Development
Adolescence and Adulthood
Adolescence
In the study of child development, adolescence refers to the second decade of the life span, roughly from ages 10 to
20.
The word adolescence is Latin in origin, derived from the verb adolescere, which means "to grow into adulthood."
In all societies, adolescence is a time of growing up, of moving from the immaturity of childhood into the maturity of
adulthood.
Population projections indicate that the percent of the U.S. population between the ages of 14 and 17 will peak around
the year 2005.
There is no single event or boundary line that denotes the end of childhood or the beginning of adolescence. Rather,
experts think of the passage from childhood into and through adolescence as composed of a set of transitions that
unfold gradually and that touch upon many aspects of the individual's behavior, development, and relationships.
These transitions are biological, cognitive, social, and emotional
Biological Transition
The biological transition of adolescence, or puberty, is perhaps the most obvious sign that adolescence has begun.
Technically, puberty refers to the period during which an individual becomes capable of sexual reproduction.
More broadly speaking, however, puberty is used as a collective term to refer to all the physical changes that occur in
the growing girl or boy as the individual passes from childhood into adulthood.
The timing of physical maturation varies widely. In the United States today, menarche, the first menstrual period,
typically occurs around age 12, although some youngsters start puberty when they are only eight or nine, others when
they are well into their teens.
The duration of puberty also varies greatly: eighteen months to six years in girls and two to five years in boys.
Physical Changes of Puberty
The physical changes of puberty are triggered by hormones, chemical substances in the body that act on specific
organs and tissues.
In boys a major change is the increased production of testosterone, a male sex hormone, while girls experience
increased production of the female hormone estrogen.
The most obvious physical milestone of adolescence is the growth spurt, a rapid increase in height and weight that
begins, on average, at about age 10 ½ in girls and 12 ½ in boys and reaches its peak at age 12 in girls and 14 in
boys.
The typical adolescent reaches his or her adult height about 6 years after the start of the growth spurt.
The growth spurt begins with the lengthening of the hands, feet, arms, and legs, which produces the awkward, gangly
look of young adolescents.
This state is followed by growth of the torso which brings the body back into proportion. In boys the final stage of
growth results in the broadening of the chest and shoulders and the development of heavier muscles in boys and the
widening of the hips and depositing of fat on the breasts, hips, buttocks, and thighs. All these changes are the result
of an increase in hormones.
Sexual Development
Perhaps the most dramatic changes of puberty involve sexuality.
Internally, through the development of primary sexual characteristics, adolescents become capable of sexual
reproduction.
Externally, as secondary sexual characteristics appear, girls and boys begin to look like mature women and men.
– In boys primary and secondary sexual characteristics usually emerge in a predictable order, with rapid growth of
the testes and scrotum, accompanied by the appearance of pubic hair. About a year later, when the growth spurt
begins, the penis also grows larger, and pubic hair becomes coarser, thicker, and darker. Later still, comes the
growth of facial and body hair, and a gradual lowering of the voice. Around mid-adolescence internal changes
begin making a boy capable of producing and ejaculating sperm.
– In girls, sexual characteristics develop in a less regular sequence. Usually, the first sign of puberty is a slight
elevation of the breasts, but sometimes this is preceded by the appearance of pubic hair. Pubic hair changes from
sparse and downy to denser and coarser. Concurrent with these changes is further breast development. In
teenage girls, internal sexual changes include maturation of the uterus, vagina, and other parts of the
reproductive system. Menarche, the first menstrual period, happens relatively late, not at the start of puberty, as
many people believe. Regular ovulation and the ability to carry a baby to full term usually follow menarche by
several years.
Self-Image and Puberty
For many years, psychologists believed that puberty was stressful for young people.
We now know that any difficulties associated with adjusting to puberty are minimized if adolescents know what
changes to expect and have positive attitudes toward them.
Although the immediate impact of puberty on the adolescent's self-image and mood may be very modest, the timing of
physical maturation does affect the teen's social and emotional development in important ways.
Early-maturing boys tend to be more popular, to have more positive self-conceptions, and to be more self-assured
than their later-maturing peers, whereas early-maturing girls may feel awkward and self-conscious.
Adolescence and Adulthood
In the 1890‟s the average interval between a woman‟s menarche and marriage was about 7 years; now it is over 12
years.
Cognitive Transition
A second element of the passage through adolescence is a cognitive transition. Compared to children, adolescents
think in ways that are more advanced, more efficient, and generally more complex. This can be seen in five ways.
First, during adolescence individuals become better able than children to think about what is possible, instead of
limiting their thought to what is real.
– Whereas children's thinking is oriented to the here and now-that is, to things and events that they can observe
directly, adolescents are able to consider what they observe against a backdrop of what is possible-they can think
hypothetically.
Second, during the passage into adolescence, individuals become better able to think about abstract ideas.
– For example, adolescents find it easier than children to comprehend the sorts of higher-order, abstract logic
inherent in puns, proverbs, metaphors, and analogies.
– The adolescent's greater facility with abstract thinking also permits the application of advanced reasoning and
logical processes to social and ideological matters.
