E219 Week 17 Identity in Adolescence
Prof. Ann Phoenix - intro audio
what is it to be boy/girl? black child/ white child?
mixed parentage-? more & more common . she's v interested in
she dislikes term 'pester power' - children do not, esp if poor. only if it really bothers them at school/with peers
body projects...ways of fitting in or standing out... clothes, tattoos, surgery.. piercings (KEHS)
chapter 12
For hundreds of years psychologists, sociologists and philosophers have asked questions such as: ‘Who am I?’, ‘How do I define myself?’ and ‘What do I believe in?’
Heather Montgomery
Adolescence has long been associated with significant psychological change and is often seen as a time when the search for identity becomes particularly acute.
Piaget, . . (Adolescence )developing the capacity for formal operational or abstract thought.
what we think is the 'real us' is not necessarily what we project/others see
‘What do you do?’- defined by your work
acceptance and incorporation of physical changes
defined by?
hobbies
parent
partner
ethnicity?
religion
job
sexuality
gender
could be ruthless business but doting dad
cognitive maturation,.
important social changes
move away from shelter of childhood
peer groups become more important
Many psychologists describe early adolescence (12–14 years) as the time when young people begin to disengage from the internalised standards of their parents and move towards greater autonomy and independence of thoughts and values (Blos, 1979).
Csikszentmihalyi and Larson (1984) showed that the amount of time young people spend with their families decreases from 25 per cent in early adolescence to 15 per cent in late adolescence (18–21 years).
Csikszentmihalyi et al. (1977) found that adolescents spend only 8 per cent of their waking time talking to adults but almost one-third of their time with peers.
craving to be part of a clique is exchanged with want for an intimate relationship by late adolescence
young people must decide on a life course but it is also a time when they are experimenting with different roles; when they are likely to take great risks, but not always be aware of the consequences of taking them; and when they are expected to grow up, but when they may also still crave the comfort of childhood. It is also the time when they look to their peers for advice and reassurance, even though their peers may also be struggling.
time of crisis (or storm and stress) goes back to G. Stanley Hall (1904) who described it in very unflattering terms, claiming that, ‘[the period of adolescence] is strewn with wreckage of body, mind, and morals. There is not only arrest, but perversion, at every stage, and hoodlumism, juvenile crime, and secret vice’ (Hall, 1904, p. xiv). Hall believed that young people were in the grip of powerful biological changes that they could not control. Although he acknowledged that adolescence could be a time of creativity, and saw it as crucial to the later development of personality, he also saw it as a time of instability, extremes and contradictions.
Contradictions
solitude and seclusion V friendships and romantic relationships,
energy and creativity V gloom and despair
idealism and sensitivity V cruel and callous
yearn for idols V reject ideas of authority and the status quo.
Erikson’s stages of life
G. Stanley Hall
formation of identity: begins in early childhood and continues throughout the life course, but is particularly important during adolescence. Erik Erikson
8 stages
Central to Erikson’s theory is the acquisition of an ego identity
Stage - Psychosocial crisis or conflict - Resolution
Infancy - Basic trust v. Basic mistrust - Hope
Early childhood - Autonomy v. Shame and doubt - Will
Play age - Initiative v. Guilt - Purpose
School age - Industry v. Inferiority - Competence
Adolescence - Identity v. Identity confusion - Fidelity
Young adulthood - Intimacy v. Isolation - Love
Adulthood - Generativity v. Stagnation - Care
Old age - Integrity v. Despair - Wisdom
Children - form their identity through interactions with those closest to them. Adolescence- more problematic - when an individual must develop a sense of self and personal identity (Erikson, 1993 [1950]).
behaviours can be seen as antisocial or risky [but] it is through experimenting and exploring in this way that adolescents can reach the resolution of ‘fidelity’.
vocational goals, religious beliefs, a knowledge and acceptance of one’s sexuality, and a philosophy of life – are the basis of a person’s ego identity, and serve to orient the individual in their future choices and behaviours.
Erikson argued that, in extreme cases, identity diffusion could lead to suicide.
peers act as a mirror
(Erikson, 1983 [1968]).- peers important but can be cruel and cliquey
idolise footballers, rockstars etc unrealistic career aspirations so role confusion is common.
identity crisis
problematic in contemporary Western society- loss of family and community tradition, the present is characterised by rapid social and technological change, so the future is more uncertain.
Erikson.
not everyone has turmoil in adolescence. some smooth transition
and anthropologists say not universal issue (see Montgomery, 2009)
suggesting that any crises that do occur are partially social as well as psychological.
gender differences
Erikson says 'all' but research on boys
activity 3
Mindy Bingham and Sandy Stryker (1995)
girls' self esteem
Montgomery reckons they are saying childhood similar but in adolescence girls struggle more with self esteem, plus may put less importance on academic achievement than how look & popularity - NONSENSE !!! completely depends on the child..in fact boys more likely to sacrifice academia
own version of Erikson's stages
correct in saying ethnocentric ie-may not hold true for all societies
out of date too...
25 years ago !!
says boys must support financially so crisis may be around intimacy. surely crisis is in what they should be prioritising??
Identity Status Model
James Marcia
built on & refined Erikson's stages
identity and role confusion, but also a time of exploration and commitment,
Both Erikson and Marcia identified choices over future employment as key crises of adolescence
click to edit
farmer following father is not 'achieving' identity, which would entail exploring alternatives
questioning is good &creates informed mature identity
4 identity states
‘Foreclosure’, ‘Moratorium’, ‘Diffusion’ and ‘Achievement’.
Japan - ‘individualism has strongly negative connections … and is frequently associated with western concepts of selfishness’ (1996, p. 131).
the Farmer example = foreclosure- no exploration seeming happy with your lot
Moratorium - so many options, crisis & confusion
Diffusion - lalalala. disengaged. maybe previously contemplated options but abandoned the search.
Achievement- explored option, decision made. Mature.
can move between stages- highly flexible
WESTERN construct!
not all societies value individuality in the same way.
click to edit
Anthropologists have often referred to ‘webs’ of relationships (Fortes, 1949), an idea picked up by social psychologists such as Kenneth Gergen.
- identity emerges out of relationships.*
values and virtues, and what is ‘real’ and what is ‘good’, are not determined by an individual but are culturally constructed.
click to edit
Gergen argues that there must be a new way of conceptualising the person in psychology:
The isolated computer as the dominant metaphor of human functioning in psychology is being replaced by the network. It is not so much, ‘I think therefore I am,’ but ‘I am networked, therefore I am’. (Gergen, 2006 p. 122)
Mercia
MM appreciates identity is a complex and multi-faceted concept, encompassing both self and social identity.
Sexual identity
sexual identity, sexual orientation & sexual behaviour are all different !
while sexual acts between members of the same sex may be found across time and space, the category of ‘homosexual’ is a modern, Western concept invented by a Belgian doctor around 1867 (Plummer, 1995).
Oscar Wilde activity- Sexual Identity difficult to discuss as before legalised no-one had a homosexual identity (maybe they fancied men and had gay sex but not the identity we have today)
Sexual behaviour and sexual identity are extremely complex matters and, in adolescence, there is often a high degree of confusion and experimentation in relation to both. Young people may be attracted emotionally to one gender but physically attracted to another (or to a specific person), or they may find that their emotional and physical attraction is entirely to one gender.
social and cultural pressures may keep you in closet even today (Phil?)
Vivienne Cass (1979), for example,
posits a six-stage model for realising, coming out & beyond
some argue focus on gay as different & this is wrong. heterosexuals go through identity crises too.& experience Marcia's 4 stages
click to edit