SUMMARY ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT EXAM 2
CHAPTER 8 – IDENTITY
IDENTITY AS AN ADOLESCENT ISSUE
Changes in identity that take place during adolescence involve the first substantial reorganisation and
restructuring of the individual’s sense of self at a time when he or she has the intellectual capability to
appreciate fully just how significant the changes are. Changes in identity also occur during childhood, but
adolescents are far more self-conscious about these changes and feel them more acutely.
It is not until adolescence that people are able to think in systematic ways about hypothetical and future events
(cognitive changes). This is manifested in two specific ways that have consequences for identity development:
1. Adolescents become much more able to imagine their possible selves; the various identities an
adolescent might imagine for him or herself. This may be related to the heightened self-consciousness
characteristic of early adolescence
2. There is an impressive increase in future orientation; the ability and tendency to consider the long-
term consequences of one’s decisions and imagine what one’s life might be like in the years to come.
Identity development is better understood as a series of interrelated developments, rather than one single
development, that involve changes in the way we views ourselves in relation to others and in relation to the
society we live in.
1. The first approach emphasises changes in self-conceptions; the traits and attributes individuals see in
themselves (views about themselves)
2. A second approach focuses on adolescent’s self-esteem, or self-image; how positively or negatively
they feel about themselves.
3. The third approach emphasises changes in one’s sense of identity; who one is, where one has come
from, and where one is going.
CHANGES IN SELF-CONCEPTIONS
Compared with children, who tend to describe themselves in relatively simple, concrete terms, adolescents are
more likely to employ complex, abstract, and psychological self-characterisations. In addition, with
development comes greater consistency between how individuals describe themselves and how they
actually behave. Also, adolescent’s about the sort of person they would like to be (their ideal self) become
more stable over time.
CHANGES IN THE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF SELF-CONCEPTIONS
Whereas a pre-adolescent might say ‘’I’m nice, or I’m friendly’’, but not specify when or under what conditions,
an adolescent is more likely to say ‘’I’m nice if I’m in a good mood’’. The realisation that their personality is
expressed in different ways in different situations is one example of the increased differentiation that
characterises self-conceptions as adolescents mature toward adulthood. Also, adolescents self-descriptions
take into account who is doing the describing. Teenagers distinguish between their own opinions of themselves
and the views of others; ‘’people don’t think I’m shy , but most of the time, I’m really nervous about meeting
other kids for the first time’’. Besides, adolescents also recognise that they may come across differently to
different people; ‘’my parents think I’m quiet, but my friends know I really like party a lot’’.
Adolescents are likely to organise and integrate different aspects of their self-concept into a more logical,
coherent whole; ‘’I am shy when I first meet people, but after I get to know them, I’m usually pretty friendly’’.
An advantage of having a more differentiated self-concept is the ability to distinguish among one’s self (who
one really is), ideal self (who one would like to be), and the feared self (who one most dreads becoming).
,False-self behaviour; acting in a way one knows is inauthentic, occurs less often with parents than with dates,
but more often with parents than with close friends.
DIMENSIONS OF PERSONALITY IN ADOLESCENCE
Most researchers who study personality use the five-factor model. According to this model, there are five
critical personality dimensions, often referred to as the big five;
1. Extraversion (how outgoing and energetic someone is)
2. Agreeableness (how kind or sympathetic)
3. Conscientiousness (how responsible and organised)
4. Neuroticism (how anxious or tense)
5. Openness to experience (how curios and imaginative)
For example, delinquent adolescents are more likely than their peers to score high in extraversion and low in
agreeableness/conscientiousness, whereas high achieving adolescents score high in conscientiousness and
openness.
There are both genetic and environmental influences on personality, although the environment becomes
somewhat more important as people age.
Both temperament and personality become increasingly stable as we grow older, because we tend to spend
time in environments that rewards and reinforce the traits that draw us to these settings. In sum, many core
personality traits, such as impulsivity or timidity are stable between childhood and adolescence and between
adolescence and young adulthood.
CHANGES IN SELF-ESTEEM
STABILITY AND CHANGES IN SELF-ESTEEM
Self-esteem becomes more stable between childhood and early adulthood. Also, day-to-day fluctuations in
mood tend to become smaller between early adolescence and late adolescence.
Although adolescence is not a time of storm and stress, problems in self-image may arise for a brief period
during early adolescence. To fully understand why, you distinguish among three aspects of adolescents’ self-
image;
1. Self-image; their self-esteem (how positively or negatively they feel about themselves)
2. Self-consciousness; degree to which an individual is preoccupied with his or her self-image (how much
they worry about their self-image)
3. Self-image stability; degree to which an individual’s self-image changes from day to day
Fluctuations in adolescents’ self-image are most likely to occur between the ages of 12 and 14 (changes in
brain system in how we think about ourselves and others). Fluctuations in self-image during early adolescence
probably are due to several interrelated factors;
1. Sort of egocentrism that is common in early adolescence may make young adolescents painfully
aware of others reaction to their behaviour
2. Individuals become more socially active, they learn it is not always possible to tell what others are
thinking on the basis of how they act/say things
3. Young adolescents are especially interested in their peer’s opinions of them
Adolescents’ physical self-esteem; how they feel about their appearance, is the most important predictor of
overall self-esteem, followed by self-esteem about the relationships with peers.
,GROUP DIFFERENCES IN SELF-ESTEEM
Early adolescent girls are more vulnerable to disturbances in their self-image than any other group of
youngsters. Sex differences in self-esteem are most pronounced among white adolescents.