– This is clearly seen in the adolescent's increased facility and interest in thinking about interpersonal relationships,
politics, philosophy, religion, and morality-topics that involve such abstract concepts as friendship, faith,
democracy, fairness, and honesty.
Cognitive Transition
Third, during adolescence individuals begin thinking more often about the process of thinking itself, or metacognition.
– As a result, adolescents may display increased introspection and self-consciousness.
– Although improvements in metacognitive abilities provide important intellectual advantages, one potentially
negative by-product of these advances is the tendency for adolescents to develop a sort of egocentrism, or
intense preoccupation with the self.
– Acute adolescent egocentrism sometimes leads teenagers to believe that others are constantly watching and
evaluating them, much as an audience glues its attention to an actor on a stage. Psychologists refer to this as the
imaginary audience.
A fourth change in cognition is that thinking tends to become multidimensional, rather than limited to a single issue.
– Whereas children tend to think about things one aspect at a time, adolescents can see things through more
complicated lenses.
– Adolescents describe themselves and others in more differentiated and complicated terms and find it easier to
look at problems from multiple perspectives.
– Being able to understand that people's personalities are not one-sided, or that social situations can have different
interpretations, depending on one's point of view, permits the adolescent to have far more sophisticated-and
complicated-relationships with other people.
Cognitive Transition
Finally, adolescents are more likely than children to see things as relative, rather than absolute.
Children tend to see things in absolute terms-in black and white. Adolescents, in contrast, tend to see things as
relative.
– They are more likely to question others' assertions and less likely to accept "facts" as absolute truths. This
increase in relativism can be particularly exasperating to parents, who may feel that their adolescent children
question everything just for the sake of argument. Difficulties often arise, for example, when adolescents begin
seeing their parents' values as excessively relative.
Lawrence Kohlberg and the Theory of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), an American psychologist, pioneered the study of moral development in the late
1950s.
Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning involved six stages through which each person passes in order, without skipping
a stage or reversing their order.
His theory states that not all people progress through all six stages.
Kohlberg's theory of moral development expands upon Jean Piaget 's work in the 1930s concerning cognitive
reasoning. Piaget proposed three phases of cognitive development through which people pass in a loose order.
In contrast, Kohlberg posited six stages (in three levels, with two stages each) of moral development, based on
cognitive reasoning, through which each person passes in unvarying and irreversible order.
According to Kohlberg, every person begins at Stage 1 moral reasoning and develops progressively to Stage 2, then
Stage 3, etc. Not everyone makes it through all six stages; in fact, people who use Stage 5 or 6 moral reasoning are
quite rare. Kohlberg claimed that his stages of moral development are universal, applying equally to all human beings
across cultural divisions.
Kohlberg found that Stages 1 and 2 are most characteristic of young children and older delinquents. Stages 3 and 4
are characteristic of older children and most of the adult population. Stages 5 and 6 are characteristic of only about
20% of the adult population. According to Kohlberg, only 5-10% of the population consistently operate at Stage 6.
Kohlberg and Morality Development
To measure the level at which persons are operating morally, Kohlberg developed a highly refined interview process
in which hypothetical situations are presented that involve a moral dilemma.
The person's answers to questions surrounding that dilemma determine the stage at which he or she is reasoning.
One of the best-known examples of hypothetical moral dilemmas presented in Kohlberg's interview is that of an
impoverished man who needs a certain medicine for his wife who is ill: is the man justified in stealing the medicine
from the pharmacy when he does not have enough money to pay for it? Why or why not?
The details of the hypothetical situation can then be altered slightly to bring out the nuances of a person's moral
reasoning (e.g., does it depend on how ill the wife is, how poor the husband is, whether it is a small, family-owned
corner drugstore or a large, nationwide chain, etc.).
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might
save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to
make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and
charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He
told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said,
"No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from if." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets
desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.
1. Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not?
2. Is it actually right or wrong for him to steal the drug? Why is it right or wrong?
3. Does Heinz have a duty or obligation to steal the drug? Why or why not?
4. If Heinz doesn't love his wife, should he steal the drug for her? Does it make a difference in what Heinz should do
whether or not he loves his wife? Why or why not?
5. Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger. Should Heinz steal the drug for the stranger? Why or why
not?
6. Suppose it's a pet animal he loves. should Heinz steal to save the pet animal? Why or why not?
7. Is it important for people to do everything they can to save another's life? Why or why not?
8. It is against the law for Heinz to steal. Does that make it morally wrong? Why or why not?
9. In general, should people try to do everything they can to obey the law? Why or why not? How does this apply
to what Heinz should do?
10. In thinking back over the dilemma, what would you say is the most responsible thing for Heinz to do? Why?
Criticisms
However, there have been many criticisms of Kohlberg's theory of moral development and his methods.
– Some critics claim that the use of hypothetical situations skews the results because it measures abstract rather
than concrete reasoning. When children (and some adults) are presented with situations out of their immediate
experience, they turn to rules they have learned from external authorities for answers, rather than to their own
internal voice. Therefore, young children base their answers on rules of "right" and "wrong" they have learned
from parents and teachers (Stages 1 and 2 according to Kohlberg's theory).
