Week 5 - Self-concept, Self-esteem & Identity formation during adolescence

Question 1

*

What is Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem, Self-Concect, and Self-Evaluation?

Answer 1

SELF-EFFICACY: ‘‘A person’s judgements of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances’’ (Merikangas et al., 2009)
SELF-ESTEEM: An individuals confidence in their worth or abilities
SELF-CONCEPT A view constructed of one’s self, which is developed through experiences and evaluations adopted from others
SELF-EVALUATION: ‘‘The perceptions and beliefs that a person holds about themselves, specificaly the emotionally valenced qualities, characteristics and traits (both positive and negative) and the person’s judgement of the value of these attriubutes (Orchard et al., 2021)

Question 2

SELF ESTEEM: Theoretical approaches

Answer 2

◦James (1892): high self- esteem results from good
performance in domains deemed important.

◦Empirical work: demonstrates this for individuals (Harter, 1999), as well as for groups (Harter, 1990)

Question 3

Development of self concept in adolescence

Answer 3

• Shift from concrete to abstract self-portraits
• Shift from social comparisions and normative standards during childhood/early adoolescence to internalised standards in later adolescence
• Shift towards differention of self into multiple domains
• Final task: intergration of multiple selves into a unified self concept

Question 4

Imaged selves

Answer 4

Adolescents able to distinguish between actual/real and ideal selves (Rogers, 1950)
- Greatest discrepancy in middle adolescence
- Possible selves: balance between ideal and feared self
- True versus false selves
- Presentation dependent on audience

Question 5

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

Answer 5

In adolescence the “crisis” is identity, defined as
“confidence in one’s inner continuity amid change”
(Erikson, 1968).

Men must achieve a stable identity prior to intimacy,
whereas women’s identity is defined through her intimate roles of wife and mother

• Basic trust vs Mistrust Birth - 1 year
• Autonomy vs Shame & doubt 1 – 3 years
• Initiative vs Guilt 3 – 6 years
• Industry vs Inferiority 6 – 11 years
• Identity vs Identity diffusion Adolescence
• Intimacy vs. Isolation Young adulthood
• Generativity vs Stagnation Middle adulthood
• Ego integrity vs. Despair Late adulthood

Question 6

Marcia’s 4 identity statuses

(MARCIA, 1980; 1987; 1994)

Answer 6

1. Crisis Yes, Commitment Yes = Achievement
2. Crisis Yes, Commitment No = Moratorium
3. Crisis No, Commitment Yes = Foreclosure
4. Crisis No, Commitment No = Diffusion

Question 7

Definitions of Marcia’s 4 identity statuses

Answer 7

Achievement: Individuals who after a period of exploration emerge with firm identity commitments
Moratorium: The active period of exploration when indiiduals examine alternatives in an attempt to arrive at a choice
Foreclosure: Individuals have adopted identities prescribed by parents or by other authority figures without ever exploring options or experiencing an identity crisis
Diffusion: Individuals who have little sense of commitment and are not actively seeking to make decisions

Question 8

Influences on identity development

Answer 8

Parental Influences (Grotevant &
Cooper, 1985; Papini, 1994):
- Attachment with freedom to voice opinions&raquo_space; achievement or moratorium
- Overly close bonds without separation&raquo_space; foreclosure
- Low warmth w/open communication&raquo_space; diffusion

Cultural/historical influences:
- Secular trend towards later identity development
- Current historical events can alter course

Question 9

What other influences might exist?

Self Concept and LIFE OUTCOMES

Answer 9

POSITIVE:
- General well being
- Quality of life
- Confidence in actions and abilities

NEGATIVE:
- Adjustment problems
- Externalising problems
- Internalising problems

Question 10

Self Concept and EMOTIONAL DISORDERS

Answer 10

Problems with self-perceptions are reflected in diagnostic criteria for anxiety and depression
- Worthlessness and guilty (depression)
- Fear of negative evaluation from others (social anxiety)
-
Postive self-concepts function as protective factor in developmment of emotional disorders, as these individuals are more resilient to life’s stressors

Question 11

self-concept in SOCIAL ANXIETY

Examined associations between social anxiety symptoms and self-perceptions

Answer 11

2022 Spanish adolescents (12- 16 years)
- Social anxiety assessed by the Social Phobia and AnxietyInventory (SPAI)
- self-concept measured with the Self-Description Questionnaire II (SDQ-II)

Adolescents with social anxiety more likely to
perceive relationship with peers as more negative.

Consider selves to be less attractive, less athletic and more emotionally unstable.

Question 12

Early Onset Psychosis

Answer 12

** Negative beliefs about self consistently linked with chronic psychosis** (Fowler et al., 2006).

• It has been theorized that development of dysfunctional self-concept could play role in development of psychosis symptoms, which also emerges during adolescence.
• A number of studies have found that adolescents at
  high risk of psychosis endorse negative self-beliefs
  more than healthy controls

Question 13

self in DEPRESSION

Answer 13

Consistent evidence that adolescents view themselves more negatively and less positively when they are depressed, compared to adolescents who
are not depressed.

• Orchard and Reynolds (2018) found that ratings of self-perceptions were as good at identifying presence of depression diagnosis as a depression
  symptom questionnaire.
• Some evidence that poor self-image in adolescence predicts depression later in life