Brinthaupt, T.M., & Lipka, R.P. (2012). Understanding early adolescent self and identity: An introduction. In T.M. Brinthaupt & R.P. Lipka (Eds.), Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions. New York: Suny Press.
Brinthaupt and Lipka define “self” and “identity.” Self refers to one’s self-knowledge and self-esteem. That is to say, self comprises the beliefs I have about myself (e.g., “I’m good-looking,” “I’m generous,” “I’m dexterous,” “I love vacations”) and the evaluations I give myself (e.g., “I’m a good person”) (27). Identity refers to the role one plays in a particular situation. And so whereas a person has just one self (although that self can change over time), they might have several identities. For instance, one might have one identity at school (e.g., a diligent pupil), another identity at home (a rebellious daughter) and still another identity when playing in the street (“a best friend, a punk, or a popular”) (28).
“Adolescence is an emotional roller-coaster.” One important study found that, compared to their parents and younger counterparts, adolescents “reported experiencing more extreme emotions, both positive and negative.” These authors concluded that “as childhood ends and adolescence begins“daily life gets more difficult” (30). Another author writes that early adolescence, ages 10-15, “is a time of maximal discontinuity with the past” and therefore “represents the developmental period of highest stress and challenge but also a time of maximal opportunity. It is a time of heightened susceptibility to influence and there are possibilities for better or for worse, to change the developmental trajectory in ways that can be sharply different from the past” (30).
Brinthaupt and Lipka outline the changes that occur in adolescence. First, biological changes. Adolescents experience major growth spurts, their primary sex characteristics develop (e.g., testes, ovaries), and their secondary sex characteristics emerge (e.g., pubic hair, breasts). Second, academic changes (31). Junior high schoolers and high schoolers experience more school-related stress than elementary schoolers, much of the reason being that junior high school and high school “markedly differ from elementary school.” The authors write:
Third, social changes. The social priorities of adolescents change. Spending time with friends becomes more important and time with their families less important. Attaining romantic and sexual connections also becomes more important (32). Because adolescents care more about gaining social acceptance, they become obsessed with conveying the right image to others (33). Fourth, psychological changes. Adolescents begin to think in more abstract terms. Consequently, they are "able to see things as being relative, rather than as absolute." They are also able to "plan ahead, to anticipate the potential consequences of their behavior, and to provide alternative explanations for things happening to them." Additionally, "their social perspective taking improves considerably" (34).
These changes in turn affect adolescents' self and identity. First, biological changes. As adolescents' bodies physically change, they tend to "compare them to cultural and social standards to judge their own physical attractiveness and adequacy." Most adolescents conclude that "their body and physical appearance fall short of the ideal," and as a result their self-esteem suffers. Girls tend to suffer more in this area because "boys' biological changes move toward the cultural ideal (e.g., broad shoulders, narrow hips), while girls' biological changes move away from the cultural ideal (e.g., weight gain)" (35). Regarding identity. The gender intensification hypothesis states that as young people began to physically resemble men and women, society (e.g., parents, teachers) began to expect them to conform to normative gender roles. For instance, a study from 1983 found that "during early adolescence, parents encourage their daughters to be dependent, affectionate, and gentle, while they encourage their sons to be assertive, competitive, and independent" (36). It is no surprise that adolescents begin to feel more pressure to conform to these gender roles, and different studies have shown that "deviating from gender-related norms may lead to psychosocial problems, particularly for females" (37).
Second, academic changes. Junior high school and high school are more academically competitive. Consequently, many adolescents transitioning to middle school start to become "aware of differences b/t their own scholastic abilities and those of their peers. They felt increasingly anxious about their performance at school, fearing that they would not be able to be as good as their peers." One study found that kids transitioning to middle school lose confidence in their academic abilities and start to identify as bad students, believing that everyone else is doing well "and they alone are failing." Their "bad feelings about their self and academic identity, in turn, may lead to a further deterioration not only of their perceived scholastic competence, but also of their actual academic performance (39).
