During adolescents, huge changes take place physically, mentally and socially. Physically, adolescents are experiencing puberty and their bodies are changing from that of a child to an adult. Cognitively, adolescents become increasingly egocentric and are developing from Piaget’s concrete operational stage to the formal operational stage of development. In this stage, teenagers are able to grasp abstract concepts and think logically and systematically (Berger, 2001). The greatest change that occurs during adolescents is socially. During this time there is a shift from a teenager’s dependence on their parents for advice and support to forming new and deeper relationships with peers. Eric Erickson called this stage of development identify vs. …show more content…
The first status is an identity diffuser, this is a person who has not encountered a crisis of identity and has not made any commitments or done any personal exploration. The next identity status is foreclosure where an adolescent commits to a parents beliefs or values without exploring other options on their own. Moratorium is where the individual has been exploring their options but has not yet made any commitments. And finally, identify achievement is when a person has explored all their options and committed to occupation, belief, political view or gender identity (Marcia, 1966). A great deal of research has been done on the different identity statuses. For example, Waterman (1985) found no difference in gender during the formation of identity when considering political ideology, social roles, vocational choices or religious beliefs. He also found that adolescent during the pre–high school years are more likely to be identity diffusers in regard to occupational decisions and political ideology and foreclosed in the domain of religion. Overall, Waterman (1982) has found that adolescents, beginning in middle school “show a pattern of progressive identify formation characterized by frequent changes in self- concept during the early years followed by increasing consistency and stability as the person approaches high school graduation.” These finding support …show more content…
Peer pressure is considered “encouragement to conform to ones friends or contemporaries in behavior, dress and attitude (Berger, 2011). Peer pressure has been found to increase in early adolescents when the need for approval is high, then drops later in adolescents with the development of a more autonomous self. With regards to situation, pressure to participate in neutral and pro-social behaviors are more strongly influenced by peer pressure than antisocial behaviors (e.g. drinking, smoking, and sexual behaviors). Students will follow a group more willingly if they are doing socially acceptable behaviors versus a behavior that would get them in trouble. Gender difference occur in willingness to participate in antisocial behaviors, boys tend to be more willing to follow peers than girls (Brown, Clasen & Eicher, 1986). Though teenagers are more inclined to follow friends who are doing socially acceptable behaviors it is not uncommon for a group of teenagers to make collectively bad decisions. Peer pressure and acceptance is a strong force in an adolescent’s life, even the best kids have been known to join the “wrong crowd” and make decisions that could negatively affect them for the rest of their
Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.
They are going through transitions in intellectual development and the process and transition of primary to secondary education.’ There are various intellectual skills that an adolescent will learn within this life stage. When in the adolescent life stage, the emotional development norms for an individual is to learn their personal identity and they must leant about who they are about how to control their emotions within the change of puberty. Low self-esteem and confidence issue is often something most teenagers struggle with. With adolescence secondary learning occurs, a person’s self-worth can change within this life-stage due to the social situations that an individual had to be within, also their use of clothing, language and religion etc. The introduction of hormones can often change how teenagers see themselves. Adolescent’s independence that they go through can affect their social and emotional development.
In this paper I plan to discuss the developmental stages of adolescence. Adolescents are also referred to as "teenagers" or "young adults." Adolescence begins after the childhood stage and ends right before adulthood. The years of adolescence range from 12 years old to 21 years old. The years of adolescence can be quite a roller coaster ride. Young people in this stage encounter a great deal of changes in their life as they prepare for adulthood. I will discuss emotional, intellectual, physiological, and social domains of development and how it relates to adolescents. I will also discuss some helpful tips for teachers to aide in communicating effectively to adolescents and understanding their
Adolescence is a time of stressful transition for teenagers. They are straddling the fence between childhood and adulthood. Changes in their bodies, brains, thinking, values, friends, responsibilities and expectations cause events that are usually a time fraught with turbulence, for both the teen and their parents. This is a normal part of human development, and must be endured in order to come out the other side, hopefully well-adjusted, happy, healthy, and
More than ever in this society as children find the need to belong or fit in to the popular crowd in school for acceptance they often tend to mimic their friends behaviors. This is often a result of the individual child trying to find him or herself. The results however, are not always negative. In fact, there are some positive results that may occur as a result of copying their peers. Simply stated, “When teens surround themselves with people who make good decisions and who are involved with positive activities and choices, it makes the adolescent child want to be better” (Stock, 2010 pg.2). Positive peers influence adolescents and can drive the child toward improved confidence, and improved grades in school. Inversely, the same can be said for the adolescent child who decides that he or she wants to be like his or her friends who have a negative influence. Children who fall into this category are those that are of the bandwagon philosophy. Those negatively impacted by peers often show signs of lower grades in school, increased distance from family. In fact, “peer pressure can lead to experimentation with drugs and alcohol, and various high risks behaviors” (Fact Sheets, 2009 pg.1). The changes in the adolescent child can have lasting effects depending on which type of peer influences that child may be surrounded by. The negative impact of peer pressure can be strong; however there are also positive influences.
