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Chapter 9
Autonomy
I.
The Autonomy Issue
A.
Biological, social and cognitive changes
1.
puberty with emerging sexual feelings moves adolescents from
exclusive relationship with family toward peers who share interests
in dating and friendships
2.
mature appearance may cause adults to confer more independence
3.
ability to make decisions
a.
abstraction involved in sorting through other’s opinions
when they conflict with each other
b.
involve individual sense of right and wrong
4.
increasing amount of responsibility and self-reliance
B.
3 types of autonomy
1.
emotional autonomy – changes in close relationships, especially
parents
2.
behavioral autonomy – capacity to make independent decisions
and follow through with them
3.
value autonomy – having a set of principles about right and
wrong; what is and is not important
II.
Development of Emotional Autonomy
A.
Evidence of emotional independence
1.
adolescents do not rush to parents when upset, worried or in need
of assistance
2.
do not see parents as all-knowing or all-powerful (I’ll really miss
this one!!)
3.
emotional attachments outside family; i.e. more dependent on
boyfriend or girlfriend
4.
able to see and deal with parents as people, not just parents
B.
Emotional autonomy and detachment
1.
detachment – severing of family attachments in favor of the
opposite sex peers
2.
contrary to Anna Freud’s hypothesis, adolescents are as close to
their families as younger children
C.
Emotional attachment and individuation
1.
individuation – relinquishing childish dependencies on parents in
favor of more mature, more responsible and less dependent
relationships
2.
4 components of emotional autonomy
a.
extent to which parents are de-idealized; they sometimes
make mistakes
b.
extent to which adolescents can see their parents as people;
own ideas, needs
2
nondependency – adolescents depend on themselves more
and parents less
d.
individuated – how separate adolescent is from parents;
there are some things about me my parents don’t know
3.
good early relationship or attachment is most predictive of teen
relationship
4.
triggers for individuation
a.
puberty – as adolescent looks more mature, s/he is given
more independence
b.
social-cognitive development – more sophisticated
understanding of self and others
D.
Emotional autonomy and parenting practices
1.
poor family relationships are more indicative of lack of autonomy;
more independent kids report being closer to their parents
2.
parental behavior
a.
enabling behavior – acceptance while helping teen develop
won ideas through questions, explanations and tolerating
differences of opinion
b.
constraining behavior – respond to expressions of
independence with distracting, judgmental, or devaluing
behaviors
Review Parenting Styles:
Authoritarian
Permissive
Indulgent
Indifferent
Authoritative
3.
authoritative families – respond well to demands in adolescence;
give choices while maintaining closeness
4.
authoritarian families – more difficult adjustment
a. emerging independence seen as rebelliousness or disrespect
b. fail to give child decision-making skills
c. foster dependency
d. if also cold and punitive, adolescent may rebel
5.
indulgent and indifferent families – fail to provide sufficient
guidance
a.
unable to comply with rules as adults
b.
turn to peers for advice; lack experience; use poor
judgement; resulting in psychological dependence on
friends
c.
may lead to emotional dependency
d.
parent may react by becoming overly controlling; change
rules midstream causing confusion
c.
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III.
Development of Behavioral Autonomy
Autonomy is not achieved if the adolescent substitutes the influence of peers
(conformity) for the influence of parents (foreclosure)
A.
B.
C.
IV.
Changes in decision-making abilities
1.
hold multiple viewpoints in mind simultaneously along with
comparisons of those viewpoints
2.
think hypothetically
3.
consider long term consequences
4.
enhanced role-playing capabilities; allow the consideration of
others’ views and perspectives; consider opinions as biases or
vested interests
5.
above lead to improved decision-making skills and independent
behavior
Changes in conformity and susceptibility to influence
1.
peers influence
a.
short term decisions
b.
daily decisions
c.
social matters
d.
(dress, music, hair, activities)
2.
parental influences
a.
long term questions; educational or occupational plans
b.
values, religious beliefs and ethics
3.
ability to select other adults as “experts”; i.e. teachers
4.
peers considered “experts” for relationships and social issues
5.
peer pressure and conformity greatest in early adolescence and
steadily declines
a.
higher in boys
b.
more delinquent or antisocial acts
6.
as independence and autonomy in decision-making increases, peer
influence decreases
7.
authoritative parenting seems to foster autonomy
8.
permissive or neglectful parents causes child to be more influenced
by peers
Changes in feelings of self-reliance
1.
steadily increases throughout adolescence
2.
even with increased peer influenced and conformity, adolescents
report and believe they are more autonomous
Development of Value Autonomy
A.
General concepts
1.
3 aspects of value autonomy
a.
increase in abstract thinking
b.
increase in general belief principles with ideological basis
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c.
B.
increase in own values instead of parents or other authority
figures
2.
tied to cognitive changes
a.
increased reasoning abilities
b.
increased hypothetical thinking
c.
increased consideration of alternative possibilities
d.
increased metacognition (thinking about thinking)
3.
seems to occur later than emotional or behavioral autonomy
4.
reevaluate parental views
Moral development
1.
standard has been Piaget and Cognitive Developmental Theory
2.
moral reasoning
a.
Kohlberg
1.
reasoning more important than answer in moral
dilemmas
2.
3 levels of moral reasoning
preconventional, conventional, postconventional
3.
adolescents steadily advance toward
postconventional thinking although may not attain
until early adulthood (if ever)
3.
moral reasoning and moral behavior
a.
reasoning at higher levels
1.
commit fewer antisocial acts
2.
decline in cheating
3.
less likely to conform
4.
increased engagement in political protests
5.
more likely to assist others in need
b.
while moral reasoning may increase, moral behavior may
not; speeding when in a hurry
c.
may not abide by our principles if punishment is severe;
i.e. won’t help others if it gets us killed
4.
“Voice” in moral development
a.
Carol Gilligan’s criticism of Kohlberg’s male orientation
of moral development
b.
Men have a justice orientation – deals with equity and
fairness; equal responsibility of all parties
c.
Women have a care orientation – focuses on issues of
abandonment and detachment; responsiveness to human
need
d.
cites intellectual, individualistic and detached reasoning of
justice orientation and male dominance in society
e.
both men and women are capable of caring orientation
f.
children socialized with competition rather than
cooperation and assertiveness over concern for others (male
orientation)
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C.
D.
Political Thinking
1.
becomes more abstract: from laws are so people don’t kill and
steal to laws are guideline to help people determine what is right
and wrong
2.
thinking becomes less authoritarian and rigid
3.
development of ideology
4.
as with moral development, political thinking may differ from
political behavior
Religious beliefs
1.
movement toward spiritual and ideological matters and away from
rituals, practices and strict observance of religious customs
2.
more emphasis on personal, internal beliefs over external practices;
i.e. going to church
3.
the up side: religious adolescents are
a.
less depressed
b.
less likely to have premarital sex
c.
less likely to engage in deviant or delinquent behavior; i.e.
drug use
4.
adolescents who comply unquestioning and conform to parental
religious practices are less autonomous and may be in identity
foreclosure and not be spiritually mature