Third, social and psychological changes. Social and romantic relationships largely determines adolescent self and identity. Studies show that adolescent social rejection "is associated with loneliness, anxiety, and low self-esteem, even among adolescents who have good friendships." Studies also show that "[a]dolescents in steady romantic relationships have a higher level of self-esteem and a more stable gender identity than those who do not have a steady partner" (40). When adolescents feel they are not living up to the expectations of others, they often experience a host of psychosocial problems, including depression, aggression, excessive worrying, self-blame, hopelessness, disappointment, guilt, and shame (40-41). Adolescents are so worried about fitting in and thus avoid social rejection that they show greater conformity than their younger and counterparts, a fact which often costs adolescents "part of their self and relational identity" (42).
Practical implications. Adolescents become vulnerable to psychosocial problems when they feel a discrepancy b/t "who and what they want to be" and "who and what they think others want them to be." Thus, an "attainable standard" is important if adolescents are to "develop a stable sense of self and identity. It provides them with a sense of knowing who and what they are and where they are going" (43). Research shows that adolescents have higher self-esteem when they have supportive parents and teachers (43-44). It's important that parents and teachers "take steps to reduce the experienced discrepancy between adolescents’ actual self and identity and their ideal self and identity" (44). Once parents and teachers identify such discrepancies, "they can take steps to reduce excessive discrepancies between actual self/identity and adolescents’ ideals" (45).
A good summary: "early adolescents frequently set themselves unattainable standards for their self and identities that lead to negative emotions, dissatisfaction, and psychosocial problems. Also, they often feel that others, especially parents, set unattainable standards for them.
To diminish early adolescents’ perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal self or identity, parents and teachers can take steps to shift adolescents’focus from unattainable standards toward achievable standards" (45). One step: "raise adolescents’ confidence by identifying the aspect of the adolescent self or identity that is most discrepant with their ideals and then bolster this aspect" (45). Another step: "validating and reinforcing the strengths of adolescents’ self and identity" (46). Third step: "help adolescents to differentiate between ultimate standards and intermediate and immediate goals. Most early adolescents think in terms of ultimate standards (e.g., I want to be as good in classas X). However, as a Chinese proverb states 'every long journey starts with a single step.' Adolescents hence need to learn that if they want to achieve these ultimate standards, they first have to think in terms of intermediate (e.g., in the next six months, I will improve my grades) and immediate goals (e.g., next week I’ll do all my homework)" (46).
"Other steps to optimize adolescents’ self and identity directly focus on parents and teachers. Much of what adolescents want or desire results from social modeling or observational (vicarious) learning. Adolescents often observe significant adults in their environment and imitate or adopt their behavior or attitudes. Put differently, if adults have unattainable standards for their self or identity,chances are high that adolescents develop unattainable standards for their self or identity" (46).
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"A consistent finding in this research is that youth, on average, report levels of self-esteem that are positive rather than negative or even neutral" (325). "These overall trends, however, may mask the presence of significant minorities of youth who do develop overall negative feelings about themselves." Young people are especially susceptible to developing low self-esteem during the transition from childhood to adolescence (326). Although research shows that most adolescents recover from this dip in self-esteem later in adolescence, research has found that one in five young adolescents "experience more marked and lasting declines in self-esteem" (326). Research shows that "young adolescents demonstrating unfavorable self-esteem trajectories also exhibit significant impairment in a wide range of other areas of functioning including, for example, poor school performance, heightened levels of psychiatric symptomatology, and involvement in substance use" (326-327).
