8.3 Psychosocial Development in Adolescence

What is identity and social development like in adolescence?

Adolescence is a period of personal and social identity formation in which different roles, behaviors, and ideologies are explored. In the United States, adolescence is seen as a time to develop independence from parents while remaining connected to them. Some key points related to social development during adolescence include the following:

• Adolescence is the period of life known for the formation of personal and social identity.
• Adolescents must explore, test limits, become autonomous, and commit to an identity or sense of self.
• Erik Erikson referred to the task of the adolescent as one of identity versus role confusion. Thus, in Erikson’s view, an adolescent’s main questions are “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?”
• Early in adolescence, cognitive developments result in greater self-awareness, the ability to think about abstract future possibilities, and the ability to consider multiple possibilities and identities at once.
• Changes in the levels of certain neurotransmitters (such as dopamine and serotonin) influence the way in which adolescents experience emotions, typically making them more emotional and more sensitive to stress.
• When adolescents have advanced cognitive development and maturity, they tend to resolve identity issues more easily than peers who are less cognitively developed.
• As adolescents work to form their identities, they pull away from their parents, and the peer group becomes very important; despite this, relationships with parents still play a significant role in identity formation.

Psychosocial Development

Freud’s Psychosexual Development: The Genital Stage

According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, the final stage is referred to as the genital stage. From adolescence throughout adulthood, a person is preoccupied with sex and reproduction. The adolescent experiences rising hormone levels, and the sex drive and hunger drives become very strong. Ideally, the adolescent will rely on the ego to help think logically through these urges without taking actions that might be damaging. An adolescent might learn to redirect their sexual urges into a safer activity such as running, for example. Quieting the id with the superego can lead to feeling overly self-conscious and guilty about these urges. Hopefully, it is the ego that is strengthened during this stage, and the adolescent uses reason to manage urges. According to Freud, the genital stage is similar to the phallic stage, in that its main concern is the genitalia; however, this concern is now conscious. The genital stage comes about when the sexual and aggressive drives have returned, but the source of sexual pleasure expands outside of the mother and father (as in the Oedipus or Electra complex).

During the genital stage, the ego and superego have become more developed. This allows the individual to have a more realistic way of thinking and to establish an assortment of social relations apart from the family. The genital stage is the last stage and is considered the highest level of maturity. In this stage, a person’s concern shifts from primary-drive gratification (instinct) to applying secondary process-thinking to gratify desire symbolically and intellectually by means of friendships, intimate relationships, and family and adult responsibilities.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Erikson believed that the primary psychosocial task of adolescence was establishing an identity.  For most, the search for identity begins in the adolescent years. During these years, adolescents are more open to ‘trying on’ different behaviors and appearances to discover who they are. In an attempt to find their identity and discover who they are, adolescents are likely to cycle through a number of identities to find one that suits them best. Developing and maintaining identity (in adolescent years) is a difficult task due to multiple factors such as family life, environment, and social status. Empirical studies suggest that this process might be more accurately described as identity development rather than formation but confirms a normative process of change in both the content and structure of one’s thoughts about the self.

Self-Concept

Two main aspects of identity development are self-concept and self-esteem. The idea of self-concept is the ability of a person to have opinions and beliefs that are defined confidently, consistently, and with stability. Early in adolescence, cognitive developments result in greater self-awareness, awareness of others and their thoughts and judgments, the ability to think about abstract, future possibilities, and the ability to consider multiple possibilities at once. As a result, adolescents experience a significant shift from the simple, concrete, and global self-descriptions typical of young children: as children, they define themselves by physical traits, whereas adolescents define themselves based on their values, thoughts, and opinions.

Adolescents can conceptualize multiple “possible selves” that they could become and the long-term possibilities and consequences of their choices. Exploring these possibilities may result in abrupt changes in self-presentation as the adolescent chooses or rejects qualities and behaviors, trying to guide the actual self toward the ideal self (who the adolescent wishes to be) and away from the feared self (who the adolescent does not want to be). For many, these distinctions are uncomfortable, but they also appear to motivate achievement through behavior consistent with the ideal and distinct from the feared possible selves.

Further distinctions in self-concept, called “differentiation,” occur as the adolescent recognizes the contextual influences on their own behavior and the perceptions of others and begin to qualify their traits when asked to describe themselves. Differentiation appears fully developed by mid-adolescence. Peaking in the 7th-9th grades, the personality traits adolescents use to describe themselves refer to specific contexts and, therefore, may contradict one another. The recognition of inconsistent content in the self-concept is a common source of distress in these years, but this distress may benefit adolescents by encouraging structural development. Harter (2012) found that adolescents emphasize traits such as being friendly and considerate more than do children, highlighting their increasing concern about how others may see them. Harter also found that older teens add values and moral standards to their self-descriptions.

Self-Esteem

Another aspect of identity formation is self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as one’s thoughts and feelings about one’s self-concept and identity. Most theories on self-esteem state that there is a grand desire, across all genders and ages, to maintain, protect, and enhance their self-esteem. Contrary to popular belief, self-esteem does not appear to drop over the course of adolescence, it remains steady, and increases at around 15 through adulthood (Orth & Robins, 2019). Some studies found a drop in self-esteem from the exaggerated views in early childhood to more realistic portrayals in middle childhood and to the dramatic physical, cognitive, and social changes in puberty. However, a meta-analysis of longitudinal research did not find any drop. Individual adolescents don’t always follow the averages, and their unique paths may experience declines “due to pubertal changes, conflicts with parents, and mood disruptions in this developmental period” (Orth et al., 2018, p. 1063).

Moment-by-moment (or “barometric”) self-esteem fluctuates rapidly and can cause severe distress and anxiety, but baseline self-esteem remains highly stable across adolescence. The validity of global self-esteem scales has been questioned, and many suggest that more specific scales might reveal more about the adolescent experience. Girls are most likely to enjoy high self-esteem when engaged in supportive relationships with friends. The most important function of friendship for females is having someone who can provide social and moral support. When they fail to win friends’ approval or can’t find someone with whom to share common activities and common interests, girls suffer from low self-esteem.

