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Research on adolescence

Q11:  Examine psychological research into adolescence. Research on adolescence. Approach. Introduction Research into adolescent identity Thesis: Body Erickson Marcia Rutter Conclusion. Erik Erikson. Life as stages of development- adolescence as one aspect

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Research on adolescence

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  1. Q11:  Examine psychological research into adolescence. Research on adolescence

  2. Approach • Introduction • Research into adolescent identity • Thesis: • Body • Erickson • Marcia • Rutter • Conclusion

  3. Erik Erikson • Life as stages of development- adolescence as one aspect • Adolescence as a time of identity crisis • Identity vs role confusion • Challenges • Intimacy- fear commitment since it may contribute to a loss of identity • Time diffusion-disbelieve time will bring change while at the same time fear that it might • Diffusion of Industry-inability to concentrate or great concentration in a single area • Negative identity- scorn for role offered by family or society • Psychosocial moratorium- suspension of activity during identity formation to ‘find oneself’ to resolve identity crisis

  4. Evaluation of Erikson • Did not conduct empirical research to support his ideas • Theory based on non-rigorous observations of adolescence in therapy in the 40s and 50s (biased sample and questionable generalization) • Contradictions of Erikson’s view of adolescence as time of constant negative turmoil • Time of positive identity formation (Marsh, 1989) • Most American teenagers are confident, happy and satisfied (Offer, 1981) • Some ideas outdated- reflect 1950s America • Female identity tied to type of man she marries • Lifestyles different today

  5. James Marcia • Expanded on Erikson’s ideas and tried to test empirically • Focus on crisis and commitment • Crisis- re-evaluation of previous choices and values • After crisis- commitment to new set of values and ideology • Used semi-structured interviews as a research method

  6. Identity Status (Marcia, 1966) • Statuses are not stages, but depend on the amount of choices and commitments made • Identity diffusion- no sense of choice and not yet made a commitment • Identity foreclosure- willingness to commit to roles and values for the future; tend to conform to expectations of others • Identity moratorium- examining choices, not yet made a commitment • Identity achievement- gone through identity crisis and made a commitment to identity (roles and values)

  7. Evaluation of Marcia • Strengths • Meilman (1979)- identity achievers rose after 15 years old • Mundane realism- evident in daily life that teenagers try out various identities • Limitations • Limited sample- while, middle-class Americans during the 1960s and 70s • Cohort effects- Waterman & Waterman (1979) • Findings linked to a particular age and culture • Oversimplification • Archer (1982)- added complexity- different stages of identity formation in different areas • Cultural Relativity • Condon (1988)-Studied the Inuit in the Canadian arctic who didn’t have time for identity formation and progressed to adulthood much earlier than American, middle-class sample

  8. Limitation to theory of identity • Rutter (1976)-studied adolescents on the Isle of Wight (self-report) and found that only a minority showed signs of crisis or conlict • O’Connel (1976)-interviews with married women suggested that identity develops over the lifespan • Condon (1987)- studied Inuit of Canada and found they did not spend time questioning their identity (early adulthood) • Lenroot (2007)- brain development differs between genders (MRI scans- women reach full brain development maturity by 21; men at 30)

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