Research shows the benefits of high self-esteem. Quoting another researcher:
High levels of self-esteem among youth have been linked to a variety of favorable outcomes, including positive mood and happiness, life satisfaction, physical fitness and desirable health practices, adaptive classroom behavior, and academic achievement. Conversely, children and adolescents lacking in self-esteem have been indicated to be more prone to symptoms of depression and anxiety, interpersonal difficulties such as loneliness and rejection by peers, conduct problems/delinquent behavior, and a wide range of health-risk behaviors and outcomes, including substance use, gang membership, obesity, eating disorder symptomatology, and suicidal tendencies. (327)
Many young people have high self-esteem in some areas but not in others (328). Many other young people, according to one study between 19 and 32 percent, have fluctuations in their self-esteem, feeling good about themselves one moment and bad about themselves another (329). Some researchers have investigated the difference between how young people say they feel about themselves to others (the presented self) and how they actually feel about themselves (the experienced self). This is significant because most studies about youth self-esteem is based on self-report surveys (330).
"In normal development, self-esteem is derived from both a sense of personal competence or efficacy and a perception that one is accepted and valued by others. For many youth,feelings of self-worth thus may stem from experiences of mastery or success in school and various extracurricular activities as well as from patterns of appropriate conduct that generate positive validation fromparents, peers, and other important persons in their lives (e.g., teachers)." Additionally, youth sometimes protect their self-esteem by employing different self-protective and self-enhancing strategies. Another author writes that self-protective forestall "the experience of self-devaluing judgements and consequent distressful self-feelings" and that self-enhancing patterns increase "the occasions for positive self-evaluations and self-accepting feelings" (331). Such strategies can be negative when, for example, some young people "enhance their perceptions of themselves to the point of having notably unrealistic or inflated self-concepts" (332).
A 1992 meta-analysis esteem-ehancement programs for young people found "that positive change on self-concept or self-esteem was evident for 65% of participants in the typical intervention." A 1998 meta-analysis found "programs typically have been successful in increasing the scores of youth on measures of self-concept and self-esteem" (335).
Summary: "There is, in turn, strong evidence that the self-esteem of youth can be increased successfully through intervention and that these gains are associated with positive change in their overall adjustment. Notably, it is when programs focus specifically on the aim of strengthening self-esteem or self-concept that such benefits are most apparent. Under these circumstances, the outcomes obtained in esteem-enhancement interventions closely resemble those achieved in other types of proven therapeutic and preventive interventions."
“Adolescence is an emotional roller-coaster.” One important study found that, compared to their parents and younger counterparts, adolescents “reported experiencing more extreme emotions, both positive and negative.” These authors concluded that “as childhood ends and adolescence begins“daily life gets more difficult” (30). Another author writes that early adolescence, ages 10-15, “is a time of maximal discontinuity with the past” and therefore “represents the developmental period of highest stress and challenge but also a time of maximal opportunity. It is a time of heightened susceptibility to influence and there are possibilities for better or for worse, to change the developmental trajectory in ways that can be sharply different from the past” (30).
Brinthaupt and Lipka outline the changes that occur in adolescence. First, biological changes. Adolescents experience major growth spurts, their primary sex characteristics develop (e.g., testes, ovaries), and their secondary sex characteristics emerge (e.g., pubic hair, breasts). Second, academic changes (31). Junior high schoolers and high schoolers experience more school-related stress than elementary schoolers, much of the reason being that junior high school and high school “markedly differ from elementary school.” The authors write:
[J]unior high school classrooms, as compared to elementary school classrooms, are less personal and are organized to enhance teacher control. High school teachers are reported, both by students and independent observers, as being less friendly, less supportive, and less caring than teachers of the last year in elementary school. The teaching in high school classes is mostly directed toward the whole group, while teaching in elementary schools frequently mixes teaching addressing the whole group with addressing small groups or individuals. Finally, junior high school teachers encourage competition in the classroom much more than elementary school teachers. (32)
Third, social changes. The social priorities of adolescents change. Spending time with friends becomes more important and time with their families less important. Attaining romantic and sexual connections also becomes more important (32). Because adolescents care more about gaining social acceptance, they become obsessed with conveying the right image to others (33). Fourth, psychological changes. Adolescents begin to think in more abstract terms. Consequently, they are "able to see things as being relative, rather than as absolute." They are also able to "plan ahead, to anticipate the potential consequences of their behavior, and to provide alternative explanations for things happening to them." Additionally, "their social perspective taking improves considerably" (34).