In contrast, boys are more concerned with establishing and asserting their independence and defining their relation to authority. As such, they are more likely to derive high self-esteem from their ability to successfully influence their friends; on the other hand, the lack of romantic competence, for example, failure to win or maintain the affection of the opposite or same-sex (depending on sexual orientation), is the major contributor to low self-esteem in adolescent boys.

Developmental Task of Adolescence: Identity vs. Role Confusion

Adolescents continue to refine their sense of self as they relate to others. Erik Erikson referred to life’s fifth psychosocial task as one of identity versus role confusion when adolescents must work through the complexities of finding one’s own identity. Individuals are influenced by how they resolved all of the previous childhood psychosocial crises and this adolescent stage is a bridge between the past and the future, between childhood and adulthood. Thus, in Erikson’s view, an adolescent’s main questions are “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to be?”  This includes questions regarding their appearance, vocational choices and career aspirations, education, relationships, sexuality, political and social views, personality, and interests. Erikson saw this as a period of uncertainty, confusion, exploration, experimentation, and learning regarding identity and one’s life path.

Erikson suggested that most adolescents experience psychological moratorium, where teens put on hold commitment to an identity while exploring their options. The culmination of this exploration is a more coherent view of oneself called identity achievement. Those who are unsuccessful at resolving this stage may either withdraw further into social isolation or become lost in the crowd. However, more recent research suggests that few leave the adolescent period with identity achievement and that for most of us, the process of identity formation continues all during the years of emerging and young adulthood (Côtè, 2006).

Marcia: Exploration and commitment

Expanding on Erikson’s theory, James Marcia (2010) identified two key processes of identity development: exploration and commitment.

By exploration, he meant the processes through which youth imagine, consider, try out, and try on different possible facets of their identity, experimenting with a variety of attitudes, looks, activities, friends, school subjects, and hobbies. If you happen to have photos of yourself at ages 13, 14, 15, and 16, you may see some pretty big changes in the way you were dressing and acting at those ages. Those different “personas” you were trying on would be a process of exploration. Exploration of different facets of identity may also be staggered over the adolescent, emerging adulthood, and early adult years (and beyond) as you initially work on appearance, attitude, and friendships and then move on to romantic relationships and vocation.

Commitment refers to a consolidation and acceptance of who you truly are as you begin to recognize, understand, and feel comfortable with your multi-faceted authentic self, both in its individual facets (e.g., of personality, sexual orientation, ethnic/racial, gender identity, and so on) and in an overall picture of how each of those dimensions of identity fit together, complement each other, and are integrated (e.g., how your sexual orientation fits with your religious beliefs). You can see why the process of commitment has been an ongoing work in progress for so many years!

Marcia identified four identity statuses that represent the four possible combinations of the dimensions of commitment and exploration (see Table 3). These statuses can be thought of as snapshots of where adolescents and young adults are in the identity development process at any given moment.

The least mature status, and one common in many children, is identity diffusion. Identity diffusion is a status that characterizes those who have neither explored their options nor made a commitment to an identity. Those who persist in this identity throughout adolescence and young adulthood have basically not taken on the crucial developmental task of grappling with who they are and who they want to become, so they run the risk of drifting aimlessly with little connection to those around them or having little sense of purpose in life.

Those in identity foreclosure have made a commitment to an identity without having explored the options. Some parents may make these decisions for their children and do not grant their teens the opportunity to participate in these choices. In other instances, teens may strongly identify with parents and others in their lives and wish to follow in their footsteps. The potential problems with foreclosure are twofold. On the one hand, without active exploration, the adolescent or young adult may have missed the opportunity to really get to know themselves– their passions, preferences, and interests in life. Without this information, they may make a commitment to a (vocational, sexual, political, etc.) identity that is not really a good fit for their true self. On the other hand, even if the identity to which they are committed is authentic, it is possible that, without active and intentional consideration of multiple alternatives, their commitment may not be as strong or durable.

Identity moratorium is a status that describes those who are actively exploring in an attempt to construct an identity but have yet to make any commitment. This can be an anxious and emotionally tense time as the adolescent experiments with different roles and explores various beliefs. Nothing is certain and there are many questions, but few answers. As discussed later, identity development is a highly social process influenced by parents, extended family, peers, friends, classmates, teachers, coaches, mentors, social media, and societal messages. For many adolescents, aspects of their identity are not necessarily viewed as acceptable by these social partners. For example, an adolescent who has a passion for art and theatre is part of an extended family who expects her to go into medicine or business. Such mismatches between internal information about who you feel you really are and what the social world wants you to be can extend the period of moratorium for specific aspects of identity development while the adolescent or young adult attempts to negotiate and reconcile these mismatches.

Identity achievement refers to those who, after exploration, have made a commitment. This is a long process and, as mentioned previously, is not typically achieved by the end of adolescence.

Changes in identity status. During high school and college years, teens and young adults move from identity diffusion and foreclosure toward moratorium and achievement. The biggest gains in the development of identity typically take place in college, as college students are exposed to a greater variety of career choices, lifestyles, and beliefs. Exposure to so many alternatives is likely to spur questions regarding identity. A great deal of the identity work we do in adolescence and young adulthood is about values and goals, as we strive to articulate a personal vision or dream for what we hope to accomplish in the future (McAdams, 2013). During these later periods, emerging adults also focus some of their energy on the task of identity development, achieving more coherence and integration among the different facets of one’s identity, striving to fit passions (like music) into a vocation that will support them financially, or finding a balance between family, school, and work.

Even after an identity has been established, life events during adulthood and even into old age can reignite the process of identity development. For example, when a middle-aged man loses his job, and it seems as if that line of work is being phased out, he may begin the process of reimagining a new vocational identity. Or when a middle-aged woman’s children move out of the house, she may begin to rekindle the parts of her identity that were fascinated by creative writing or building a business. Retirement is a common time for couples to figure out who they want to be and what they want to do in the next chapter of their lives.