– If young children are presented with situations familiar to them, on the other hand, they often show care and
concern for others, basing their moral choices on the desire to share the good and maintain harmonious relations,
placing them in Stage 3 or 4 (which Kohlberg claimed was impossible at their age).
– Kohlberg's emphasis on abstract reasoning also creates confusing results in which habitual juvenile delinquents
can score at a higher stage of moral development than well-behaved children. Because behaviors are not
considered and reasoning is determined through hypothetical situations, children who behave in immoral ways
may be able to answer hypothetical moral dilemmas in a more advanced fashion than better-behaved children
who think less abstractly.
Criticisms of Kohlberg‟s Theory
Another strong criticism of Kohlberg's theory is that it devalues the morality of care and community.
– Carol Gilligan was the first to attack this aspect of Kohlberg's theory, relating it to gender differences between
men and women (all of Kohlberg's original subjects were male, as was Kohlberg himself).
– Although Gilligan's critique has weaknesses of its own, her assessment of Kohlberg's theory as incomplete has
many supporters, though others relate the absence of communitarian morality to class rather than gender
differences.
– Kohlberg, as a member of the educated, elite, white, male, Western culture, viewed individual autonomy and
justice as the premier moral values. H
– He even went so far as to equate morality with justice (ignoring other moral values such as courage, self-control,
empathy, etc.).
– Members of the working and rural classes, however, tend to have a more communitarian approach to life, viewing
the common good as the highest value, promoting care and harmonious relationships over individual justice.
(Women, having been relegated to "lower class" status for centuries, may have developed a more communitarian
approach to life for that reason, rather than simply because they are female.)
– Non-W estern and tribal societies also frequently see the community as more important than the individual.
(Triandis, 1994)
Cultural Bias?
According to Kohlberg's upper-class Western view of moral reasoning, communitarian morality is doomed to rest
forever at a lower stage of development (Stages 3 and 4).
This view disregards the possibility that communitarian morality may be as advanced as individualistic morality, if not
more so. It also places Western culture at the top of the scale, with little room for cross-cultural inclusion.
Although Kohlberg insisted that his theory was culturally inclusive, he found little empirical evidence to back this up.
– In all of his interviews, only a few people showed Stage 5 reasoning, and nearly all were well-educated
Westerners.
Stage 6 reasoning was never substantiated in interviews; Kohlberg created it as an "ideal" and pointed to examples
such as Gandhi to support its existence.
– After a tremendous amount of criticism over the fact that Stage 6 was purely hypothetical, Kohlberg removed it
from the empirical stages but retained it as a "theoretical construct in the realm of philosophical speculation."
Despite equally heavy criticism, Kohlberg refused to remove Stage 5 from his system.
With all its possible flaws, however, Kohlberg's theory of moral development was the first of its kind and remains the
springboard for all subsequent research into moral reasoning.
Carol Gilligan
As a student of Kohlberg's, Gilligan was taken by the stage theory approach to understanding moral reasoning. But
she disagreed with her mentor's assessment of the content of the moral system within which people developed.
If you look at the table of Kohlberg's stages, you can see the question being answered in the third column is one of
justice - the fourth stage gives this away with talk about duty and guilt. "What are the rules of the game?" seems to be
the issue at hand. From her careful interviews with women making momentous decisions in their lives, Gilligan
concluded that these women were thinking more about the caring thing to do rather than the thing the rules allowed.
So she thought Kohlberg was wrong, at least with regard to women's development in moral thinking.
What she objected to was the fact that in some of Kohlberg's investigations, women turned out to score lower - less
developed - than did men.
Were women really moral midgets? Gilligan did not think so. In taking this stand, she was going against the current of
a great deal of psychological opinion. Freud thought women's moral sense was stunted because they stayed attached
to their mothers. Another great developmental theorist, Erik Erickson, thought the tasks of development were
separation from mother and the family. If women did not succeed in this scale, then they were obviously deficient.
Gilligan's reply was to assert that women were not inferior in their personal or moral development, but that they were
different. They developed in a way that focused on connections among people (rather than separation) and with an
ethic of care for those people (rather than an ethic of justice). Gilligan lays out in this groundbreaking book this
alternative theory.
Gilligan vs. Kohlberg
Gilligan produces her own stage theory of moral development for women. Like Kohlberg's, it has three major divisions:
preconventional, conventional, and post conventional.
But for Gilligan, the transitions between the stages are fueled by changes in the sense of self rather than in changes in
cognitive capability.
Remember that Kohlberg's approach is based on Piaget's cognitive developmental model.
Gilligan's is based instead on a modified version of Freud's approach to ego development. Thus Gilligan is combining
Freud (or at least a Freudian theme) with Kohlberg & Piaget.
How Do W omen Compare?
Preconventional women tend to make decisions and judgments that reflect a self-interested and self-protective type
of morality.
Conventional women tended to give up their concern for themselves and focus primarily on the importance of their
relationships and their responsibilities for others.
Post Conventional women tend to retain their concern for others and feelings of responsibility while also including
themselves as worthy of their own care and protection.
