Abstract
Adolescence is often defined as an “in-between” period between childhood and adulthood. Teenagers are faced with biological and physical changes during puberty, psychological dilemmas such as self-esteem, self- concept, and identity (Erikson, 1968), social development such as new relationships and school transitions, and development of advanced cognitive skills such as abstract thinking (Resnick, 2011). Every adolescent is unique but what makes them unique is worth studying. Society can often list a dozen personality traits, skills, talents and interests based on what makes each adolescent their own unique individual.

The adolescent social observation setting chosen for this adolescent review is the Rainier High School wrestling practice starting week of varsity conditioning. All practices are in a combination setting of three places. The weight room is used for conditioning weigh training and is located above the gym. The gym is used for mat practice and warm-ups and the local community is used for endurance and cardio exercises. The specific setting I have chosen is in the gym for mat practice and warm-ups of which is where the team spends most of their time. The purpose for choosing this setting is to observe the dynamics of social interaction accompanied by leadership of the older more senior varsity wrestlers and to include the naturalistic form of competition that exists in sports programs.
The gym environment is typical for a rural community high school as it is small in size. Laid out on the floor there are four large wrestling mats coordinated with team logos to accommodate 23 team members. Eight members are female wrestlers and fifteen are male wrestlers. Education level ranges from senior to freshman as varsity and junior varsity has not yet been decided. The wrestling team has three coaches as well as two wrestling managers used to assist the coaching staff. All wrestlers are dressed down in comfortable clothing with head gear and mouth guards to protect their most variable commodity, their heads. Rainier Education School District is considerably rural and therefore ethnic groups outside of white Caucasian is rare however there is one African American male wrestler in the junior grade level. Physical appearance ranges by weigh class; smallest being 106 pounds and the largest being 285 pounds.
For the purpose of this paper observation will be around a senior male, weigh class 132 pounds of which is the team captain of the Rainier Mountaineer High School Varsity Team. He is tall at 6’1 and approximate weight is 129 pounds. He has dark slightly wavy hair with braces and his energy level appears to be considerably high in order to coordinate and energize the lower classman in their activities. He speaks with respect to those that share his dedicate to the work-out and immediately corrects those that are distracted not following warm-up procedures.
Play activities include various drills and routines established by the coaching staff. Individual is attentive and always selected to showcase initial drills and wrestling mat work with coach to the rest of the team. Wrestling activities include escapes, reversals and match winning pin combinations that test strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. Wrestling appears to not only be a sport of strength but of leverage as often the adolescent has to over-power his coach that is considerable bigger and older in age. Prior to these exercises the adolescent lead the team in warm-up exercises consisting of jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches and various stretching routines. There is a strong important on appearance and weight control that is discussed among the team especially towards cardio exercises that can contribute to large amounts of weight loss.
A uniformed concern over cutting weight is how it affects cognitive abilities. Both judo and wrestling are “thinking man’s” sports (Choma C, Sforzo G, Keller B, 1998). If the results of cutting weight leave the athlete unfocused mentally, he is more probable to find himself on the bottom of a pin or staring at the ceiling after being on the wrong end of a throw. Cutting weight can leave an athlete distracted and impair his ability to make good and timely decisions
Cognitive abilities being exercised range from assessment, reasoning and judgment of his opponent to the use of learning and memory in utilizing skills taught by coaching staff. Adolescent appears to use appropriate problem solving skills in order to overcome his opponent and understanding how to involved and educate lower classman in practice. Adolescent also possesses a strong ability to communicate both with coaching staff and team members using verbal and nonverbal body language showing attention and interest in participation. Adolescent is respectful to others around him and helpful to those than lack the understanding of the drills but show commitment to learn.
Besides many somatic health benefits, physical activity is closely related to higher level of psychosocial health, psychological well-being, positive mood and mental health (Keresztes & Piko, 2012). One of the main elements of Erik Erikson's psychosocial development stage theory is the development of ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction (Erickson, 1968). The combination of psychology and social interaction skills is critical in being successful as a wrestler no matter what the physical abilities. Adolescent is observed watching the approach and demeanor of his opponent to assess the confidence level of their abilities prior to a practice match. Provided that the senior athlete has more experience when approached by a lower classman there is a hesitation in approach so as to symbolize respect and/or insecurity depending on the opponent.