Because identity development can be considered an ongoing process that we revisit and re-examine at many times in our lives, researchers have given this process its own name:  MAMA cycling or moving back and forth between moratorium and achievement. This cycling between exploration and achievement is common in identity formation (Grotevant, 1987) and is considered a normal and healthy process of development.

Facets of Identity Development

Developmental psychologists have researched multiple different areas of identity development. Some of the main areas include:

Ethnic-Racial identity refers to how people come to terms with who they are based on their ethnic and/or racial ancestry. “The task of ethnic identity formation involves sorting out and resolving positive and negative feelings and attitudes about one’s own ethnic group and about other groups and identifying one’s place in relation to both” (Phinney, 2006, p. 119). When groups differ in status in a culture, those from the non-dominant group are typically cognizant of the customs and values of those from the dominant culture. The reverse is rarely the case. This makes ethnic-racial identity far less salient for members of the dominant culture. In the United States, those of European ancestry engage in less exploration of ethnic-racial identity than do those of non-European ancestry (Phinney, 1989). However, according to the U.S. Census (2012), more than 40% of Americans under the age of 18 are from ethnic and racial minorities. For many ethnic and racial minority teens, discovering one’s ethnic-racial identity is an important part of identity formation.

Cultural/Bicultural/Multiracial Identity. Ethnic minorities must wrestle with the question of how and to what extent they will identify with the culture of their family and with the dominant culture of the surrounding society. Phinney (2006) suggests that people may handle this negotiation in different ways. Some may keep these identities separate, others may combine them in some way, while others may reject some of them. Bicultural identity means the individual sees himself or herself as part of both the ethnic minority group and the larger society. Those who are multiracial, that is whose parents come from two or more ethnic or racial groups, have a more challenging task in current society. In some cases, their appearance may be ambiguous. This can lead to others constantly asking them to categorize themselves. Phinney (2006) notes that the process of identity formation may start earlier and take longer to accomplish in those who are not mono-racial. For both multicultural and multiracial adolescents, the task of identity development is made more complicated by society’s current difficulty in recognizing these identities as legitimate. Some adolescents are continually asked “No, which one are you really?” or are categorized according to their phenotypic appearance. Sometimes their identity is challenged if they do not embody the prototype of a category (e.g., are not fluent in their heritage language). Luckily, society is starting to shift in its understanding of multi-ethnic, -racial, and -cultural identities, as seen, for example, in questions about race/ethnicity, where people are allowed to “check all that apply” instead of being forced to select only one category.

It is also important to note that those who do commit to an ethnic-racial identity may periodically reexamine the issues of race and ethnicity. It is especially common to do so when you have children, at which time you may reflect on the values, history, and traditions of your ethnic and racial heritage that you wish to pass on to your children. This cycling between exploration and achievement is common not only for racial and ethnic identity formation, but in other aspects of identity development (Grotevant, 1987) and as mentioned previously is referred to as MAMA cycling or moving back and forth between moratorium and achievement.

Gender identity: Acquiring a gender identity is becoming an increasingly prolonged task as attitudes and norms regarding gender keep changing. The roles appropriate for males and females are evolving, and the lack of a gender binary allow adolescents more freedom to explore various aspects of gender. Some teens may foreclose on a gender identity as a way of dealing with this uncertainty, and they may adopt more stereotypic male or female roles (Sinclair & Carlsson, 2013). For youth who attend college, exposure to a wider variety of options and role models may allow them to re-open questions about their own gender identity, initiating further exploration and new commitments.

• Gender identity refers to a person’s self-perception as male, female, both, genderqueer, or neither. Cisgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex, while transgender is a term used to describe people whose sense of personal identity does not correspond with their birth sex. Gender expression, or how one demonstrates gender (based on traditional gender role norms related to clothing, behavior, and interactions) can be feminine, masculine, androgynous, or somewhere along a spectrum.
• Fluidity and uncertainty regarding sex and gender are especially common during early adolescence when hormones increase and fluctuate, creating difficulty of self-acceptance and identity achievement (Reisner et al., 2016). Gender identity, like vocational identity, is becoming an increasingly prolonged task as attitudes and norms regarding gender keep changing. The roles appropriate for males and females are evolving and some adolescents may foreclose on a gender identity as a way of dealing with this uncertainty by adopting more stereotypic male or female roles (Sinclair & Carlsson, 2013). Those who identify as transgender may face even bigger challenges.

Sexual identity: According to Carroll (2016), by age 14, most adolescents become interested in intimate relationships, and they may begin sexual experimentation. Many adolescents feel pressure to express interest in opposite-sex relationships, even if they are not ready to do so. This pressure can be especially stressful for those adolescents who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning their sexual identity. Many non-heterosexual adolescents struggle with negative peer and family reactions during their exploration. A lack of parental acceptance can have especially adverse effects on the gay, lesbian, or bisexual adolescent’s emerging sexual identity and can result in feelings of self-doubt, depression, and alienation. In cases where families are unsupportive, adolescents may seek support from online communities or wait until they leave home to work on this aspect of their identity. In contrast, adolescents whose families and peers support open exploration of their sexual identities have better psychological and mental health outcomes.

Vocational identity. While adolescents in earlier generations envisioned themselves as working in a particular job, and often worked as an apprentice or part-time in such occupations as teenagers, this is rarely the case today. Vocational identity takes longer to develop, as most of today’s occupations require specific skills and knowledge that will require additional education or are acquired on the job itself. In addition, many of the jobs held by teens are not occupations that most teens will seek as adults. Rapid changes in the nature of employment and the fact that most adults will hold multiple jobs over their working lives also suggest that this identity may be re-negotiated several times over the lifespan.