According to an article Social cognitive development article it states that during adolescence years’ social development has a huge role in teen lives. It is during these young adult years which is the transition period from
All throughout our lives, we wrestle with the question of who am I and what do I want in life? However, it is usually during the adolescent years that this issue really comes to a head and we begin a more earnest search into finding ourselves and deciding the direction we want to take with our lives. One of the theorists who studied this idea of identity formation was James Marcia. Marcia proposed that there were four different stages or statuses in the development of identity which he labeled Identity Diffusion, Identity Foreclosure, Identity Moratorium, and Identity Achievement. In this essay, we will briefly summarize his four different stages and then apply his theory to my own identity development during the adolescent years.
The teenage years are full of trials and tribulations for everyone. Adolescents are often forced into learning new social roles, developing new relationships, getting used to the changes in your body, and making decisions about their
The purpose of this literature review paper is to navigate and explore different effects in society towards peer pressure, conformity and rebellion. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: How does peer pressure, conformity, and rebellion affects adolescents in society? The main goal of this review is to have knowledge of the effects of this three concepts such as: peer pressure, conformity and rebellion.
In study after study, peer pressure is associated in adolescents of all ethnic and racial backgrounds with at-risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking, truancy, drug use, sexual activity, fighting, shoplifting, and daredevil stunts. Again, peer group values and attitudes influence more strongly than do family values the level of teenage alcohol use. The more accepting peers are of risky behavior, and the more they participate in that behavior, the more likely a person is to do the same thing.
There are five characteristics that all adolescents have. These characteristics are biological growth and development, an undefined status, increased decision-making, increased pressures, and the search for self. The brain and the endocrine system control biological growth and development. During the early stages of adolescence, individuals experience growth in height and weight, changes in the body, the development of sexual characteristics, and skin problems. For example, I started getting curves in my body when I hit puberty. My body started to develop changes. Our society’s expectations for children and adults are clear, but for the adolescent, expectations are inexplicit. Some adolescents are treated like children, but some are treated like adults. There is an undefined status. For example, my parents pay for my lunch, but I have to have a job so I can support myself.
The teenage social experience is a fundamental stage of development. How a teenager develops socially dictates how effective she will be as an adult. Through interaction with peers, a teenager learns about herself. This is an important period of time to construct personal identity. If this period is cut short, she will not be competent to meet the challenges that come with raising a child. Teenagers also tend have poor eating
Adolescence is the distinct transitional stage between childhood and adulthood in human development, extending primarily over the teenage years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached (Rathus, 2014). However in some instances, this biological, cognitive, social and emotional maturity may not be reached until a later stage and may be dictated by gender. Adolescence is characterised by rapidly changing and unpredictable behaviour (Freud, as cited in Rathus 2014), heightened and unstable emotions (Hall, as cited in Rathus 2014), disturbances in identity, the gradual development of one’s moral reasoning (Kohlberg, as cited in Rathus, 2014) and the gradual establishment of one’s independence. Several of these changes may occur at differing phases in adolescent growth. This development is categorized into three separate stages; early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Early Adolescence, commencing from the ages of eleven or twelve until the age of fourteen, comprises of several features such as rapid biological development and maturity, heightened stress levels and limited coping capabilities. On the other hand, middle adolescence, from the approximate age of fourteen to sixteen, involves the gradual cease of biological change, an increase in coping strategies and declined stress levels. Furthermore, late adolescence, commencing from the age of sixteen until the age of eighteen or nineteen, encompasses physical maturity, whereby the
According to Harre and Lamp (1983), adolescents begin to adapt themselves more complex with family, peers and teachers, through activities daily and social life according to his mood.
In society today, people tend to make decisions based on the actions and choices of others. Peer pressure is a very real issue that affects most of the teenagers of the world today. it is a dangerous form of persuasion. It causes teenagers to easily succumb to unethical activities under the influence and pressure of their friends. people see the effects of