence (peaks in middle school)
  • develops from physical to verbal, instrumental, and relational forms
• Social withdrawal
  -> increasingly untypical/stands out negatively; increasingly negative
  implications for adjustment (e.g., peer rejection, loneliness, depression)

Question 5

Three major emotional-behavioral difficulties during adolescence; main points within each topic

Answer 5

1. Depression* Self-esteem dips at puberty; less confidence and more depression
   * COVID has brought new challenges; the rate of serious depression more than doubled
   Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
   * Feelings of hopelessness, lethargy, and worthlessness that last two weeks or more
   * Combination of biological (genetic) and psychosocial stresses (person-environment
   interaction!)
   * Gender differences
   * Girls have much higher rates than boys
   * Potentially for biological, psychological, or social reasons
   
   • A cognitive explanation: rumination
     
     • Repeatedly thinking and talking about past (negative) experiences (more common in girls)
2. Suicide
3. Delinquency and defiance* Moody adolescents may become depressed and angry; internalizing and externalizing difficulties are closely connected during adolescence

Question 6

Harm from drugs (how drugs affect development); the idea of cohort effects; why some become addicted, when others do not

Answer 6

Harm from drugs (= general effects; each drug also has unique effects)
* Drug use before maturity is particularly likely to harm the body and brain growth
1. brain development, altered eating habits
2. also psychological effects (e.g., alienation, social/relationship difficulties),
3. lower academic performance and/or school drop out
* Few notice harm: experimentation -> use -> abuse/addiction
- the power of person X environment interaction!