Religious identity. Adolescence is a time when teens normatively question their participation in religious practices. At the same time, most teens end up adopting religious views that are similar to those of their families (Kim-Spoon, Longo, & McCullough, 2012). Most teens may question specific customs, practices, or ideas in their parents’ faith, but few completely reject their families’ religion.

Political identity. The political ideology of teens is also influenced by their parents’ political beliefs. A new trend in the 21st century is a decrease in party affiliation among adults. Many adults do not align themselves with either the Democratic or Republican parties but view themselves as more of an “independent.” Their teenage children are often following suit or become more apolitical (Côtè, 2006). Trends in voting among young adults suggest that most of them are questioning whether it is meaningful to participate in the current political system.

Negative Identity. A negative identity is the adoption of norms and values that are the opposite of one’s family and culture, and it is assumed to be one of the more problematic outcomes of identity development in young people (Hihara, Umemura, & Sigimura, 2019). Those with a negative identity hold dichotomous beliefs and consequently divide the world into two categories (e.g., friend or foe, good or bad). Hihara et al. suggest that this may be because teens with a negative identity cannot integrate information and beliefs that exist in both their inner and outer worlds. In addition, those with a negative identity are generally hostile and cynical toward society, often because they do not trust the world around them. These beliefs may lead teens to engage in delinquent and criminal behavior and prevent them from engaging in more positive prosocial acts that could be beneficial to society

Developmental processes in the task of identity formation

Identity formation starts in early childhood, as children learn to categorize themselves by distinctions such as gender and ethnicity. During this stage, children’s understanding of identity is largely descriptive—they recognize who belongs to which “club” and note differences in appearance, behavior, and activities. Although they observe differences in status and privileges, young children typically do not deeply reflect on or evaluate these categories.

As children enter adolescence, their cognitive abilities advance, allowing for more abstract and complex thinking. Adolescents develop better skills in perspective-taking, enabling them to see themselves through others’ eyes. This increased self-awareness leads to heightened self-consciousness, self-evaluation, and social comparison. Adolescents become more attuned to how their identity categories are viewed in society, imbuing these categories with personal meaning and emotion. The complexity of negotiating an identity varies depending on the messages adolescents have received about their attributes and the categories they belong to.

While forming an identity seems like a personal task, it is heavily influenced by social factors. Internally, adolescents draw on their personal history, interests, preferences, impulses, and intrinsic motivations—experiences that inform their authentic selves. These experiences are analyzed and translated into psychological constructs like personality traits and values, which are considered for inclusion in their personal identity. Externally, social interactions and societal messages play a significant role in shaping how adolescents perceive the importance and value of their attributes and identity categories. Society also influences which identity categories are available, such as recognizing multiracial identities or diverse gender and sexual orientations.

Close relationships with parents, siblings, and other family members are crucial in shaping identity during childhood and adolescence. As adolescents grow, their peers, friends, and classmates become increasingly influential. These relationships provide a social context in which adolescents negotiate and develop their identities, balancing internal self-perceptions with external feedback and societal expectations.

Social Factors and Identity Development: Parents, Peers, and School

To provide a framework for thinking about social factors, we can turn to contextualist views, like Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model. These models remind us that ecologies are complex and multi-layered. We can begin by considering the important role of microsystems, like families, peer groups, and schools. But we should also consider mesosystem forces, and especially, factors from macrosystems that are structured according to societal status hierarchies, such as those based on race and ethnicity, class, and gender. We will review some general information about the crucial roles of parents, peers, and schools. And then consider in more detail the development of ethnic and racial identity, where the best research has been conducted to date on the role of societal status hierarchies. This body of research is relatively recent because developmentalists, who were largely white, did not recognize the centrality of ethnic-racial identity development. We conclude with some thoughts on ethnic-racial identity in white adolescents, about which not much is currently known.

Parents and Caregivers

Much of the research on social influences on identity development focuses on caregivers. When all goes well, caregivers are the ones who can, starting with attachment processes, communicate warmth, affection, and unconditional love. They get to know a child’s inborn temperament, come to value them as complex, interesting individuals, and find ways to provide a good match to their idiosyncrasies and quirks. Through emotion coaching, they help children develop the vocabulary to talk about their genuine feelings and desires and work with them to develop strategies for seeing that their own needs are considered while also considering the needs of others. They provide role models and offer young children opportunities to play, explore their favorite activities, and follow their own interests.

It appears that most teens do not experience adolescent “storm and stress” to the degree once famously suggested by G. Stanley Hall, a pioneer in the study of adolescent development. Only a small number of teens have major conflicts with their parents (Steinberg & Morris, 2001), and most disagreements are minor.  In adolescence, teens are demanding greater control in decisions that affect their daily lives. This can increase conflict between parents and their teenagers. For many adolescents, this conflict centers on chores, homework, curfew, dating, and personal appearance. These are all things many teens believe they should manage that parents previously had considerable control over. Not surprisingly, culture and ethnicity can play a role in how restrictive parents/caregivers are with the daily lives of their children (Chen et al., 2013).

One of the key changes during adolescence involves a renegotiation of parent-child relationships. As adolescents strive for more independence and autonomy during this time, different aspects of parenting become more common. For example, parents’ distal supervision and monitoring become more important as adolescents spend more time away from their parents and in the presence of peers. Parental monitoring encompasses a wide range of behaviors, such as parents’ attempts to set rules and know their adolescents’ friends, activities, and whereabouts, in addition to adolescents’ willingness to disclose information to their parents (Stattin & Kerr, 2000).  Interestingly, the association between the CHRM2 genotype and adolescent externalizing behavior (aggression and delinquency) has been found in adolescents whose caregivers engage in low-monitoring behaviors (Dick et al., 2011).

While most adolescents tend to get along with their parents or primary caregivers, many tend to spend less time with them (Smetana, 2011).  This decrease in the time spent with families may be a reflection of a teenager’s greater desire for independence or autonomy. It can be difficult for many parents to deal with this desire for autonomy. However, it is likely adaptive for teenagers to increasingly distance themselves and establish relationships outside of their families in preparation for adulthood. This means that both parents and teenagers need to strike a balance between autonomy while still maintaining close and supportive familial relationships.