Is Kohlberg Universal or Biased?
Gilligan has shown that Kohlberg's (and Freud's, and Erickson's) systems are based on a male-centered view.
Kohlberg built his theory based on interviews with males only. She has certainly shown us the inadequacy of that.
In addition, she has broken the idea that there is only one dimension of moral reasoning. If there can be two, why not
three? W hy not several?
Triandis Study – indicated that cultural bias also present because collectivist cultures also score lower.
Emotional Transition
In addition to being a time of biological and cognitive change, adolescence is also a period of emotional transition and,
in particular, changes in the way individuals view themselves and in their capacity to function independently.
During adolescence, important shifts occur in the way individuals think about and characterize themselves-that is, in
their self-conceptions.
Compared with children, who tend to describe themselves in relatively simple, concrete terms, adolescents are more
likely to employ complex, abstract, and psychological self-characterizations.
Emotional Transition
Conventional wisdom holds that adolescents have low self-esteem -that they are more insecure and self-critical than
children or adults-but most research indicates otherwise.
Although teenagers' feelings about themselves may fluctuate, especially during early adolescence, their self-esteem
remains fairly stable from about age 13 on.
If anything, self-esteem increases over the course of middle and late adolescence.
Most researchers today believe that self-esteem is multidimensional, and that young people evaluate themselves
along several different dimensions.
As a consequence, it is possible for an adolescent to have high self-esteem when it comes to his academic abilities,
low self-esteem when it comes to athletics, and moderate self-esteem when it comes to his physical appearance.
Review of Erikson
One theorist whose work has been very influential on our understanding of adolescents' self-conceptions is Erik
Erikson.
He theorized that the establishment of a coherent sense of identity is the chief psychosocial task of adolescence.
Erikson believed that the difficulties of identity development in modern society have created the need for a
psychosocial moratorium-a time-out during adolescence from the sorts of excessive responsibilities and obligations
that might restrict the young person's pursuit of self-discovery.
– During the psychosocial moratorium, the adolescent can experiment with different roles and identities, in a
context that permits and encourages this sort of exploration.
– The experimentation involves trying on different personalities and ways of behaving. Sometimes, parents
describe their teenage children as going through "phases." Much of this behavior is actually experimentation with
roles and personalities.
For most adolescents, establishing a sense of autonomy, or independence, is as important a part of the emotional
transition out of childhood as is establishing a sense of identity. During adolescence, there is a movement away from
the dependency typical of childhood toward the autonomy typical of adulthood. One can see this in several ways.
For most adolescents, establishing a sense of autonomy, or independence, is as important a part of the emotional
transition out of childhood as is establishing a sense of identity. During adolescence, there is a movement away from
the dependency typical of childhood toward the autonomy typical of adulthood. One can see this in several ways.
– First, older adolescents do not generally rush to their parents whenever they are upset, worried, or in need of
assistance.
– Second, they do not see their parents as all-knowing or all-powerful.
– Third, adolescents often have a great deal of emotional energy wrapped up in relationships outside the family; in
fact, they may feel more attached to a boyfriend or a girlfriend than to their parents.
– And finally, older adolescents are able to see and interact with their parents as people-not just as their parents.
Many parents find, for example, that they can confide in their adolescent children, something that was not
possible when their children were younger, or that their adolescent children can easily sympathize with them
when they have had a hard day at work.
Some theorists have suggested that the development of independence be looked at in terms of the adolescent's
developing sense of individuation. The process of individuation, which begins during infancy and continues well into
late adolescence, involves a gradual, progressive sharpening of one's sense of self as autonomous, as competent,
and as separate from one's parents. Individuation, therefore, has a great deal to do with the development of a sense
of identity, in that it involves changes in how we come to see and feel about ourselves.
Individuation
The process of individuation does not necessarily involve stress and internal turmoil.
Rather, individuation entails relinquishing childish dependencies on parents in favor of more mature, more
responsible, and less dependent relationships.
Adolescents who have been successful in establishing a sense of individuation can accept responsibility for their
choices and actions instead of looking to their parents to do it for them.
Independence vs. Peer Pressure: The Parents‟ Nightmare
Being independent means more than merely feeling independent, of course. It also means being able to make your
own decisions and to select a sensible course of action by yourself.
In general, researchers find that decision-making abilities improve over the course of the adolescent years, with gains
continuing well into the later years of high school.
Many parents wonder about the susceptibility of adolescents to peer pressure. In general, studies that contrast parent
and peer influences indicate that in some situations, peers' opinions are more influential, while in others, parents' are
more influential.
Specifically, adolescents are more likely to conform to their peers' opinions when it comes to short-term, day-to-day,
and social matters-styles of dress, tastes in music, and choices among leisure activities.
This is particularly true during junior high school and the early years of high school. W hen it comes to long-term
questions concerning educational or occupational plans, however, or values, religious beliefs, and ethical issues,
teenagers are influenced in a major way by their parents.
Peer Pressure vs. Individuation
Susceptibility to the influence of parents and peers changes with development.
