Validation and Reflected
Appraisal across the Adolescent
Population.
A study conducted with the aim of understanding the trends of
Validation and perception of Reflected Appraisal amongst the
Adolescent population of the Indian Subcontinent.
-Research Conducted by Omera Yusuf of Class 11B. Psychology Student [Batch
2021-22].
Introduction:
Adolescence is one of the most important stages of human life and development. This age
group is characterised by physical changes, including puberty, social and psychological, with
development of reasoning skills, rational thought, and moral judgment. In brief, the five main
prominent attributes of this age group are- biological growth and development, an undefined
status, increased decision making, increased pressures, and the search for self.
Through my research work on Validation and Reflected Appraisal, I wish to delve in the
teenage mind to understand the importance of oneself and related personal attributes, people
surrounding the self, other various experiences and so on. This is an attempt to bring clarity
to myself as an individual, at the same time help other adolescents in figuring out themselves
and their environments and subsequently understand the key influencer or influencing
parameters in the way people act, conduct and portray themselves with reference to
Validation and Reflected Appraisal.
‘Did I mess up with the notes in the Piano Recital?’
‘Am I healthy and fit, or should I be considering losing weight?’
‘I don’t think they like me’.
These are all statements that are usually made by adolescents which reflects their inner self
and their perception on themselves. These perceptions are heavily influenced by the
perceptions other people hold for them. Teenagers associate with people and environments
that make them feel comfortable. The fear of being interpreted in a manner that is not desired,
being judged or spoken critically about, is something that teenagers and adolescents often
wish to avoid and therefore this thought process and situation gives genesis to my topicValidation and Reflected Appraisal across the Adolescent Population.
Most Important Definitions (critical to understanding the rest of the document):
Validation- Recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings, opinions and actions
are valid or worthwhile.
Reflected Appraisal- An individual's perception on how others see and evaluate them.
Tools for Conducting the Research:
The method adopted by me to collect relevant information about my target group, was
through sending out Questionnaire Surveys via Google Forms. Using this, I was able to view
my responses in a pictorial format at the same time could study specific individuals and their
responses from the Spreadsheet that I could access.
I chose the questionnaire survey as it enabled me to study a huge group of adolescents and
obtain the desired type of responses through means of Multiple-Choice Questions, Rating
Systems and Long Answer Type Questions. There were 9 questions in total; 6 Numerical
Linear Scale Rating System, 2 Multiple-Choice Questions and 1 Long Answer Type.
Literature Review:
Adolescent: The period following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops
from a child into an adult. In terms of this research, the term adolescents can be used
interchangeably with the word ‘teenager’ and understood with respect to that.
Validation- Recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or
worthwhile. In case of this research, we will be looking at ‘validation’ in a broad sense,
taking in consideration the emotional, social and individual aspect.
Reflected Appraisal- An individual's perception on how others see and evaluate them.
Supportive Home Environment- A home environment which is enterprising, progressive,
helpful and helps the adolescent to grow and develop in almost all aspects of a teenager’s or
student’s life such as- emotional, academic, physical (sports and physical health) and cocurricular.
Confidence- The state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct
or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective.
Demographic Data:
1. Majority of the test takers (25, 78.1%) were adolescents belonging to the 15-16 years
age group. The other age group belonged to the 14-15 years age group (7, 21.9%).
These were school students belonging to different schools from parts of the city. A
few test takers were also from a different city in the country.
Findings:
FACTOR 1: Supportive Home Environment
What we derive from the data: Almost 23 participants (71.9%) have a good and
positive supportive home environment, while 6 participants (18.8%) have neutrally
supportive home environment and 3 participants (9.4%) have a bad and negative
home environment.
FACTOR 2: Level of Confidence
What we derive from the data: 16 participants (50%) feel pretty confident on a daily
basis while 6 participants (18.8%) feel confident to a neutral degree and 10
participants (31.3%) do not feel very confident on a daily basis.
FACTOR 3: Relevance of others’ Perceptions and Opinions as per the Individual.
What we derive from the data: Almost 19 participants (59.4%) very much care about
others’ opinions and perceptions about them while 11 participants (34.4%)
moderately care about others’ opinions and perceptions about them while 2
participants (31.3%) do not care much about others’ opinions and perceptions about
them.
FACTOR 4: Self Preparation
What we derive from the data: A major chunk of the test takers- 23 participants (71.9%) do
prepare before putting themselves out while 8 participants (25%) prepare themselves
moderately while 1 participant (3.1%) does not prepare themselves much before putting
themselves out.
FACTOR 5: Judgement and Observation of Others
Almost 8 participants (25%) frequently find themselves pointing out/ judging or taking note
of others and their conduct while 9 participants (28.1%) moderately find themselves pointing
out/ judging or taking note of others and their conduct and 15 participants (46.9%) do not
usually find themselves pointing out/ judging or taking note of others and their conduct.
OTHER DATASETS COLLECTED
1. We see different people requiring Validation in different aspects and domains.
Body & Appearance- 10, 31.3 %
Academics- 8, 25 %
Extracurricular Activities- 3, 9.4%
People- 5, 15.6%
General Conduct- 5, 15.6%
All of the above- 1, 3.1 %
2. 13 participants (40%) require validation often while 9 participants (28.1%) require
validation in a moderate manner while 10 participants (31.2%) seldom require
validation.
3. Individual Answers- Available in the Google Spreadsheet attached in the Annexure.
Analysis:
We will now be analysing every factor and will try to establish a correlation with Validation.
For this, I used Data Science and Analytics to make the relation. This was done through
Matplotlib, Seaborn, NumPy and Pandas along with Python Coding.