Research shows that teens whose caregivers use effective monitoring practices are less likely to make poor decisions, such as engaging in sexual intercourse at an early age, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, being physically aggressive, or skipping school (Brendgen et al., 2001; Choquet et al., 2008; Cota-Robles & Gamble, 2006; Feigelman & Stanton 2000; Markham et al., 2010).  Clear communication about expectations is especially important. Research shows that teens who believe their parents/caregivers disapprove of risky behaviors are less likely to choose those behaviors (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2010). 

Having supportive, less conflict-ridden relationships with primary caregivers also benefits teenagers. Research on attachment in adolescence finds that teens who are still securely attached to their parents/caregivers have fewer emotional problems (Rawatlal et al., 2015) are less likely to engage in drug abuse and other criminal behaviors (Meeus et al., 2004) and have more positive peer relationships (Shomaker, & Furman, 2009).

Peers

Peer relationships are a big part of adolescent development. Much has been made about the importance of peers to processes of identity development, and for good reason. Relationships with friends and with members of peer groups are an important context for the development of identity during adolescence. Communication and interactions with peers provide opportunities to elaborate on possibilities, play out tentative exploration, and test commitments against others’ perspectives. Friendships and peer groups can be safe contexts for exploration, made up of freely chosen and mutually supportive equals.

Adolescents within a peer group tend to be similar in behavior and attitudes, which has been explained as a function of homophily (adolescents who are similar to one another choose to spend time together in a “birds of a feather flock together” way) and influence (adolescents who spend time together shape each others’ behavior and attitudes). They communicate honestly with each other within these relationships. By giving and receiving information, they become more aware of the diversity of characteristics, preferences, and viewpoints found among their agemates. Through this communication, they develop clarity about their own characteristics and get a better sense of who they are. Research has found that adolescents who have higher quality peer relationships, who interact more frequently with their peers, and who are more involved in activities with agemates also experience greater identity development and commitment.

Peer relationships are crucial sources of recognition, validation, and support for autonomy, as well as feedback about the social desirability of attributes and preferences. Through processes of mirroring and social comparison, adolescents become aware of both similarities and differences to their own friends and peer groups, and with other agemates. There is a desire to bond with like-others and to find affinities, but this does not necessarily lead to blind conformity. Adolescents also embrace ways in which they are individually distinctive. They have a desire to be unique. The dynamic tension between similarity and individuality varies between individuals and changes across development. Most teens seek, to some extent, both to fit in and to stand out.

Early adolescents are usually more susceptible to peer influence and conformity, while later in adolescence, distinctiveness tends to be more highly valued, even within relationships primarily based on affinity or similarity. Peer pressure is usually depicted as peers pushing a teenager to do something that adults disapprove of, such as breaking laws or using drugs. One of the most widely studied aspects of adolescent peer influence is known as deviant peer contagion (Dishion & Tipsord, 2011), which is the process by which peers reinforce problem behavior by laughing or showing other signs of approval that then increase the likelihood of future problem behavior. Although deviant peer contagion is more extreme, regular peer pressure is not always harmful.

Adolescents share their perspectives and react to societal norms, values, lifestyle choices, and social hierarchies within their peer relationships. These interactions affect identity development by helping teens clarify their own beliefs and preferences. Peers can also be agents for the impact of negative social forces when they express stigma, prejudice, or discrimination. This can come from other non-affiliated agemates in the social context and sometimes even from within an individual’s own group.

As it has been in relationships with parents, identification is also a process at work in adolescent peer relationships, and it contributes to identity formation. Identification involves being drawn to and seeing your potential self in admired-others and then emulating their behaviors and characteristics. A good friend or popular peer group member, for example, may serve as a role model. In connection with the burgeoning importance of social aspects of life at this age, adolescent identity development also involves social identification, the valuing and adoption of group behaviors, and group characteristics.

Teens often adopt the dress, slang, mannerisms, attitudes, and activities of a crowd, which is a larger group or social category within their school context, or they may jointly emulate values and behaviors from a segment of popular culture. In contrast to friendships (which are reciprocal dyadic relationships) and cliques (which refer to groups of individuals who interact frequently), crowds are characterized more by shared reputations or images than actual interactions (Brown & Larson, 2009). These crowds reflect different prototypic identities (such as jocks or brains) and are often linked with adolescents’ social status and peers’ perceptions of their values or behaviors.

Schools

Although we discussed schools in the previous section, it is important to emphasize here that, although schools may not always think of themselves as important socializers of identity, they nevertheless play key roles in identity construction. They provide experiences, interaction partners, and messages to children about their academic identities (e.g., how smart they are), interests (e.g., writing, robotics, math, music), and vocational identities (whether they are college-bound or able to hold certain jobs). These experiences happen in and out of class, with teachers and classmates, and include after-school, extra-curricular, and recreational activities. Schools can facilitate identity development when they offer rich and varied opportunities for exploration that expose children to different communities of learners and do-ers (e.g., community organizers, professionals, scientists, gardeners, plumbers, child-care workers, creative artists). Especially meaningful are extra-curricular activities with real responsibilities and opportunities to take leadership roles.

Middle and high school can be tricky places for the healthy development of all students, but they can be especially problematic for adolescents who do not meet all the narrow societal “norms” endorsed by status hierarchies. Parents and educators are often horrified at the vicious social messages that come from adolescents and target other adolescents who are perceived to be lower on social status hierarchies. However, if you wonder where adolescents get their ammunition, adults should examine the higher-order hierarchies of human worth that are currently endorsed by the larger society at this historical moment. Adolescents may be the “police” who enforce these rigid values, but they are enabled and trained by society at large. It is not an accident that adolescence is a time during which youth start to actively question and sometimes reject the social messages that society prescribes about the value, status, and privileges associated with particular personality characteristics, activities, physical appearances, and status categories.