In general, during childhood, boys and girls are highly oriented toward their parents and less so toward their peers;
peer pressure during the early elementary school years is not especially strong.
As they approach adolescence, however, children become somewhat less oriented toward their parents and more
oriented toward their peers, and peer pressure begins to escalate.
During early adolescence, conformity to parents continues to decline and conformity to peers and peer pressure
continues to rise.
It is not until middle adolescence, then, that genuine behavioral independence emerges, when conformity to parents
as well as peers declines.
Social Transition in Adolescence
Developmentalists have spent considerable time charting the changes that take place with friends and with family
members as the individual moves through the adolescent years.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of the social transition into adolescence is the increase in the amount of time
individuals spend with their peers.
Although relations with agemates exist well before adolescence, during the teenage years they change in significance
and structure. Four specific developments stand out.
– First, there is a sharp increase during adolescence in the sheer amount of time individuals spend with their peers
and in the relative time they spend in the company of peers versus adults. In the United States, well over half of
the typical adolescent's waking hours are spent with peers, as opposed to only 15% with adults-including parents.
Second, during adolescence, peer groups function much more often without adult supervision than they do during
childhood. Third, during adolescence increasingly more contact with peers is with opposite-sex friends.
The In-Crowd
Finally, whereas children's peer relationships are limited mainly to pairs of friends and relatively small groups-three or
four children at a time, for example-adolescence marks the emergence of larger groups of peers, or crowds.
Crowds are large collectives of similarly stereotyped individuals who may or may not spend much time together. In
contemporary American high schools, typical crowds are "jocks," "brains," "nerds," "populars," "druggies," and so on.
In contrast to cliques, crowds are not settings for adolescents' intimate interactions or friendships, but, instead, serve
to locate the adolescent (to himself and to others) within the social structure of the school.
As well, the crowds themselves tend to form a sort of social hierarchy or map of the school, and different crowds are
seen as having different degrees of status or importance.
The importance of peers during early adolescence coincides with changes in individuals' needs for intimacy.
– As children begin to share secrets with their friends, a new sense of loyalty and commitment grows, a belief that
friends can trust each other.
– During adolescence, the search for intimacy intensifies, and self-disclosure between best friends becomes an
important pastime.
– Teenagers, especially girls, spend hours discussing their innermost thoughts and feelings, trying to understand
one another. The discovery that they tend to think and feel the same as someone else becomes another
important basis of friendship.
Sexual and Romantic Relationships
One of the most important social transitions that takes place in adolescence concerns the emergence of sexual and
romantic relationships. In contemporary society, most young people begin dating sometime during early adolescence.
Dating during adolescence can mean a variety of different things, from group activities that bring males and females
together (without much actual contact between the sexes); to group dates, in which a group of boys and girls go out
jointly (and spend part of the time as couples and part of the time in large groups); to casual dating as couples; and to
serious involvement with a steady boyfriend or girlfriend.
More adolescents have experience in mixed-sex group activities like parties or dances than dating, and more have
experience in dating than in having a serious boyfriend or girlfriend.
Most adolescents' first experience with sex falls into the category of sexual behavior that is experienced alone.
By the time most adolescents have reached high school, they have had some experience with sex in the context of a
relationship. About half of all American teenagers have had sexual intercourse by the time of high school graduation.
It is very clear that while the adolescent body is ready for an intimate relationship, the adolescent socially and
psychologically is not ready for an intimate relationship.
Estimates of the prevalence of sexual intercourse among American adolescents vary considerably from study to
study, depending on the nature of the sample surveyed and the year and region in which the study was undertaken.
Although regional and ethnic variations make it difficult to generalize about the "average" age at which American
adolescents become sexual, national surveys of young people indicate that more adolescents are sexually active at
an earlier age today than in the recent past.
Adolescence and Family Strife
Although it is incorrect to characterize adolescence as a time when the family ceases to be important, or as a time of
inherent and inevitable family conflict, early adolescence is a period of significant change and reorganization in family
relationships.
In most families, there is a movement during adolescence from patterns of influence and interaction that are
asymmetrical and unequal to ones in which parents and their adolescent children are on a more equal footing.
Family relationships change most around the time of puberty, with increasing conflict between adolescents and their
parents-especially between adolescents and their mothers-and closeness between adolescents and their parents
diminishing somewhat.
Changes in the ways adolescents view family rules and regulations, especially, may contribute to increased
disagreement between them and their parents.
Adolescence and Family Strife
Although puberty seems to distance adolescents from their parents, it is not associated with familial "storm and
stress," however.
Family conflict during this stage is more likely to take the form of bickering over day-to-day issues than outright
fighting.
Similarly, the diminished closeness is more likely to be manifested in increased privacy on the part of the adolescent
and diminished physical affection between teenagers and parents, rather than any serious loss of love or respect
between parents and children.
Research suggests that this distancing is temporary, though, and that family relationships may become less conflicted
and more intimate during late adolescence.
Generally speaking, most young people are able to negotiate the biological, cognitive, emotional, and social
transitions of adolescence successfully.
Although the mass media bombard us with images of troubled youth, systematic research indicates that the vast
majority of individuals move from childhood into and through adolescence without serious difficulty.
