Contexts of Adolescence Exam 2 Study Guide Chapter 6 Strang outlined four basic dimensions of the self that are still used today1957 o Basic self concept the adolescents view of his or her personality and perceptions of his abilities and his status and roles in the outer world o Transitory self concepts these ideas of self are influenced by the mood of the moment or by a recent or continuing experience Ex A recent low grade on a test may leave a person with a temporary feeling of being stupid a critical remark from parents may produce a temporary self evaluation of laziness o Social selves the selves he or she thinks others se which in turn influence how the individual sees himself or herself Ex If youths have the impression that others think they are boring or socially unacceptable they tend to think of themselves in these negative ways o Ideal self the kind of person an adolescent will like to be His or her aspirations may be realistic too low or too high An ideal self that is too high may lead to frustration and self depreciation Having a realistic concept of one s ideal self leads to self acceptance mental health and the attainment of realistic goals Possible selves Oyserman and Markus focus on an adolescents possible selves these are the people he or she might be someday they refer to the future not to the present o Hoped for selves the people we wish to become o Expected selves the people we think we will likely become o Feared selves the people we dread becoming What contributes to a positive self concept o Significant others those individuals who occupy a high level of importance they are influential and their opinions are meaningful Their influence depends on their degree of involvement and intimacy and the social support they provide and the power and authority given to them by others o Parents quality of family relations during adolescence is associated with their levels of self esteem Adolescents with higher self esteem report greater intimacy with their mothers and fathers or in other words feel close and get along with their parents Adolescent self esteem is associated with parental willingness to grant autonomy acceptance and warmth authoritative parenting style communication and parental support participation and control Older adolescent girls who feel close to their mothers see themselves as confident wise reasonable and self controlled those who feel distant are rebellious impulsive touchy and tactless Father child serve different but equally vital roles in adolescent development Lower self esteem among adolescents from conflicted families and those in which parent adolescent relationship was poor Parental divorce were more likely to have lowered parental expectations lessened parental trust fewer family discussions and greater financial hardship lower self concept with these but usually only temporary o Socio economic status lower SES students have lower self esteem than high SES students and the effects of SES are stronger with increasing age small but significant effect Effects are indirect not so much that teenagers view themselves harshly because they are poor but rather they are doing poorly because of economic situation Economic hardship can reduce positive affective parental support and may thus convey a negative appraisal of the adolescent thereby lowering self esteem Teenagers unlikely to be able to afford the latest fashions nor are they as able as wealthy peers to join the kinds of clubs and organizations that can lead to increased popularity o Race Ethnicity Kenneth Clark reported AA children had lower self esteem than Caucasian children led to Brown vs Board of Education declared segregation unconstitutional Today AA adolescents have higher self esteem than adolescents from any other group including Caucasians When AA surrounded by those with same physical appearance etc they rate themselves much higher than when they are surrounded by Whites AA students in schools that are entirely AA have higher self esteem AA who have positive ethnic identity have higher self esteem Asian American have lowest self esteem levels perhaps bc they receive more physical harassment from peers Latinos are midway between these two groups Adolescents from different ethnic groups may base overall self esteem on different factors Chinese American girls on close friendships AA girls on scholastic abilities and Caucasian and Puerto Rican American girls on appearance o Gender girls global self esteem is somewhat lower than boys Males had moderately higher levels of personal self esteem and self satisfaction than females and hat males also feel better about their physical appearance and athletic abilities Female adolescents had moderately higher behavioral conduct and moral Patterns of lower self esteem in girls is not limited in US but has been ethical self esteem scores replicated in other countries Girl self esteem is much more strongly tied to their perceived physical attractiveness and their feelings of interconnectedness their social networks boys self esteem is strongly related to their feelings of achievement and their athletic abilities Why Traits viewed as masculine are seen by American society as more desirable than feminine o Disabilities difficult to feel good about yourself if you have a trait that not only makes you different from your peers but makes it more difficult to do all the things that they can do o Stress as stress goes up self esteem goes down adolescence is a time of great stress so not surprising many adolescents have low self esteem Erikson s view on identity development How does identity develop What contributes to a strong identity o Described the task of identity formation as one of making choices by exploring alternatives and committing to roles not stable but an ongoing process of self reflection and change as one moves through life Temporal perspective vs time confusion how long will it take to achieve goals when to have children get married integrating past self and future self gaining a sense of time and the continuity of life Self certainty vs self consciousness developing self confidence based on past experiences so that a person believes in him or herself and believes there is a reasonable chance of accomplishing future aims Role experimentation vs role fixation Apprenticeship vs work paralysis should explore various career paths and feel competent in ability to meet goals Sexual polarization vs bisexual confusion should ascribe to