For many parents, their goals are to get their adolescents out of these school contexts as soon as possible, to protect them from experiences of bullying and peer discrimination, and to find alternative, more supportive subcultures for them in other settings (like creative arts centers or workplaces). For some students, online communities allow them to find like-minded friends and peers, and adults also create social messages, such as the “It gets better” campaign aimed at LGBTQ+ youth. The importance of “schools” continues after high school since universities often provide a wide range of role models and opportunities for students to explore and engage in identity development activities. Students who attend rigid, narrow high schools are often astonished at the freedoms they find at college, where they can discover and explore many facets of their identities through friendships, clubs, and classes. Especially important, they can seek out and choose their own “family” of adults (teachers, advisors, mentors, etc.) and peers who encourage them to be themselves and love them for exactly who they are.

Romantic Relationships

Adolescence is the developmental period during which romantic relationships typically first emerge. By the end of adolescence, most American teens have had at least one romantic relationship (Dolgin, 2011). However, culture does play a role, as Asian Americans and Latinas are less likely to date than other ethnic groups (Connolly et al., 2004). Dating serves many purposes for teens, including having fun, companionship, status, socialization, sexual experimentation, intimacy, and (for those in late adolescence) partner selection  (Dolgin, 2011).

There are several stages in the dating process, beginning with engaging in mixed-sex group activities in early adolescence (Dolgin, 2011). The same-sex peer groups that were common during childhood expand into mixed-sex peer groups that are more characteristic of adolescence. Romantic relationships often form in the context of these mixed-sex peer groups (Connolly et al.,  2000). Interacting in mixed-sex groups is easier for teens as they are among a supportive group of friends, can observe others interacting, and are kept safe from a too-early intimate relationship.

By middle adolescence teens are engaging in brief, casual dating or in group dating with established couples (Dolgin, 2011). Then, in late adolescence, dating involves exclusive, intense relationships. These relationships tend to be long-lasting and continue for a year or longer. However, they may also interfere with friendships. Although romantic relationships during adolescence are often short-lived rather than long-term committed partnerships, their importance should not be minimized. Adolescents spend a great deal of time focused on romantic relationships, and their positive and negative emotions are tied more to romantic relationships, or lack thereof, than to friendships, family relationships, or school (Furman & Shaffer, 2003). Romantic relationships contribute to adolescents’ identity formation, changes in family and peer relationships, and emotional and behavioral adjustment.

Furthermore, romantic relationships are centrally connected to adolescents’ emerging sexuality. Parents, policymakers, and researchers have devoted a great deal of attention to adolescent sexuality, in large part because of concerns related to sexual intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, and preventing teen pregnancies. However, sexuality involves more than this narrow focus. For example, adolescence is often the time when individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender come to recognize themselves as such (Russell, Clarke, & Clary, 2009). Thus, romantic relationships are a domain in which adolescents experiment with new behaviors and identities.

Many adolescents may choose to come out during this period of their life once an identity has been formed; many others may go through a period of questioning or denial, which can include experimentation with both homosexual and heterosexual experiences. A study of 194 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths under the age of 21 found that having an awareness of one’s sexual orientation occurred, on average, around age 10, but the process of coming out to peers and adults occurred around age 16 and 17, respectively. Coming to terms with and creating a positive LGBT identity can be difficult for some youth for a variety of reasons. Peer pressure is a large factor when youth who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity are surrounded by heteronormative peers and can cause great distress due to a feeling of being different from everyone else. While coming out can also foster better psychological adjustment, the risks associated are real. Indeed, coming out in the midst of a heteronormative peer environment often comes with the risk of ostracism, hurtful jokes, and even violence. Because of this, statistically, the suicide rate amongst LGBT adolescents is up to four times higher than that of their heterosexual peers due to bullying and rejection from peers or family members.

Structural Racism and the Study of Ethnic-Racial Identity

The study of ethnic-racial identity within developmental psychology has undergone a series of transformations in response to a growing awareness of the social-structural and historical contexts and related challenges adolescents face in negotiating this task. Several perspectives have emerged, each providing unique insights and generating relevant empirical findings.

Three major contributions are:

• Phinney’s model of ethnic identity formation (Phinney, 1990), based on Marcia’s developmental process dimensions of exploration and commitment;
• Extended bioecological models inspired by Bronfenbrenner, including Spencer’s PVEST (Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory) and Garcia Coll et al. (1996)  Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children;
• Multidimensional conceptualizations that focus on the content and structure of ethnic-racial identity.

Following is an overview of Phinney’s approach. The supplemental readings at the end of the chapter provide additional information.

Phinney’s model of ethnic identity formation is based on Erikson’s and Marcia’s model of identity formation (Phinney, 1990; Syed & Juang, 2014). Through the process of exploration and commitment, individuals come to understand and create an ethnic identity. Phinney suggests three stages or statuses with regard to ethnic identity:

• Unexamined Ethnic Identity. Adolescents and adults who have not been exposed to ethnic identity issues may be in the first stage, unexamined ethnic identity. This is often characterized by a default preference for the dominant culture or where the individual has given little thought to the question of their ethnic or cultural heritage. This is similar to diffusion in Marcia’s model of identity. Included in this group are also those who have adopted the ethnicity of their parents and other family members with little thought about the issues themselves, similar to Marcia’s foreclosure status (Phinney, 1990).
• Ethnic Identity Search. Adolescents and adults who are exploring the customs, culture, and history of their ethnic group are in the ethnic identity search stage, similar to Marcia’s moratorium status (Phinney, 1990). Often, some event “awakens” a teen or adult to their ethnic group: perhaps a personal experience with prejudice, a highly profiled case in the media, or even a more positive event that highlights the contributions of someone from the individual’s ethnic group. Teens and adults in this stage will immerse themselves in their ethnic culture. For some, “it may lead to a rejection of the values of the dominant culture” (Phinney, 1990, p. 503).
• Achieved Ethnic Identity. Those who have actively explored their culture are likely to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of their ethnic heritage, resulting in progress toward an achieved ethnic identity (Phinney, 1990). An achieved ethnic identity does not necessarily imply that the individual is highly involved in the customs and values of their ethnic culture. One can be confident in their ethnic identity without wanting to maintain the language or other customs. The development of ethnic identity takes time, with about 25% of youth from ethnic minority backgrounds having explored and resolved these issues by tenth grade (Phinney, 1989). The more ethnically homogeneous the high school, the less adolescents explore and achieve an ethnic identity (Umana-Taylor, 2003). Moreover, even in more ethnically diverse high schools, teens tend to spend more time with their own group, reducing exposure to other ethnicities. This may explain why, for many, college becomes the time of ethnic identity exploration. “[The] transition to college may serve as a consciousness-raising experience that triggers exploration” (Syed & Azmitia, 2009, p. 618). Colleges can facilitate this process by requiring ethnic studies courses as part of their core curricula and by supporting ethnic studies programs and student centers organized around ethnic affiliation.

Behavioral and Psychological Adjustment

Aggression and Antisocial Behavior

Several major theories of the development of antisocial behavior treat adolescence as an important period. Patterson’s (1982) nearly versus late starter model of the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior distinguishes youths whose antisocial behavior begins during childhood (early starters) versus adolescence (late starters). According to the theory, early starters are at greater risk for long-term antisocial behavior that extends into adulthood than late starters. Late starters who become antisocial during adolescence are theorized to experience poor parental monitoring and supervision, aspects of parenting that become more salient during adolescence. Poor monitoring and lack of supervision contribute to increasing involvement with deviant peers, which in turn promotes adolescents’ own antisocial behavior. Late starters desist from antisocial behavior when changes in the environment make other options more appealing.

Similarly, Moffitt’s (1993) life-course persistent versus adolescent-limited model distinguishes between antisocial behavior that begins in childhood versus adolescence. Moffitt regards adolescent-limited antisocial behavior as resulting from a “maturity gap” between adolescents’ dependence on and control by adults and their desire to demonstrate their freedom from adult constraint. However, as they continue to develop and legitimate adult roles and privileges become available to them, there are fewer incentives to engage in antisocial behavior, leading to resistance to these antisocial behaviors.

Anxiety and Depression

Developmental models of anxiety and depression also treat adolescence as an important period, especially in terms of the emergence of gender differences in prevalence rates that persist through adulthood (Rudolph, 2009). Starting in early adolescence, compared with males, females have rates of anxiety that are about twice as high and rates of depression that are 1.5 to 3 times as high (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although the rates vary across specific anxiety and depression diagnoses, rates for some disorders are markedly higher in adolescence than in childhood or adulthood. For example, prevalence rates for specific phobias are about 5% in children and 3%–5% in adults but 16% in adolescents. Additionally, some adolescents sink into a major depression, a deep sadness and hopelessness that disrupts all normal, regular activities. Causes include many factors such as genetics and early childhood experiences that predate adolescence, but puberty may push vulnerable children, especially girls, into despair.

During puberty, the rate of major depression more than doubles to an estimated 15%, affecting about one in five girls and one in ten boys. The gender difference occurs for many reasons, biological and cultural (Uddin et al., 2010). Anxiety and depression are particularly concerning because suicide is one of the leading causes of death during adolescence. Some adolescents experience suicidal ideation (distressing thoughts about killing oneself), which becomes most common at about age 15 (Berger, 2019) and can lead to parasuicide, also called attempted suicide or failed suicide. Suicidal ideation and parasuicide should be taken seriously and serve as a warning that emotions may be overwhelming.

Developmental models focus on interpersonal contexts in both childhood and adolescence that foster depression and anxiety (e.g., Rudolph, 2009). Family adversity, such as abuse and parental psychopathology, during childhood, sets the stage for social and behavioral problems during adolescence. Adolescents with such problems generate stress in their relationships (e.g., by resolving conflict poorly and excessively seeking reassurance) and select more maladaptive social contexts (e.g., “misery loves company” scenarios in which depressed youths select other depressed youths as friends and then frequently co-ruminate as they discuss their problems, exacerbating negative affect and stress). These processes are intensified for girls compared with boys because girls have more relationship-oriented goals related to intimacy and social approval, leaving them more vulnerable to disruption in these relationships. Anxiety and depression then exacerbate problems in social relationships, which in turn contribute to the stability of anxiety and depression over time.

Moral Reasoning During Adolescence

As adolescents become increasingly independent, they also develop more nuanced thinking about morality or what is right or wrong. We all make moral judgments on a daily basis. As adolescents’ cognitive, emotional, and social development continue to mature, their understanding of morality expands, and their behavior becomes more closely aligned with their values and beliefs. Therefore, moral development describes the evolution of these guiding principles and is demonstrated by the ability to apply these guidelines in daily life. Understanding moral development is important in this stage where individuals make so many important decisions and gain more and more legal responsibility.

If you recall from the module on Middle Childhood, Lawrence Kohlberg (1984) argued that moral development moves through a series of stages, and reasoning about morality becomes increasingly complex (somewhat in line with increasing cognitive skills, as per Piaget’s stages of cognitive development). As children develop intellectually, they pass through three stages of moral thinking: the pre-conventional level, the conventional level, and the post-conventional level.

In middle childhood into early adolescence, many youth begin to care about how situational outcomes impact others and want to please and be accepted (conventional morality). At this developmental phase, people are able to value the good that can be derived from holding to social norms in the form of laws or less formalized rules.

From adolescence and beyond, many adolescents begin to employ abstract reasoning to justify behaviors. Moral behavior is based on self-chosen ethical principles that are generally comprehensive and universal, such as justice, dignity, and equality, which is post-conventional morality.