Black adolescents on average have a higher self-esteem than white adolescents. Why? they benefit from
the support an positive feedback of adults in the Black community, also the strong sense of ethnic identity
enhances their overall self-esteem, besides all teenagers (minority or not) tend to shift their priorities over
time so that they come to value those activities at which they excel or that are valued within the context in
which they live.
ANTEDECENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF HIGH SELF-ESTEEM
Self-esteem is enhanced by having the approval of others, especially parents and peers, and by succeeding in
school.
High self-esteem during adolescence does enhance adolescents’ well-being, however, whereas low self-esteem
may lead to mental health problems, both in the short run and well into adulthood.
THE ADOLESCENT IDENTITY CRISIS
An identity (who am I) can be divided in
a personal identity; identifying as someone who … Who am I in terms of a sense of self, central is the
process of figuring out who one is.
and social identity; identifying with … Who am I in terms of group memberships, central is the one’s
sense of belonging to social groups
The self (totality of me) is related to self-concept and identity.
ERIKSON’S THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Erikson viewed the developing person as moving through a series of eight psychosocial crises over the course
of the life span. Each crisis, takes on special significance at a given period of the life cycle because biological and
social forces interact to bring the crisis into prominence. Erikson saw adolescence as a time between childhood
security and adolescence autonomy.
Erikson believed that the establishment of a coherent sense of identity; crisis of identity (self is clear) versus
identity diffusion (the self is unclear), is the chief psychosocial crisis of adolescence. The maturational and
social forces force young people to reflect on their plays in society, on the ways that others view them, and on
their options for the future.
IDENTITY VERSUS IDENTITY DIFFUSION
According to Erikson, it is not until adolescence that one even has the mental or emotional capacity to tackle
this task. He believed that the key to resolving the crisis of identity versus identity diffusion lies in the
adolescent’s interaction with others. By responding to the reactions of people who matter, the adolescent
selects and chooses from among the many elements that could become a part of his/her identity. Also, other
people serves as a mirror that reflects back information about who he/she is and ought to be. The responses
of significant others shape the adolescent’s developing sense of identity.
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
According to Erikson, the complications inherent in identity development in modern society have created the
need for a psychosocial moratorium; a period during which individuals are free from obligations and
responsibilities and can therefore experiment with different roles and personalities. For instance, one week an
adolescent girl will spend hours putting on makeup; the next week, she will insist to her parents that she is tired
of caring so much about the way she looks.
Having the time to experiment with roles is an important prelude to establishing a coherent sense of
identity. But role experimentation can take place only in an environment that allows and encourages it.
, RESOLVING THE IDENTITY CRISIS
According to Erikson, establishing a sense of identity is something that is conscious, it is experienced as a
sense of being at home in one’s body. But rather than thinking of adolescent as going through a single identity
crisis, it probably makes more sense to view the phenomenon as a series of crisis that may concern different
aspects of the young person’s identity and that may surface, and resurface at different points in time
throughout the adolescent and young-adult years.
PROBLEMS IN IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
Three sorts of problems received special attention from Erikson;
Identity Diffusion; is characterised by an incoherent, disjointed and incomplete sense of self. It can
vary in degree from a mild state of not quite knowing who one is to a more severe condition. It is
marked by disruptions in the individual’s sense of time (some things seem to happen faster than they
really do); excessive self-conscious to the point that it is difficult to make decisions; problems in work
and school etc, also in areas of autonomy, sexuality.
Identity foreclosure; the premature establishment of a sense of identity, before sufficient role
experimentation has occurred. Some young people bypass the period of exploration and
experimentation of a healthy sense of identity. They commit themselves already to a role, such as
enrolling in a pre-med curriculum (becoming a doctor) without considering other career possibilities.
Negative identity; the selection of an identity that is obviously undesirable in the eyes of significant
others and the broader community. Adolescents sometimes appear to select identity that are
obviously undesirable to their parents and their community. For instance; son of successful parents is
not quite good enough to please his demanding parents. He feels like a nobody and drops out of
school to play in a band.
RESEARCH ON IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
DETERMINING AN ADOLESCENT’S IDENTITY STATUS
The term identity status refers to the point in the identity development process that characterises an
adolescent at a given time. According to research, adolescents move from state to state (Marcia’s 4 stages
model);
Identity achievement the individual has established a coherent sense of identity that is, has made
commitments after a period of exploration (exploration and commitment); open, flexible, creative,
abstract and critical thinking.
Moratorium the individual is in the midst of a period of exploration, but has no commitments yet
(exploration, but no commitment); open, flexible, ‘’it depends’’
Identity foreclosure the individual has made commitments but without a period of exploration (no
exploration, but a commitment); obedient, sensitive to rejection, inflexible
Identity diffusion the individuals does not have firm commitments and is not currently trying to
make them (no exploration and no commitment); hopeless, it does not matter, no direction
For example, individuals who are in a state of identity achievement are psychologically healthier than others on
a variety of measures. Individuals in a state of identity diffusion are the most socially withdrawn and most likely
to engage in antisocial behaviour.
It is possible to differentiate among individuals who tend to actively seek information and approach identity
related decisions with an open mind (informational orientation), those who attempt to confirm to family and
other social expectations and try to get identity related decisions over as quickly as possible (normative
orientation), and those who tend to procrastinate and avoid making identity-related decisions
(diffuse/avoidant orientation).
One of the defining characteristics of individuals who have achieved a coherent sense of identity, is that they
approach life decisions with a strong sense of agency; they take responsibility for themselves, feel in control of
their decisions and have confidence that they will be able to overcome obstacles along the way.