FACTOR 1: Supportive Home Environment
y axis: scale/ ranking
Here, through the line graph above, we can see as a general trend, that an outstanding
supportive home environment leads to a striking unnecessity in the requirement of
Validation. Similarly, an individual with poor home environment is seen requiring a massive
degree of validation. Some exceptions are also observed.
Correlation conclusion: Supportive Home Environment is Inversely Proportional to the
requirement of Validation.
FACTOR 2: Level of Confidence
y axis: scale/ ranking
In this graph, as seen in the previous graph, we can see that a Confident individual requires a
certain level of validation which is comparatively much less, than to a less confident
individual who requires a greater level of validation. Some exceptions are also observed.
Correlation conclusion: Confidence is Inversely Proportional to the requirement of
Validation.
FACTOR 3: Relevance of others’ Perceptions and Opinions as per the Individual.
y axis: scale/ ranking
In the above graph, we see a clear link between the amount of importance we feel others’
opinions and perspectives hold about us, to how much validation we seem to require. As a
general trend, we see that the amount of validation we require, is very close, rather directly
can be determined by the amount of importance we give to others’ views, perceptions and
opinions about us.
However, a good number also depicts that we usually tend to value others’ opinions more
than the amount of Validation we require.
Correlation conclusion: Relevance of others’ Perceptions and Opinions as per the Individual
is Directly Proportional to the requirement of Validation.
FACTOR 4: Self Preparation
y axis: scale/ ranking
This graph shows us the two-fold understandings/ dimensions of preparation and Validation
in individuals. At some points, we see that the preparation we put in, is a direct determiner of
the amount of validation we require. Example- If the amount of preparation is high, the
Validation required is equally high. This shows a direct relation.
In contrast to this, we also see in a few places that the preparation put in, has a reverse effect
in the amount of Validation needed. Example- The more preparation is put in, the less the
individual feels the need to be validated.
We see this trend probably because- 1. A lot of times, the more effort we put in, the more we
want to be appreciated, validated and approved by people. This can also be due to the effect
of how we work hard or prepare for an end product and the appreciation that it accompanies.
2. We also see that sometimes adequate/ satisfied effort put into something makes us
completely self-reliant and at a level where we do not require to be validated because of the
number of efforts that have been put in. It is almost like the input is so high that the output
and end result loses relevance.
However, we also see exceptions.
Correlation Conclusion: Preparation might be Directly or Inversely Proportional to the
amount of validation required, depending on the nature of work, expectation and situation.
FACTOR 5: Judgement and Observation of Others
y axis: scale/ ranking
Here, we see as a general trend, that there is a direct relation between the way we view/ judge
or find other people and the amount of Validation we require. In some places, we can also see
that the level of Validation we require is exactly the same as the way we judge and perceive
other people.
Correlation conclusion: The way we judge/ view or perceive others is Directly Proportional
to our requirement of Validation.
SOCIAL AREAS WHERE PEOPLE REQUIRE VALIDATION.
Evidently, we can see that the majority of people require Validation when it comes to their
bodies and appearance. This can be supported through the fact that many teenagers grow
conscious of how they look and are perceived in a physical sense.
Academics is another very important field where individuals struggle. This can be
substantiated through the stress that teenagers and adolescents go through when it comes to
having good grades, building college applications, career related aspirations and stress.
Further on, we also see how people require Validation when it comes to the people, they
surround themselves with (in this case, the friends and company adolescents keep) and their
general conduct (the way they behave and come off).
We also see that some individuals also need Validation when it comes to co-curricular
activities.
Conclusion:
This research work has proved to be very helpful and insightful for me. Learning about other
people, their perspectives, their understanding, opinions and thought processes, definitely
helped me develop and formulate my thinking as well.
Through this research, I have realised that Validation plays an important role in our lives. A
lot of how we feel, perform, think and believe is greatly influenced by how people see us and
validate us. We saw how various factors such as home environment, self-preparation, selfconfidence, our views and perceptions about others and the importance we give to others’
opinions impacts us. Our family background and environment, in specific, also play an
important role. Most of our need for Validation stems from there. Validation is dualistic.
Good Validation can help us improve while Negative Validation and Feedback can
perpetuate a vicious cycle.
We also saw the growing concern that an average adolescent has towards their appearance
and body. Working towards achieving these beauty standards and perfect bodies are clear
examples of how we enter the loop of social validation. While this is just an example, other
factors such as academics, general conduct, people etc. all function using the same principal
of Validation.
It is therefore essential that adolescents seek validation from the right set of people, as not
seeking validation in this age group is simply inevitable. Adolescents need to understand the
role they play in each other’s lives. In this age of increased need for Validation and Reflected
appraisal, it is only helpful if all of us believe in mutual hand holding and are open to
understanding others.
“The only permission, the only validation, and the only opinion that matters in our quest for
greatness is our own.” – Dr. Steve Maraboli
Annexure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What age bracket do you fall in? *
I have a supportive home environment *
I am a confident individual on a daily basis *
I often care about others' opinions and perceptions about me *
I prepare before putting myself out *
I frequently find myself pointing out/ judging/ taking note of others and their
conduct? *
7. What social aspect do you need validation for? *
8. How often do you find yourself requiring validation? *
9. Why do you think you need Validation? *
* (asterisk / star) - marks that these questions were mandatory to be answered by every
survey taker.
Responses:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YgF6hZ1qzULTk7CYr_pqXzth4DuF4iTYkVc3vBzqhcw/edit?
usp=sharing
Bibliography:
1. The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and
Young Adults by Amy Ellis Nutt and Frances E. Jensen
2. Definitions: https://www.britannica.com/science/adolescence /
3. PPTs
https://www.centrallyon.org/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/48c823b73d5e2/ch%2
05%20-%20the%20adolescent%20in%20society%20-%20notes%20%20pp%20%5BCompatibility%20Mode%5D.pdf