Limited emotional behaviors were present during observation. Adolescent when approached by another wrestler of lower skill level he had an increase in self-confidence and when he was successful in out-witting and out-leveraging his opponent there was an increase level of happiness. When approached by a more challenging lower classman or another senior there was a much greater level of excitement and happiness than with a lower skill level wrestler. Adolescent was polite and respectful of all team-mates including those of female. During the course of practice and warm-ups a challenger appeared as a junior classman of which is in a considerable heavier weight class. Although there was a clear understanding between the two boys that there was an obvious advantage of considerable weight for the junior the senior did not back away from the challenge. After being pinned by the Junior the senior respectfully got up from the mat patting his opponent on the back acknowledging skill and his win. Pride was never lost and emotions were well in control at all times during wrestling practice by the adolescent observed.
Speculating about the temperament of the adolescent would suggest one of an introvert personality. Generally speaking, two of the basic temperament types are outgoing or extroverted and two are more inward directed or introverted. This varies based on temperament blend and our individual personality development. Some of the most important recent work done in the field on personality typing has been done by David Keirsey, who has created the theory of temperament associated with type (Keirsey, 2013). The temperament is easy to define with this adolescent as an introverted personality showing excitement but showing restraint and reserved during the entire duration of practice. He was shown to be calm and a steady person who is not easily bothered. He was the easiest temperament type and everyone seemed to get along with him. Life for him appeared happy, mildly excited and universally calm. Underneath the calm exterior, a timid appearance was evident.
An attempt to hypothesize regarding the attachment of this adolescent would be one of security to his caregivers. This style of attachment usually results from a history of warm and responsive interactions with relationship partners of which is evident in this adolescent has agreeable relationships with all team members. Securely attached people tend to have positive views of themselves, their partners and the people around them which are also visible in the support of other team members. This adolescent has a positive view of their relationships of his team relations as being one of respect and security. Securely attached people feel comfortable both with intimacy and with independence. Given this this adolescent is my son that information can be verified. It was difficult to come to an unbiased hypothesis given this connection.
It is almost impossible to identify what is normal adolescent behavior. When compared to his peers this adolescent showed agreement and accord with all members of the wrestling team. This adolescent also showed mutual respect for all those around him even those who appeared to be disrespectful to others. All peers or team members seemed to be respect and held this adolescent in high regard. Many individuals on the team almost seemed to look-up and follow the actions of this adolescent. Consequently this adolescent acknowledged leadership responsibilities and was proud to carry them out.
There were no outside the norm activities or behaviors visible during the observation of this adolescent. My observation of the team atmosphere might also have been normalized as the observers have attended many practices over the course of the last four years. Most all participants were known by the observer. It was difficult to separate previous opinions and information.
When the adolescent entered the room the atmosphere changed to immediately respect and attention. It was interesting as the adolescent had no immediate control over those around him just his simple presence in the room brought it to attention. Interaction with the coaches also seemed to be respectful and at times the coaches looked to this adolescent to provide instruction and guidance to other team members. This adolescent although was given immediately respect by others including the coach, did not command respect from others.
There were no problem interactions other than when another lower classman was being in appropriate with a female wrestler. This adolescent initially ignored the behavior and showed no attention to it. When other female wrestlers began to interject and have issue with the “problem interaction” the adolescent stepped over to investigate what was happening. When the adolescent was acknowledged by the problematic lower classman his behavior stopped and was corrected. This signified rank or social order within the team. Social order is important among adolescent as was evident by the entire practice and warm-up schedule. This was reinforced in as this adolescent is one of the senior team captains.
The overall function of the adolescent in his peer group is fundamentally stable and is one of leadership. This leadership and respect appears to be one that has been established over time.
It was natural being the observer in this environment as it was familiar to the observer. Being an observer is something that I find myself doing at all times and for enjoyment. I enjoyed this assignment and it brought clearly understanding to the respect that my son has worked to obtain over the last four years of his high school career as a wrestler.

References
Choma C, Sforzo G, Keller B. Impact of rapid weight loss on cognitive function in collegiate wrestlers. Med Sci Sport Exer. 1998; 30(5):746-749.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton.
Keirsey temperament sorter ii. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.keirsey.com/aboutkts2.aspx
Keresztes N, and Piko B. (2012) Early Adolescent Girls’ Psychosocial Health in the Light of their Sports Activity Behavior Nova Publishing (pp. 255-269)
Resnick, Allison. (2011) Adolescent Identity Development through Personal Narratices: Program Proposal. ProQuest Disserations and Theses. ProQuest, LLC. 2013