Self-Understanding – The individual’s cognitive representation of the self, the substance and content of self-conceptions. It is a social cognitive construction. (i.e. a 12 year old boy understands that he is a student, football player, family member, and a video game lover)
Abstraction – What the person actually is.
Idealism – Positive characteristics of one’s self, and/or what they desire to be like.
Differentiation – Adolescents are more likely than children to note contextual or situational variations in describing themselves. Adolescents are more likely than children to understand that they possess several different selves, each one varying in some degree according to a specific role or context.
The Fluctuating self – The self continues to be characterized by instability until late adolescence or even early adulthood
Maladjustment – A strong discrepancy between the real and ideal self
Possible Self – Alternate to the idea of maladjustment. What the individual might become, what they want to become, and what they are afraid of becoming.
Self-Comparison – Comparison of self to peers. Adolescents are more likely than children to use self-comparison in evaluating themselves; however their willingness to admit that they engage in social comparison for this purpose declines during adolescence because they view these acts as socially undesirable.
Self-Consciousness – Adolescent’s friends are often the main source of reflected self-appraisals, the social mirror into which adolescents anxiously stare.
Self-Protection – Repressing the negative characteristics about one’s self. Only acknowledging the good.
Unconscious self – Older adolescents are more likely than younger adolescents to believe that certain
Ch 4: Self

Self-esteem- (self-worth or self-image) is the global evaluative dimension of the self. Self-concept: refers to domain-specific evaluations in many domains-academic, athletic, physical appearance, and so on. Self-esteem is global self-evaluations while self-concept is domain-specific self-evaluations.

How does self-esteem change over the lifespan? Self-esteem decreased in adolescence, increased in the twenties, leveled off in the thirties, rose in the forties through the mid-sixties, and then dropped in the seventies and eighties. At most ages males reported higher self-esteem than females did. Then gender gap for decreased self-esteem decreased from 18 to 25 however.

4. What is the strongest predictor of self-esteem in adolescents - The strongest predictor of self-esteem in adolescents is how they act in social settings physical appearance (global). in another study physical attractiveness physical appearance, scholastic competence, social acceptance, behavioral conduct, athletic competence

Role do parents and peers play in shaping self-esteem - Parents and peers relate to an adolescent’s self-esteem. As family cohesiveness increased, adolescents’ self-esteem increased over time. The link between peer approval and self-worth increases during adolescence.

Improving self-esteem - identifying the causes of low self-esteem and the domain of competence important to self, provide emotional support and social approval, foster achievement, and help adolescents to cope.

Contemporary views of identity development differ from Erikson’s - Contemporary views of identity development suggest that it is a lengthy process, in many instances more gradual and less cataclysmic (catastrophic or disastrous) than Erikson’s term crisis implies.

Criticisms of Marcia’s approach to identity? -Some criticisms by researchers of Marcia’s approach to identity are that it distorts and over simplifies Erikson’s concept of crisis and commitment.

What concepts have been introduced to build on or extend Marcia’s concepts? Recently, Luc Goossens, Koen Luyckx, and their colleagues proposed an extension of Marcia’s concepts of exploration and commitment. The revisionist theorizing stresses the effective identity development involves evaluating identity commitments on a continuing basis. 1) exploration in depth, which involves “gathering information and talking to others about current commitments” and 2) identification with commitment, which consists of “the degree of security and certainty one experiences with regard to current commitments”.

Parenting styles related to development in adolescents - Atmospheres that promote both individuality and connectedness.

How does ethnic identity relate to self-esteem?
Ø Ethnic Identity: an enduring aspect of the self that includes a sense of membership in an ethnic group, along with the attitudes and feelings related to that membership
Ø Navajo adolescents’ positive ethnic heritage was linked to higher self-esteem, school connectedness, and social functioning
Ø Exploration was an important aspect of establishing a secure sense of one’s ethnic identity, which in turn was linked to a positive attitude towards one’s own group and other groups
Ø Cultural socialization (measured by items such as “How often have your parents said it was important to follow the traditions of your racial or ethnic group?”) was linked to higher self-esteem through a pathway of ethnic centrality (assessed by items such as the importance of ethnicity in “how I see myself”) in Latino college studies
Ø Ethnic identity was linked to adjustment in adolescents primarily by fostering a positive sense of meaning. In this study, Asian American adolescents reported engaging in a search for meaning in life more than did non-Latino White and Latino adolescents.

12. How does ethnic identity change over generations?
1st generation individuals are more likely to be secure in their identity and less likely to change much. The degree to which they feel more “American” seems to be whether if they learned English or not. Also whether they make relationships outside their ethnic group and become well versed in the country’s culture.
2nd generation individuals are more likely to think themselves as “American”. Ethnic identity is likely retained because of retention of ethnic language and social networks.
3rd and later generations becomes more complicated due to historical and political factors. For non-European ethnic groups, racism and discrimination influences whether ethnic identity is retained.

OCEAN * Openness - General appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. * Conscientiousness - The way in which people control, regulate, and direct their impulses. * Extraversion - engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy * Agreeableness - tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others * Neuroticism - experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression

Interaction (Personality) -Today, most psychologists are integrationists, arguing that both traits and situations need to be taken into account in understanding personality
Ex: Jane is an introvert and Sandra is an extrovert. Jane, the introvert, is more likely to enjoy being in the library, whereas Sandra, the extravert, is more likely to enjoy herself at the party

Negative Affectivity- Easily distressed, children with this may cry alot. Closely related to traits of introversion and emotional instability.

Effortful control (self-regulation) - Ability to controls one’s emotions. Thus adolescents high on effortful control show an ability to keep their arousal from getting too high and have strategies to calm themselves. With low effortful control, individuals show inability to control their arousal and become easily annoyed and emotional.

Gender
How parents influence the gender development of their adolescents? -Generally parents allow boys more independence than girls. Concern for girls’ sexual vulnerability may cause parents to monitor their behavior more. Families with girls usually have more intense conflicts about varying situations in life than families with boys.
Some parents push math and science more towards boys than girls. Mothers and Fathers also treat their kids differently. Mothers may make their daughters more obedient and responsible than their sons. Fathers shows more attention to their son and put more effort into promoting their intellectual development.
Social Role Theory - states that gender differences mainly result from the contrasting roles of females and males. (In many cultures worldwide, females having less power and controlling fewer resources than males)

Social Cognitive Theory - emphasizes that individuals’ gender development occurs through observations and imitation of gender behavior. They also learn through rewards and punishments for appropriate and inappropriate gender behavior.

Bias against boys - Following rules, being neat are usually characterized as girls more than boys. Also a large number of teachers are females which makes it more difficult for boys than girls to identify with their teachers and model their teachers behavior.
Boys are more likely to have learning problems and are more likely to be criticized over girls. Also school personnel may ignore boys who clearly have academic problems.

Bias against girls - Teachers tend to spend more time with boys whereas girls would work quietly on their own. Boys also receive more instruction than girls. By middle school, girls’ self esteem is lower than boys. Also when asked about career options , boys describe more than girls do.

How do the brains of males and females differ - Girls brain development peaks earlier than boys (10.5 years for girls and 14.5 years for boys) in the cerebral cortex). One part of the hypothalamus involved in sexual behavior tends to be larger in men than women and an area of the parietal lobe that functions in visuospatial skills tends to be larger in males than females as well. Female brains are smaller than male brains but -+females have more folds. The larger folds called convolutions allow more surface brain tissue. Also portions of the corpus callosum (band of tissues through which the brain’s two hemisphere communicates) tend to be larger in females than man. Areas of the brain involved in emotional expression tend to show more activity in females than males.

Potential causes for these differences -Differences could be because of evolution. Natural selection favored males who adopted short term mating strategies which lead to males dispositions to favor violence, competition and risk taking due to competing males. For females, natural selection favored females who picked a long term male mate who was able to supply resources for their offspring. This leads to females who puts more effort into caring for their child.

Tannen’s styles of communication - * Rapport Talk - language of conversation and a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships. * Report Talk - talk that gives information. (Public speaking is an example)
Criticisms -They are oversimplified and that communication between males and females is more complex. To continue, some researchers have found similarities in males and females relationship communication strategies. (In one study, in their talk mean and female described and responded to relationship problems in ways that were more similar than different). Meta-analysis confirms that Tanner overemphasizes the size of gender differences in communication. They do occur but they are small with girls being slightly more talkative than boys.

Is there a negative side to masculinity? Yes. Boys would benefit from being socialized to express their anxieties and concerns rather than bottle it up. It has also been shown that boys who adopt strong masculine behaviors are found to be associated with problem behaviors. This leads boys to do risky behaviors like premarital sex, drink alcohol, and take drugs.

Role puberty play in gender intensification - Puberty may signal to surround individuals that an adolescent is approaching adulthood and should begin to act in stereotypical behavior.

30. What is Gilligan’s concern regarding girls and self-esteem?
Her concern is that girls have a “different voice” and as girls become more aware to our male-dominated culture that this voice becomes silenced.

Ch 6: Sexuality

32. What are the difficulties particular to sexuality research?
Some difficulties are that you cannot just go up to an individual and ask them about their sexual life. The ones who are more willing to answer this question are most likely ones with liberal sexual attitudes thus research is limited by the reluctance of others who do not want to talk about it. Also some individuals may lie about their answers to be more socially desirable. Boys tend to overstate their their sexual experience while girls tend to understate their sexual experie nce. When applying research in kids in school the question of invasion of personal privacy applies, therefore most parents oppose (or make it harder) to complete.

Younger adolescents are less precautious about using contraceptives compared to older adolescents. Younger adolescents are more likely to use condoms or withdrawal while older adolescents are more likely to use the pill or a diaphragm.

How has contraceptive use by teens in the US changed over time - Adolescents have increased their use of contraceptives in recent decades. (For example in 2007 61.5% uses it while in 1991 only 46.2% used it)
US v. Europe (contraception use) - US adolescents use condoms less than their counterparts in Europe. Pills are also used more in European countries,

How has the birthrate in US teens changed over time - From 1991 to 2004, birth rates have decreased by 30 percent. However in 2006 there is a slight increase

How does it compare to that in other countries? What are some of the potential reasons for these differences?
US has one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in the developed world. US rates are similar to Russia and several eastern European countries such as Bulgaria. These countries nearly double Canada and England and at least quadruples the rates in France, Sweden, Germany and Japan. Although US adolescents and other adolescents worldwide are about equally sexually active, the US rate is much higher.

38. Are abortions easy to get for adolescents in the US? Varies state by state. In 2003, 32 states restricted adolescents access to abortion. Urban adolescents in New York and California, where parental consent is not required, have far greater abortion services than states like North Dakota and Mississippi.

39. What does the research say about the experience of adolescent girls who have had an abortion compared to girls who did not become pregnant and those who gave birth?
Girls who had an abortion showed a drop in anxiety and an increase in self-esteem from the beginning of the study to two years after. They also appeared to be functioning as well as the girls who had a negative pregnancy test or who had carried until term. They were also more likely than the other two groups to be in school or to have graduated from high school and less likely to have a subsequent pregnancy. Other researchers have found that adolescents are not psychologically harmed by their abortion experience.

Consequences of adolescent pregnancies - Infants born to adolescents mother are more likely to have low birth weight, neurological problems and childhood illness. Also adolescent mothers also usually drop out of school but usually resume it later in life (However they usually don’t catch back up economically with women who postpones having babies until their 20s). A longitudinal study also reveals that adolescent mothers were related to having problems like delinquency, hard substance use and mental health problems.

Factors that l influence the lives of adolescents who are more likely to become pregnant - Economic status and relationships with their parents.

Baby Think it Over – 9th grade Latinas increased age in which they wanted to have kids, and focused more on getting an education Teen Outreach Program - Engaging adolescents in volunteer community service and stimulates discussions that help them appreciate the lessons they learn through volunteerism. The adolescents assigned to this program were shown to have lower pregnancy rate than adolescents not in the program. Also these adolescents also had a lower rate of school failure.

Girls Inc - Growing Together (Mothers and Adolescents), Will Power/Won’t Power (12-14 year olds), Taking Care of Business (older kids), and Health Bridge. Improves girls motivation to avoid early pregnancy.

43. How does AIDs in adolescents differ from AIDS in adults?
It differs by the following:
Higher % of adolescent AIDs cases are acquired by heterosexual transmission.
Higher % of adolescents are HIV + but do not yet have AIDS.
Higher % of African American and Latino AIDs cases occur in adolescence.

Genital Herpes = caused by a large family of viruses of different strains. These strains produce other nonsexually transmitted diseases such as chicken pox and mononucleosis. Painful sores or blisters can occur after contraction and can come every few weeks or even years.

Genital warts = caused by the human papillomavirus which are difficult to test for and sometimes doesn’t produce symptoms. It is very contagious and appears as hard painless bumps on the penis or vaginal area or around the anus. Most commonly acquired in the US for ages 15-24.

gonorrhea = caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae which thrives in moist mucous membranes such as the mouth, throat, vagina, cervix, anal tract, urethra. Commonly called drip or clap. May cause discharge in males and females.

syphilis = caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum which needs a warm moist environment to survive. It can be transmitted through vaginal, anal, and oral contact. It has four stages which are primary (chancre sores appear), secondary (skin rash), latent (no symptoms for several years) and tertiary (blindness, paralysis, skin ulcers, liver damage, mental problems and even death may occur). In early phases syphilis can be effectively treated with penicillin.

Chlamydia = spreads by sexual contact and infects the genital organs. Females may experience disrupted menstrual cycles, pelvic pain, nausea, etc and males may experience discharge from penis and burning when urinating.

Quid Pro Sexual Harassment = sexual harassment in which a school employee threatens to base an educational decision (such as a grade) on a student’s submission to unwelcome sexual conduct.

Hostile environment sexual harassment = sexual harassment in which students are subjected to unwelcome sexual conduct that is so severe that it limits the student’s ability to benefit from their education. ***how so???* (such a hostile environment is created by a series of incidents, such as repeated sexual overtures)

49. US v. Sweeden (SexEd) - Sweden recommends students to gain knowledge to help them to experience sexual life as a source of happiness and fellowship with others. They have a curriculum at age 7 of reproductive biology and at 10-12 they have information about contraceptives.

50. US v. Sweden (Sexual debut/Pregnancy) - Pregnancy rate is much higher than Sweden. Sweden has an earlier sexual debut however.