Influences on Moral Development

Adolescents are receptive to their culture, to the models they see at home, in school and in the mass media. These observations influence moral reasoning and moral behavior. When children are younger, their family, culture, and religion greatly influence their moral decision-making. During the early adolescent period, peers have a much greater influence. Peer pressure can exert a powerful influence because friends play a more significant role in teens’ lives. Furthermore, the new ability to think abstractly enables teens to begin to question the absolute authority of parents, schools, the government, and other traditional institutions (Vera-Estay et al., 2014).  By late adolescence, most teens are less rebellious as they have begun to establish their own identity, their own belief system, and their own place in the world.

Unfortunately, some adolescents have life experiences that may interfere with their moral development. Traumatic experiences may cause them to view the world as unjust and unfair. Additionally, social learning also impacts moral development. Adolescents may have observed the adults in their lives making immoral decisions that disregarded the rights and welfare of others, leading these youth to develop beliefs and values that are contrary to the rest of society. That being said, adults have opportunities to support moral development by modeling the moral character that we want to see in our children. Parents are particularly important because they are generally the original source of moral guidance. Authoritative parenting facilitates children’s moral growth better than other parenting styles, and one of the most influential things a parent can do is to encourage the right kind of peer relations (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). While caregivers may find this process of moral development difficult or challenging, it is important to remember that this developmental step is essential to a youth’s well-being and ultimate success in life.

Conclusion

Adolescent development is characterized by significant biological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes. Physical changes associated with puberty are triggered by hormones and changes in the brain in which reward-processing centers develop more rapidly than cognitive control systems, making adolescents more sensitive to rewards than to possible negative consequences. Cognitive changes include improvements in complex and abstract thought and moral reasoning. Psychosocial changes are particularly notable as adolescents become more autonomous from their parents, spend more time with peers, and begin exploring romantic relationships and sexuality.

Adjustment during adolescence is reflected in identity formation, which often involves a period of exploration followed by commitments to particular identities. Adolescents’ relationships with parents go through a period of redefinition in which adolescents become more autonomous, and aspects of parenting, such as monitoring and psychological control, become more salient. Peer relationships are important sources of support and companionship during adolescence, yet can also promote problem behaviors. Same-sex peer groups evolve into mixed-sex peer groups, and adolescents’ romantic relationships tend to emerge from these groups. Identity formation occurs as adolescents explore and commit to different roles and ideological positions. Despite these generalizations, factors such as country of residence, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation shape development in ways that lead to a diversity of experiences across adolescence.

Additional Resources

• Please review Appendix A at the end of this textbook for more on the study of ethnic-racial identity within developmental psychology.
• This article explores considerable differences in the ways teenage boys and girls spend their time: “The Way U.S. Teens Spend Their Time is Changing, but Differences Between Boys and Girls Persist” to learn more.
• This article explores racial identity in Black adolescents and how issues of respectability contribute to that identity development: Duncan, G. A., & McCoy, H. (2007). Black adolescent racial identity and respectability. Negro Educational Review, 58(1/2), 35.
• This article reviews the literature on racial identity development of Black adolescents and discusses the role of education in fostering positive racial identity development: DeCuir-Gunby, J. T. (2009). A Review of the Racial Identity Development of African American Adolescents: The Role of Education. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325897
• This article discusses the “promotive” and “protective” effects of racial and ethnic identity, ethnic-racial socialization, and cultural orientation on youth of color: Neblett, E. W., Rivas-Drake, D., & Umana-Taylor, A. D. (2012.) The promise of racial and ethnic protective factors in promoting ethnic minority youth development. Child Development Perspectives, 6(3), 295-303.
• This chapter discusses the field of youth organizing as an area of research: Christens, B. D., & Kirshner, B. (2011). Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2011(134), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.309

Websites

• Sexual Risk Behaviors Can Lead to HIV, STDs, & Teen Pregnancy  Visit the CDC website to learn more about sexual behavior in adolescents.
• Center for Parent and Teen Communication Parenting has the largest impact on adolescent moral development. Read more here in this article, “Building Character: Moral Development in Adolescence”
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We’re committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness. 1-800-273-8255

Videos

• Why Schools Should Start Later for Teens- TEDx : Teens don’t get enough sleep, and it’s not because of Snapchat, social lives, or hormones — it’s because of public policy, says Wendy Troxel. Drawing from her experience as a sleep researcher, clinician, and mother of a teenager, Troxel discusses how early school start times deprive adolescents of sleep during the time of their lives when they need it most.
• Formal operational stage: This video summarizes Piaget’s stage of Formal Operations.
• Crash Course Video #20 – Adolescence: This video on adolescence includes information on topics such as Erikson’s stages and fluid and crystallized intelligence. Closed captioning available.
• Let’s Talk About Sex: Crash Course Psychology #27 : Sex is complicated for different reasons in different cultures. But, it’s the entire purpose of life, so there’s no reason to blush. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank talks about Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, Sexuality, Gender Identity, Hormones, and even looks into the idea of why we have sex. There’s a lot to go through here.
• James Marcia’s Ego Identity Statuses Explained: Marcia’s identity statuses: Diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement
• The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain: TED talk: Why do teenagers seem so much more impulsive, so much less self-aware than grown-ups? Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore compares the prefrontal cortex in adolescents to that of adults, to show us how typically “teenage” behavior is caused by the growing and developing brain.
• Piaget – Stage 4 – Formal – Deductive Reasoning: Which child is still in the concrete operational stage and which has moved to the formal operations stage?

Attributions

Human Growth and Development by Ryan Newton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License,

Individual and Family Development, Health, and Well-being by Diana Lang, Nick Cone; Laura Overstreet, Stephanie Loalada; Suzanne Valentine-French, Martha Lally; Julie Lazzara, and Jamie Skow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License,

Human Development by Human Development Teaching & Learning Group under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License,

Additional written materials by Dan Grimes & Brandy Brennan, Portland State University and are licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0

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