Development of Aggression in Childhood and Adolescence
AGGRESSION AS A PART OF HUMAN NATURE
– Some psychologists believe that aggression is an inherent part of human nature. That it is instinctual. Such
beliefs spring from many sources and are stated in a variety of ways. Christian theology as long assumed that
men are both innately good and evil. Political philosopher Thomas Hobbs coined the saying “Man is like a wolf to
his fellow man”.
– There are two major contributions to theories on the origins of aggressive behavior in humans.
– One belongs to Sigmund Freud and the other to Konrad Lorenz.
Sigmund Freud‟s Aggressive Instinct Theory
In his writings in the 1920‟s, Freud saw aggression as an innate primary drive that is related to the death instinct
(thanatos) that he believed all men have and struggle with.
Life consists of an eternal conflict between the two drives of life and death. From the moment of conception, each
person carries the urge to destroy as well as the urge to live and create.
Freud hoped that human reason would eventually control the most destructive and pointless expressions of this
deadly force but he assumed that the urge would never be abolished, that is was as basic as the need to breathe.
When exposed to constraints and frustrations we will always activate the innate destructive force. Wars, violence
against others, and violence against the self would then follow.
Given these realities he felt that our efforts could best be directed toward lessening aggression by redirecting it toward
less objectionable targets.
Highly controversial theory, most psychologists today feel frustration rather than innate drive of death instinct causes
aggression.
Konrad Lorenz‟s Theory of Aggressive Instinct
Freud stressed the negative aspects of the destructive drive. Lorenz on the other hand, has argued that the
aggressive instinct has made a major contribution to the evolution and survival of animals – including people.
The aggressive instinct underlies the vital function of protecting one‟s territory against invasion, of defending the
young and of engaging in contests to select the best mate.
According to Lorenz, the problem is not with the instinct itself, but rather with the way it is expressed in people. He
believes that humans particularly in Western societies suffer from an insufficient way of discharging the natural
aggression we have.
Middle class western societies inhibit the expression of even milder forms of aggression. Consequently the drive
builds up until it may be strongly and viciously expressed.
In the animal world most animals who fight have inhibitions that keep them from killing after they have defeated an
opponent.
Humans on the other hand have lost this inhibition. He theorizes that we have lost our inhibitions because most
human slaughter occurs at such a distance that we do not identify with or recognize the submission in our opponents.
People might be more reluctant to kill one another if they had to use their bare hands.
Analysis of the two theories: Even if you concede that all people have aggressive instincts, that doesn‟t explain the
variations of aggressiveness found in human beings. There must be other influences such as learning from the
environment.
Aggression and Social Learning Theory
Another major theory is that aggression is learned in the same way other behaviors are learned.
Consider the way in which an eighteen month old child reacts to frustration. Mom takes a toy away the child responds
by crying, rolling on the floor, biting or trying to hit Mom. Mom tries to teach the child which aggressive responses are
taboo. Biting is out, kicking is bad and so on.
The same baby after being punished for hitting Mom may be rewarded by her for fighting with his or her friends in
certain situations. Children then learn through a series of experiences when it is appropriate to act aggressively,
which forms of aggression are acceptable and to whom they can express aggression without disapproval or
punishment.
Without intending to do so, parents administer a series of rewards and punishments for aggressive behavior.
The male child may learn that to be a “real boy” he has to defend his honor in certain situations. “Only sissies don‟t
defend themselves” The parents influence the child indirectly by serving as models that the child imitates and
identifies with.
Although parents are the most important influence, children are also influenced by other sources. For example if the
child hits another child and the other child gives up a toy then the act of hitting is reinforced. Other instances occur in
day to day life.
Parental discipline also plays a role. Parents who are physically aggressive, tend to have physically aggressive
children. They set the example for their children. Permissive parents also have some problems because they
sometimes inadvertently reward aggressive behaviors by not interceding when they should.
Modeling and Aggression
Imitation is another important learning process. A young child watches her mother baking cookies and then pretends
she is doing the same. Parents encourage this type of behavior by providing toy replicas of everyday objects.
Children who observe their parents being aggressive will imitate them. If Dad shouts when angry so will the child.
Albert Bandura (1961) did a series of experiments in a nursery school that demonstrated the effect on the child‟s
watching an adult act aggressively. In one study the children watched an adult play with a set of tinker toys and BoBo
doll (five foot inflatable toy) . In the aggressive situation, the adult began to punch and toss it into the air. While the
adult played aggressively she shouted things such as “sock him in the nose” and “pow”. This aggressive play lasted
for nine minutes. In the control situation the model played with the tinker toys the whole time.
The experimenter then left the child alone with the toys and observed its behavior. The children who had observed
the aggressive model behaved much more aggressively.
Other studies have shown that young children will also imitate media aggression directed against live human beings.
In one of these experiments, four and five year old boys from a Sunday school class wee the subjects . Half the boys
watched a two ½ minute color sound film where the adult model injured a clown – insulting the clown and beating him
with a rubber mallet. The other boys saw no film. The children were then allowed to play in a room which held toys
that could be used aggressively. Children who watched the violent film were more aggressive with the BOBO clown
doll.
