Term Paper on "Adolescence and Personality"

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Experts stress that while the development and the making of the human personality is a lifelong process there are stages at which the development of personality goes through critical transformative phases - this is particularly the case during adolescence.

The making of human nature as embraced in our traditional concept of personality is a lifelong process. There are periods, however, when the process is more significant than others. In our society adolescence and youth comprise such a period. (Landis, 1945, p. 21)

In psychological terms personality is defined as "... The unique organization of relatively enduring psychological characteristics possessed by an individual, as revealed by his interaction with the environment." (McKeachie, J. And Doyle, C. 1971. p 410) it is important to note that personality and social environment are related aspects in this definition. "Physiological factors and social factors are intertwined." (ibid, p 486)

Adolescence is a crucial stage for personality development mainly due to the fact that the individual moves from a phase of his earlier life which is characterized by dependency and irresponsibility, to adolescence where he or she is expected to develop the responsibility and self-reliance of equated with adulthood. This is a "... uncertain period when parents begin to relax their hold and shift responsibility from their own shoulders to those of their offspring and during which the maturing child seeks new freedom and in finding it becomes accountable to society.

(Landis, 1945, p. 23)

Physically the adolescent stage is characterized by uneven growth spurts. There are radical changes in the body which impacts on the young person's sense of self-image and esteem. "The body, which has previously been a relatively stable base, changes rapidly, and the adolescent often feels gawky and clumsy." (McKeachie, J. And Doyle, C. 1971. p 486) With these changes comes heightened sexual awareness, which further exacerbates this problematic time for these individuals.

Early adolescence usually refers to the period between 12 and fifteen years of age. This is also a time of tremendous demands made on the child by society. These demands include "...establishing satisfying give-and-take relationships with peers of both sexes; undertaking new tasks and social roles, and deciding on and preparing for a meaningful vocation. (Mussen, P. 1973. p 45)

These expectations place a great degree of psychological pressure on the young individual. The external and social pressures on the young person are extremely important in understanding the process of personality development and growth. In an etymological sense adolescence is derived from the Latin word which means "to grow up" or "to grow into maturity." (Sebald, 1977, p. 4) the idea of development is closely aligned to a range of important social and psychological issues, including that of personal identify.

2. Adolescence and psychological identity

The adolescent is faced with the psychological and social implications of identity formation. Many experts attest to the fact that adolescence is a period where the young person has not been provided with any clearly defined ideas to discover his or her identity. This is a particularly complex problem in modern western societies, which creates a sense of anxiety and even angst in many young people and is the reason why adolescence is often referred to as a period of the 'crisis of identity'.

This crisis of identity has repercussions and communicant effects on the psychology of the individual. The challenges of establishing a balanced sense of identity, combined with the relative lack of any well defined roles or demarcated parameters for the youth in society, can result in psychological disruption, trauma and even illness.

The sociological and psychological definitions complement each other insofar as they call attention to the truism that an undefined and confusing social situation will have a corresponding repercussion in the personality of the individual who goes through it. It calls to mind a special meaning of the old adage that "no man is an island." A vacuous or inconsistent socio-cultural environment is a poor bet for the development of a stable identity, whereas a clearly defined and consistent socio-cultural environment is prone to yield a stable identity. (Sebald, 1977, p. 5)

The idea of adolescent identity has been explored by Erikson's concept of identity crisis. He posits that the issue of crisis is one of the central concerns of contemporary society. He also states a well accepted definition of identity crisis.

The concept deals with the relationship between what a person appears to be in the eyes of others and what he or she feels he or she is. It refers to the dynamics of the search for an inner continuity that will match the external social conditions. (Sebald, 1977, p. 5)

The adolescent therefore, in terms of this view, has to find a stable balance between internal and external factors in the establishment of a healthy personality structure. The concept of identity and its importance on personality formation also focuses on a number of important areas that the young person has to come to terms with. These include the following:

Learning to cope with a masculine or feminine role;

Dealing with relationships with friends of both sexes;

Becoming emotionally independent from parents;

Attaining assurance of economic independence;

Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior. (Sebald, 1977, p. 6)

All of these expectations are intensified by the physiological changes that occur during the earlier part of adolescence which is characterized by rapid and uneven biological growth. (ibid) for example, while the maturing of the endocrine system awakens and intensifies sexual interest, social norms place parameters and restrictions on the sexual activities of the individual.

3. Adolescence and society

As has already been referred to above, it is important to understand the socio-psychological component of personality development during adolescence. An essential factor to consider is that the period of adolescence is largely a socially constructed period of experience and development. "Adolescence and youth are society-imposed -- a lengthened period of social infancy. The adolescent-youth group, in fact, exists only because advanced cultures have created an artificial gap between childhood and adulthood." (Landis, 1945, p. 23)

Landis also emphasizes that the understanding of adolescence can only take place in the context of the social and cultural environment of the individual."Adolescent-youth problems must be analyzed in terms of the social experience of this age group. Simple though this statement may seem little of the huge volume of literature in this field is based on this assumption. " (Landis, 1945, p. 28)

In the past adolescent problems have largely been seen as the result of "physical-psychic-emotional states" (ibid) that were symptomatic of internal factors within the person. The common cause of the adolescent problems such as anorexia nervosa for example, would have been ascribed to psycho-physical issues such as glandular or hormonal imbalances. However, "Such a view of adolescent problems has been outmoded as the sciences of human behavior have advanced." (Landis, 1945, p. 29) the emphasis on assessing adolescent problems has changed to focus on the interaction between psychological and social issues in the creation of personality. This view emphasizes that the young individual has reached a state of incipient adulthood in a physical and mental sense. This is with reference to the older adolescent. He or she can produce offspring and make a living as well as choices about their lives. However, even in later adolescence in western societies there is no general acceptance that the adolescent youth is fully capable of taking responsibility for their lives.

In this context it is important to realize that adolescence is a developmental phase in human progress which has only recently been introduced, mainly as… READ MORE