Human Development
A Cultural Approach
Chapter
8
Adolescence
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Physical Development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
The Physical Changes of Puberty
• Puberty is a time period of rapid
biological growth
• Hormonal changes associated with
percentage of body fat
• Estrogen—estradiol production 8 times
higher in females
• Androgens—testosterone is 20 times
higher in males
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
The Physical Changes of Puberty
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
The Physical Changes of Puberty
• Primary sex characteristics—directly
related to reproduction
• Secondary sex characteristics—other
bodily changes due to hormonal
increases
• Girls experience menarche (first
menstrual period)
• Boys experience spermarche (first
ejaculation)
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
The Physical Changes of Puberty
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
The Physical Changes of Puberty
• Exuberance and synaptic pruning
 Especially concentrated in the frontal lobes
• Myelination encourages efficiency in
thought
• Cerebellum continues to grow
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
Timing of Puberty
• Girls begin puberty about two years
earlier than boys
• Cultural differences
 Kikuyu—boys show puberty before females
 Chinese—girls develop pubic hair before
breast buds (counter to Western pattern)
 African American—girls develop breast
buds and pubic hair earlier than white girls
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
Timing of Puberty
• Technology in food production and
medical care influence puberty
• Age of menarche has decreased in
Western countries
• Average age of menarche is lowest in
industrialized countries
 In rapidly developing countries a decline is
seen in recent decades after development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
Timing of Puberty
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Biological Changes of Puberty
Timing of Puberty
• Early maturation
 Girls—depressed mood, negative body
image, eating disorders
 Boys—favorable body image, higher
popularity, earlier delinquency
• Later maturation may be more negative
for boys with fewer problems for girls
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Physical Development
Puberty Rituals
• Puberty rituals mark a transition
• Girls
 Menstrual blood may be considered
dangerous to crops, livestock, and people
• Boys
 May be required to show feats of courage,
strength, or pain endurance
• Circumcision
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Health Issues in Adolescence
Eating Disorders
• Anorexia
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Inability to maintain body weight
Fear of weight gain
Lack of menstruation
Distorted body image
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Health Issues in Adolescence
Eating Disorders
• Bulimia
 Fear of weight gain
 Engage in binge eating then purge
 Can damage teeth from repeated vomiting
• Tend to maintain normal weight and
recognize abnormal eating patterns
• Eating disorders are more common in
cultures that emphasize slimness
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Health Issues in Adolescence
Eating Disorders
• Treatment options: hospitalization,
medication, or psychotherapy
• Effectiveness:
 1/3 of individuals treated for anorexia
remain ill
 1/2 of individuals treated for bulimia relapse
 Continuing problems as individuals dealing
with these disorders age
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Health Issues in Adolescence
Substance Use
• Reasons for substance use among
adolescents are varied
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Experimental
Social
Medicinal
Addictive
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cognitive Development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Piaget’s Formal Operations
Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning
• Hypothetical
Deductive
reasoning
• Pendulum problem
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Piaget’s Formal Operations
Critiques
• Individual differences
 Not seen in every instance of teen life
 Adolescents with math and science exhibit
it more
• Cultural differences
 Traditional Piagetian tasks show little
success
 Success if task relevant to culture
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Information Processing
Attention and Metamemory
• Adolescents improve on attention tasks
 Selective attention—focus on relevant
information
 Divided attention—two things at once but
learning is still detrimentally effected
• Memory also improves
 Use of memory strategies (mnemonic
devices)
 Experience and knowledge is enhancing
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social Cognition: Imaginary
Audience and Personal Fable
• Adolescent Egocentrism has two
aspects
 Imaginary audience
- Leads to feeling of self-consciousness
 Personal fable
- Can lead to anguish and high risk behavior
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cognitive Development
Culture and Cognition
Lev Vygotsky
•Zone of Proximal
Development
•Scaffolding
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Social
Development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Storm and Stress
• Adolescence thought to be a time of
storm and stress
• Experience Sampling Method (ESM) has
shown that
 In U.S. it is a time of emotional volatility
 Self-conscious, embarrassed, moody,
lonely, and nervous
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Storm and Stress
• Source of distress a combination of
cognitive and environmental factors
• Transitions coupled with how events are
interpreted contribute to volatility
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Storm and Stress
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
• Adolescent self—conceptions become
complex
• Composed of:
 Actual self—true self conception
 Possible self—what you could become
- Ideal self—would like to be
- Feared self—possible to become but fears
becoming it
 False self—what is shown to others
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
• Discrepancy between actual self and
ideal self can lead to feelings of failure
and depression
• Self-esteem tends to fluctuate during
adolescence
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Self-Esteem
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Self-Esteem
• Self-esteem composed of many
dimensions
• Susan Harter investigated eight
domains of influence on adolescent
self-image
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Self-Esteem
• Domains of importance to most
adolescents are:
 Physical appearance
 Social acceptance
• Tend to effect self-esteem the most
especially in girls
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Gender Intensification
• Gender intensification hypothesis—
psychological and behavioral
differences more pronounced from
childhood to adolescence due to
increased pressure to conform to
gender roles
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Gender Intensification
• Research has been shown to support
hypothesis
• From 6th–8th grade boys and girls selfdescriptions became more gender
stereotyped