These changes in turn affect adolescents' self and identity. First, biological changes. As adolescents' bodies physically change, they tend to "compare them to cultural and social standards to judge their own physical attractiveness and adequacy." Most adolescents conclude that "their body and physical appearance fall short of the ideal," and as a result their self-esteem suffers. Girls tend to suffer more in this area because "boys' biological changes move toward the cultural ideal (e.g., broad shoulders, narrow hips), while girls' biological changes move away from the cultural ideal (e.g., weight gain)" (35). Regarding identity. The gender intensification hypothesis states that as young people began to physically resemble men and women, society (e.g., parents, teachers) began to expect them to conform to normative gender roles. For instance, a study from 1983 found that "during early adolescence, parents encourage their daughters to be dependent, affectionate, and gentle, while they encourage their sons to be assertive, competitive, and independent" (36). It is no surprise that adolescents begin to feel more pressure to conform to these gender roles, and different studies have shown that "deviating from gender-related norms may lead to psychosocial problems, particularly for females" (37).
Second, academic changes. Junior high school and high school are more academically competitive. Consequently, many adolescents transitioning to middle school start to become "aware of differences b/t their own scholastic abilities and those of their peers. They felt increasingly anxious about their performance at school, fearing that they would not be able to be as good as their peers." One study found that kids transitioning to middle school lose confidence in their academic abilities and start to identify as bad students, believing that everyone else is doing well "and they alone are failing." Their "bad feelings about their self and academic identity, in turn, may lead to a further deterioration not only of their perceived scholastic competence, but also of their actual academic performance (39).
Third, social and psychological changes. Social and romantic relationships largely determines adolescent self and identity. Studies show that adolescent social rejection "is associated with loneliness, anxiety, and low self-esteem, even among adolescents who have good friendships." Studies also show that "[a]dolescents in steady romantic relationships have a higher level of self-esteem and a more stable gender identity than those who do not have a steady partner" (40). When adolescents feel they are not living up to the expectations of others, they often experience a host of psychosocial problems, including depression, aggression, excessive worrying, self-blame, hopelessness, disappointment, guilt, and shame (40-41). Adolescents are so worried about fitting in and thus avoid social rejection that they show greater conformity than their younger and counterparts, a fact which often costs adolescents "part of their self and relational identity" (42).
Practical implications. Adolescents become vulnerable to psychosocial problems when they feel a discrepancy b/t "who and what they want to be" and "who and what they think others want them to be." Thus, an "attainable standard" is important if adolescents are to "develop a stable sense of self and identity. It provides them with a sense of knowing who and what they are and where they are going" (43). Research shows that adolescents have higher self-esteem when they have supportive parents and teachers (43-44). It's important that parents and teachers "take steps to reduce the experienced discrepancy between adolescents’ actual self and identity and their ideal self and identity" (44). Once parents and teachers identify such discrepancies, "they can take steps to reduce excessive discrepancies between actual self/identity and adolescents’ ideals" (45).
A good summary: "early adolescents frequently set themselves unattainable standards for their self and identities that lead to negative emotions, dissatisfaction, and psychosocial problems. Also, they often feel that others, especially parents, set unattainable standards for them.
To diminish early adolescents’ perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal self or identity, parents and teachers can take steps to shift adolescents’focus from unattainable standards toward achievable standards" (45). One step: "raise adolescents’ confidence by identifying the aspect of the adolescent self or identity that is most discrepant with their ideals and then bolster this aspect" (45). Another step: "validating and reinforcing the strengths of adolescents’ self and identity" (46). Third step: "help adolescents to differentiate between ultimate standards and intermediate and immediate goals. Most early adolescents think in terms of ultimate standards (e.g., I want to be as good in classas X). However, as a Chinese proverb states 'every long journey starts with a single step.' Adolescents hence need to learn that if they want to achieve these ultimate standards, they first have to think in terms of intermediate (e.g., in the next six months, I will improve my grades) and immediate goals (e.g., next week I’ll do all my homework)" (46).
"Other steps to optimize adolescents’ self and identity directly focus on parents and teachers. Much of what adolescents want or desire results from social modeling or observational (vicarious) learning. Adolescents often observe significant adults in their environment and imitate or adopt their behavior or attitudes. Put differently, if adults have unattainable standards for their self or identity,chances are high that adolescents develop unattainable standards for their self or identity" (46).
* * * * *
DuBois, D.L., Burk-Braxton, C., & Tevendale, H.D. (2012). Esteem-enhancement interventions during early adolescence. In T.M. Brinthaupt & R.P. Lipka (Eds.), Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions. New York: Suny Press.
"A consistent finding in this research is that youth, on average, report levels of self-esteem that are positive rather than negative or even neutral" (325). "These overall trends, however, may mask the presence of significant minorities of youth who do develop overall negative feelings about themselves." Young people are especially susceptible to developing low self-esteem during the transition from childhood to adolescence (326). Although research shows that most adolescents recover from this dip in self-esteem later in adolescence, research has found that one in five young adolescents "experience more marked and lasting declines in self-esteem" (326). Research shows that "young adolescents demonstrating unfavorable self-esteem trajectories also exhibit significant impairment in a wide range of other areas of functioning including, for example, poor school performance, heightened levels of psychiatric symptomatology, and involvement in substance use" (326-327).
Research shows the benefits of high self-esteem. Quoting another researcher:
High levels of self-esteem among youth have been linked to a variety of favorable outcomes, including positive mood and happiness, life satisfaction, physical fitness and desirable health practices, adaptive classroom behavior, and academic achievement. Conversely, children and adolescents lacking in self-esteem have been indicated to be more prone to symptoms of depression and anxiety, interpersonal difficulties such as loneliness and rejection by peers, conduct problems/delinquent behavior, and a wide range of health-risk behaviors and outcomes, including substance use, gang membership, obesity, eating disorder symptomatology, and suicidal tendencies. (327)
Many young people have high self-esteem in some areas but not in others (328). Many other young people, according to one study between 19 and 32 percent, have fluctuations in their self-esteem, feeling good about themselves one moment and bad about themselves another (329). Some researchers have investigated the difference between how young people say they feel about themselves to others (the presented self) and how they actually feel about themselves (the experienced self). This is significant because most studies about youth self-esteem is based on self-report surveys (330).
"In normal development, self-esteem is derived from both a sense of personal competence or efficacy and a perception that one is accepted and valued by others. For many youth,feelings of self-worth thus may stem from experiences of mastery or success in school and various extracurricular activities as well as from patterns of appropriate conduct that generate positive validation fromparents, peers, and other important persons in their lives (e.g., teachers)." Additionally, youth sometimes protect their self-esteem by employing different self-protective and self-enhancing strategies. Another author writes that self-protective forestall "the experience of self-devaluing judgements and consequent distressful self-feelings" and that self-enhancing patterns increase "the occasions for positive self-evaluations and self-accepting feelings" (331). Such strategies can be negative when, for example, some young people "enhance their perceptions of themselves to the point of having notably unrealistic or inflated self-concepts" (332).
A 1992 meta-analysis esteem-ehancement programs for young people found "that positive change on self-concept or self-esteem was evident for 65% of participants in the typical intervention." A 1998 meta-analysis found "programs typically have been successful in increasing the scores of youth on measures of self-concept and self-esteem" (335).
Summary: "There is, in turn, strong evidence that the self-esteem of youth can be increased successfully through intervention and that these gains are associated with positive change in their overall adjustment. Notably, it is when programs focus specifically on the aim of strengthening self-esteem or self-concept that such benefits are most apparent. Under these circumstances, the outcomes obtained in esteem-enhancement interventions closely resemble those achieved in other types of proven therapeutic and preventive interventions."
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