Increasing the Likelihood of Imitation
Factors that increase the likelihood of imitation:
– whether the model is rewarded or punished for the behavior
– if the model has control over you or a great deal of influence in your life.
– If the model is similar to you in terms of your age, sex, and interests.
– If the model is perceived as having higher social status
The Media and Aggression
Studies have shown that the incidence of spectacular crime shown on television seems to be related to the incidence
of similar real crimes.
For instance one week after the showing of a movie called the Doomsday Flight, in which a person plants a bomb on
an airliner, thirteen bomb threats were received at airline offices – twice the number of threats received for the entire
month preceding the film.
Violence is prevalent on television. Dramas in which people are stabbed, shot, beaten, or poisoned , cartoons in
which animals inflict injuries on one another in amazing ways, and many other examples exist.
There are conflicting theories as to whether televised violence affects the level of aggression in viewers.
Many feel that a steady diet of televised violence increases the tendency of the viewers, especially children to behave
aggressively.
TV programmers argue that this is not the case, yet advertisers spend $2 ½ billion on the belief that television will
influence human purchasing behavior. And of course the programmers agree...
APA Taskforce on the Media‟s Influence on Aggression
In 1992, the APA Task Force on Television and Social Behavior concluded that 30 years of research confirms the
harmful effects of television and movie violence.
How are we affected? There are three major avenues:
– direct effects – children and adults who watch a lot of violence on tv and in the movies may become more
aggressive and /or they may develop favorable attitudes and values about the use of aggression to resolve
conflicts.
– Desensitization – suggests that children and adults who watch a lot of violence on television may become less
sensitive to violence in the real world around them, less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others and will be
more willing to tolerate ever-increasing levels of violence in our society
– Mean W orld Syndrome – suggests that children and adults watch a lot of violence may begin to believe that the
world is as mean and dangerous in real life as it is portrayed on television.
This is especially true of the news. The news services have really contributed to the mean world syndrome. We hide
ourselves behind locked doors, barred windows and gated communities fearing that we will be attacked in the next
instant.
There is also the view that watching violent programming actually provides a safe and healthy means of releasing
violent feelings. There is some evidence that this is also applicable.
Whatever the end result, there is enough evidence to suggest that we must be careful about what children especially
view on television. Minimizing the violence they see is a good idea.
Developmental Change in Adulthood
Development in Adulthood
Development does not end with adolescence. Adults too, go through transitions and experience physical, cognitive,
and social changes. Adulthood is usually divided into three non-absolute periods:
Early adulthood – 20‟s to 40‟s
Middle adulthood – 40‟s to mid-sixties
Late adulthood – 65 and on
Physical Changes in Adulthood
Once the large and obvious changes of adolescence have occurred, further age-related physical changes are less
dramatic.
Beyond some increases in height and muscular development during the late teens and early 20‟s, most individuals
experience only minor physical changes until middle age.
Physical Changes Mid-Adulthood: Female
For the female, menopause or the cessation of the menstrual cycle which occurs somewhere between 45 and 55 is
the second most important life milestone in physical development.
Although the decreased production of estrogen leads to some physical changes ( some bone density loss, loss of
height as a result) the popular belief that menopause causes serious psychological mood swings, loss of interest in
the opposite sex, and depression is not supported by research.
Menopause has both disadvantages and advantages.
– One disadvantage is the redefinition of the female in her mind and that of those around her. She is no longer
capable of having children therefore her role within the family changes somewhat.
– An advantage is that once the pressure of potential pregnancy is relieved, the married couple‟s relationship may
become better.
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood: Male
For the male in middle adulthood, there is a gradual decline in the production of sperm and testosterone.
They do however remain capable of reproduction well into their eighties or nineties.
Physical changes such as weight gain, loss of muscle strength, and graying or loss of hair may lead some men and
women to feel depressed and to question their life goals.
Physical Changes in Adulthood
Most people are well into late adulthood before their bodily functions are noticeably impaired. In late adulthood men
shrink about an inch, and women about two inches, as their posture changes and cartilage disks between the spinal
vertebra become thinner.
Probably the greatest influence on how long we will live is our genetic blueprint. Things such as when your hair
begins to thin, lose its color, and turn grey are all the result of your genetic inheritance.
Lifestyle is one key environmental factor that can influence the aging process. Staying mentally and physically active
and eating a proper diet can both slow and minimize the degree of physical decline associated with aging.
Physical strength peaks in early adulthood, the twenties and thirties. By middle adulthood, roughly from the forties to
mid-sixties, physical strength and endurance gradually decline. During late adulthood, these reduce at a much faster
rate.
Life Expectancy
At conception and before birth there are 126 male embryos for every 100 female embryos. By birth, the ratio of males
to females has decreased to 105 for every 100 females. During the first year, male infant death rates exceed females
by one fourth.
W orldwide females outlive men by 3 years and in the United States, Canada, and Australia, by 7 years.
By age 100, females outnumber males 5 to 1.