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Emotional and Self-Development
Gender Intensification
• Gender intensification higher in
traditional cultures
• Boys
 Achieve manhood by providing, protecting,
and procreating
• Girls
 Demonstrate womanhood but it is
inevitable and cannot fail
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
• Kohlberg proposed a universal theory of
moral development
• His focus was on the structure of moral
reasoning
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
• Classified moral reasoning into three
levels composed of two stages each
 Preconvention—likelihood of rewards and
punishments
 Conventional—value conforming to moral
others
 Post conventional—objective principles of
right and wrong
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
Preconventional
Conventional
Postconventional
• Stage 1Punishment
and obedience
• Stage 2Individualism
and purpose
• Stage 3Interpersonal
Concordance
• Stage 4- Social
Systems
• Stage 5Community
Rights
• Stage 6Universal Ethics
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
• Alternate view of moral reasoning
focuses on the individual’s worldview
• World view provides basis for:
 Moral reasoning—explaining right or wrong
 Moral evaluations—outcome of moral
reasoning
 Moral behaviors—actions that reinforce
world view
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Religious Beliefs
• Adolescents in industrialized societies
are less religious than traditional
cultures
• Religion has a low priority and tends to
follow no specific traditional doctrine
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Religious Beliefs
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Cultural Beliefs
Religious Beliefs
• Differences in religiosity include:
 Family characteristics
 Ethnicity
• Religious involvement provides
protective factors
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Family Relationships
• Conflicts with parents increase
• May be due to sexual maturation, cognitive
issues, and greater independence and
autonomy
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Family Relationships
• Sibling relationships have conflict but
less than in earlier childhood
• Traditional cultures
 Siblings have child care responsibilities
 Close to extended family members
• More contact in traditional cultures than
Western countries
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Peers and Friends
• Friends provide companionship and
intimacy
• In traditional cultures adolescents
spend more time with family than peers
• Intimacy most distinctive feature of
adolescent friendships
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Peers and Friends
• Girls talk more with their friends than
boys
• Non-Western countries adolescents are
close to families even as they are close
to friends
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Peers and Friends
• Adolescent social groups include:
 Cliques—small group of friends
 Crowds—larger reputation based and not
necessarily friends
- Elites, athletes, academics, deviants, and
others
• Crowds help adolescents define their
own identities
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Peers and Friends
• Bullying composed of three
components:
 Aggression—physical or verbal
 Repetition—pattern over time
 Power imbalance—higher peer status
• Negative effects include helplessness,
anxiety, and unhappiness
• Cyber bulling has highest rates in early
adolescence
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Love and Sexuality
• Romantic relationships increase over
time
• Asian cultures later than other groups
• Romance is less formal than previous
years
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts of
Development Love and Sexuality
• Relationships and sexuality are viewed
differently due to culture
 Permissive cultures tolerate sexuality
 Semi restrictive cultures have prohibitions
 Restrictive cultures have strong
prohibitions
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Pregnancy
• Pregnancy and contraception use vary
by type of country
• Permissive adolescent sex attitudes—
low rates of conception
 Influenced by availability and attitudes
about safe sex and contraception
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Pregnancy
• Restrictive adolescent sex attitudes—
low rates of conception
 Influenced by discouraging attitudes
• United States high rate impacted by
mixed messages
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Sexual Orientation
• Adolescence is when sexual orientation
is fully aware
 Historically kept secret now more likely to
“come out”
 Homophobia can make coming out
traumatic
 Parental rejection a concern
 Acceptance by peers may be increasing
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Schools
• International variations
• School types
 Comprehensive Schools
 Non-Comprehensive Schools
• Enrollment
 Developed countries is the norm
 Developing countries it is difficult
- Gender differences and rising enrollments
but insufficient funding and lack of teachers
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development:Work
• Developing countries
 Prostitution on rise especially in Asia
- Many ways it can occur
• Developed countries
 Not related to family support
 Could negatively impact development
 Increased hours could lower grades
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Work
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Work
• European countries have tradition of
apprenticeship
• Common in central and northern
Europe
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Entry at age 16
Continued part time schooling
Training that takes place in workplace
Preparation for a career in a respected
profession
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Media Use
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Social and Cultural Contexts
of Development Media Use
• Electronic games
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Become more popular amongst boys
Favorite games involve violence
Could be related to anxiety and depression
Use may be related to feelings of power,
fame, and dealing with stress
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Problems and Resilience
Crime and Delinquency
• Crime rates peak about 18 then decline
• Age-crime relationship
 Increased peer importance coupled with
independence from parents
• Two types of delinquency
 Life course—persistent delinquents
 Adolescence limited delinquents
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Problems and Resilience
Crime and Delinquency
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Problems and Resilience
Depression
• Types of depression
 Depressed mood
 Depressive syndrome
 Major depressive disorder
• Two types of treatment
 Anti-depressant therapy
 Cognitive behavior therapy
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
Problems and Resilience
Resilience in Adolescence
• Resilience—good outcomes in spite of
threats to adaptation and development
• Protective factors are:
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High intelligence
Effective parenting
Adult mentor
High self-regulation
Ethnic identity (minorities)
Religiosity
Human Development: A Cultural Approach
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett