Chapter 9: Moving into
the Adult Social World
Socioemotional Development
in Adolescence
Major Topics
• Identity and Self-Esteem
• Romantic Relationship and Sexuality
• The Dark Side
Identity and Self-Esteem
• According to existing theories, how do adolescents
develop an identity?
Erikson’s Contribution
• Erikson believed adolescents needed to resolve a
crisis of identity formation.
• Involves balancing the desire to explore many possible
selves and the need to select a single self
• Forming an ID prepares one for the next stage—
intimate relationships
• Failure to form ID results in problems with forming a
relationship
Contribution from Piaget’s Formal
Operational Stage of Thought
• Adolescents search for an identity using their
hypothetical reasoning skills to experiment
with different hypothetical selves and learn more
about possible identities
• Adolescents also commonly…
• Demonstrate adolescent egocentrism which is
associated with self-absorption
• Visualize an imaginary audience associated with
feelings that others are constantly watching them
• Believe in a personal fable—an attitude that
their experiences and feelings are unique
• Have an illusion of invulnerability
Contributions About
Ethnic Identity
• Ethnic identity—feeling of belonging to a
specific ethnic group
• 3 stages of ethnic identity
• Have not examined ethnic roots
• Begin to explore personal impact of ethnic heritage
• Achieve a distinct ethnic self-concept
Marcia’s Contribution
Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses
Status
Definition
Diffusion
Overwhelmed by the task so accomplishes little
Foreclosure
Status determined by adults, not personal
exploration
Moratorium
Exploring various possibilities/alternatives
Achievement
Has chosen a specific identity
• Diffusion or foreclosure most common in
adolescence.
• Romantic, political, and religious-oriented
experimentation also common.
• Few adolescents completely resolve the identity
crisis. Adolescents usually achieve an identity in one
area of life; other areas are not achieved until later.
Using Identity Formation
to Make Career Choices
• Super’s Theory of Career Development
• Crystallization—adolescents use their emerging identities to
form ideas about careers
• Specification—learn more about specific lines of work and
begin training
• Implementation—individuals actually enter the workforce
• Personality-Type Theory (Holland)
• People find their work fulfilling when the important features
of a job or profession fit the worker’s personality
• Part-time employment is common for
adolescents and can contribute to choices
about careers but can have harmful effects:
• Decreased school performance
• Mental health and behavioral problems (e.g.,
anxiety, depression, drug use)
• Misleading affluence (e.g., earn and spend)
Self-Esteem in Adolescence
• Self-esteem sometimes drops when children move from
elementary school to middle school or junior high
• Peer comparisons more prevalent
• Self-esteem becomes more differentiated in adolescence
• Self-esteem is influenced by:
• Competence in the domains that are important to the
individual
• How others people—particularly people important to them—
view the adolescent
Romantic Relationships
and Sexuality
• Why do teenagers date?
• Why are some adolescents sexually active?
• Why do so few use contraceptives?
• What determines an adolescent’s sexual orientation?
Romantic Relationships
and Sexuality
• Romantic relationships provide companionship like
that provided by a best friend and an outlet for
sexual exploration
• Adolescents involved in relationships are often more
self-confident, but also report more emotional
upheaval and conflict
Sexual Behavior
• Influences on sexual behavior:
• Parental relationship: less likely to engage in sexual behavior
if close with parents, parents monitor behavior/activity, and
discourage sex
• Peer influence: more likely to engage in sexual behavior if
peers are
• Gender Differences
• Females: describe first sexual partner as someone they love
• Males: describe first sexual partner as a casual date
Sexually Transmitted Disease,
Pregnancy, and Contraception
• Be familiar with the common STDs!
• STD’s are transmitted from one person to another
through sexual intercourse
• Serious implications if left untreated
• Most people who contract STD’s do so during adolescence
• 1 in 6 adolescent females who engage in sexual
intercourse get pregnant
• Reasons for not using contraceptives: ignorance, illusion of
invulnerability, lack of motivation, lack of access
Sexual Orientation
• During adolescence, 15% of teens experience a
period of sexual questioning
• 5% identify sexual orientation as gay or lesbian
• Challenges of same-sex attraction
• Family and peer relationships often disrupted
• Verbal and physical attacks
• Higher rate of mental health problems
• Social change are helping gay and lesbian youth
respond more effectively to these challenges
The “Dark Side”
• What is sexual coercion?
• Why do teenagers drink and use drugs?
• What leads some adolescents to become depressed?
How can depression be treated?
• What are the causes of juvenile delinquency?
Sexual Coercion
• Date Rape/Acquaintance Rape
• When someone is forced to have sexual intercourse
with someone she or he knows
• 10% of high school girls; 20-25% of college age women
have been victims of date rape
• Useful guidelines to help prevent date rape (pg. 332)
Drugs and Drinking
• Drug Use
• While most adolescents avoid drugs, most high school
seniors have drunk alcohol within the past 2 months
• Teenage Drinking—3 Factors of Influence:
• Parents: drinking is important part of parents’ lives;
parents are uninvolved
• Peers: peers involved in drinking
• Stress: cope with stress using alcohol
Depression
• Depression - disorder characterized by pervasive
feelings of sadness, irritability, and low selfesteem
• Attributions - a person’s explanations of his or
her behavior, particularly success and failures
• The way a person makes attributions can
contribute to depression
• Norephinephrine and seratonin neurotransmitters that help regulate brain
centers associated with experiencing pleasure
Delinquency
• Juvenile delinquency
• When adolescents commit illegal acts that re
destructive to themselves or others
• Status offense
• An act that is not a crime if committed by an
adult, such as truancy or running away from home
• Index offense
• Acts that are illegal regardless of the perpetrator’s
age
Causes of Delinquency
• Adolescent-limited antisocial behavior
• The behavior of the youth who engage in relatively
minor criminal acts but aren’t consistently antisocial
• Life-course persistent antisocial behavior
• Antisocial behavior that emerges at an early age and
continues throughout life
Causes of Delinquency
• Biological contributions
• Some children inherit factors that place them at risk for
aggressive or violent behavior (e.g., temperament)
• Cognitive processes
• Impulsivity; inability to interpret other people’s
intentions
• Family processes
• Inadequate parenting
• Poverty
• Aggressive and delinquent behavior increased in
poverty stricken families and neighborhoods
Treatment and Prevention of
Delinquency
• Delinquent adolescents can be taught more effective
social skills and methods of self-control
• Parents can be taught the importance of monitoring
children’s behavior and necessity for consistent discipline
• Families can learn to function more effectively as a unit
• Schools can develop programs to motivate delinquent
youth to become more involved in school performance
• Communities can improve conditions in neighborhoods
where delinquency reigns