Few of us at this point reach 100 because our body‟s cells age and are no longer reproduced. Even if we did
eliminated all diseases and accidental deaths, life expectancy would only increase to 85.
Why do we age and eventually wear out? There are two theories about this:
proposed by evolutionary biologists, speculates that as a species, we pass on our genes to the young and then stop
consuming their resources.
Suggests that there was a role for older women in human history. They have always fulfilled a supporting role in the
nurturing of the youngest members of the family. Today‟s family structure has only recently in historical terms
included enough migration that family units were separated by vast distances.
Change in Sensory Abilities
Physical decline begins in early adulthood, but its not until later in life that we become most aware of it.
One of the first changes to occur is a loss of visual sharpness. Visual sharpness diminishes and adaptation to
changes in light level slows, and older people will have more accidents as a result. Most stairway falls taken by older
adults occur on the top step, where the person typically descends from a window-lit hallway into the darker stairwell.
With what we know, if we design the stairwells better, we could reduce the number of such accidents.
With age the pupil of the eye shrinks and the lens becomes less transparent which reduces the amount of light
reaching the retina.
In fact the retina of a 65 year old receives only about 1/3 the light of a 20 year old. This means they need about 3
times as much light to read as the same 20 year old.
Muscle strength, hearing, distance perception, reaction time, and stamina also diminish noticeably. In later life the
stairs seem to get steeper, the newsprint smaller and people seem to mumble more. By age 75 the car accident rates
are back up to that of teenagers.
Health
There‟s good news and bad news.
First the bad news:
– The body‟s immune system weakens making the elderly more susceptible to life-threatening ailments such as
cancer and pneumonia. It‟s as if the elderly have a very mild case of AIDS that hampers the body‟s ability to fight
infections.
The good news:
– Thanks to a lifetime of accumulating antibodies, older people less often suffer from short-term ailments such as
the flu and the common cold. Those over 65 are half as likely as 20 year olds and 1/5 as likely as preschoolers to
suffer from upper respiratory flu each year. As a result, older workers have lower rates of absenteeism. The
danger to the elderly person who does get the flu is greater than that of the younger person and this is the reason
they are encouraged to have the vaccination each year.
Most of the elderly appear to believe that the majority of their peers suffer from serious health problems but in reality,
fewer than 1 in 4 reported problems. Only 5% of all those over 65 live in hospitals, nursing homes, and other such
institutions. Even among those 85 and older less than 25% live in nursing homes. Most live in their own homes.
The Aging Brain
Aging does slow neural processes. During our teenage years we process information more quickly. When
compared to teens, the elderly take a bit more time to react, solve puzzles, even to remember names. Speed slows,
especially when the task becomes complex. Given extra time, however, the elderly do just as well on tests etc.
Beginning in young adulthood, there is also a small, gradual loss of brain cells that eventually reaches a 5% or so
reduction in brain weight by age 80. However, if you remain active and are constantly learning and using the brain,
the loss will be minimal.
The bottom line is we are more likely to rust from disuse than to wear out from overuse. Use it or lose it is true. If you
remain active – physically, mentally, and sexually you will retain more of the capacity for those activities later in life.
Social Development in Adulthood
In his theory of psychosocial development, Erik Erikson (1982) described the two fundamental themes that dominate
adulthood: love and work. According to Erikson the primary task of early adulthood is to form a committed, intimate
relationship with another person. During middle adulthood, the primary adulthood the primary social task is
generativity (contributing to future generations through your children, your career, and other meaningful activities).
Friends in Adulthood
Adults typically have fewer friends than adolescents, mostly because of the demands on their time. They do benefit
from having at least one friend or confidant during adulthood. The focus of friendships is somewhat different for each
gender. Female friends tend to confide in one another about their feelings, problems, and relationships. Males
friends typically minimize discussions about relationships or personal feelings or problems. Instead they tend to do
things together that they find interesting, such as sports or hobbies.
Beyond friendship, establishing a committed relationship takes on a new urgency in adulthood. Looking for Mr. Or
Mrs. Right, getting married, and starting a family are the traditional tasks of early adulthood. Today‟s young adults are
marrying at a later average age.
– Ex. 1960 - the median age for a first marriage was 23 for males and 20 years for females
1993 – the median age for a first marriage was 26.5 for males and 24.5 for females
Many young people are postponing marriage until their late twenties or early thirties so they can finish their education
and become established in a career.
Marriage
As a general rule we tend to be attracted to people who are similar to us on a variety of levels. This includes physical
attractiveness, social and educational status, ethnic background, attitudes, values, and beliefs
Do marriages last?
Over the first year of marriage newlyweds typically reduce the number of behaviors intended to please their partner,
such as making them laugh and saying I love you. We realize that our spouse has some really annoying habits. More
time is spent doing the routine tasks than doing enjoyable things that were done when dating. The honeymoon
passes quickly as the couple faces realities of daily life. Although couples are less positive about their relationship
than they were when dating they still remain positive overall.
Kids „R‟ Us?
Although it is commonly believed that children strengthen the marital bond, marital satisfaction tends to decline after
the birth of the first child. The first child‟s arrival creates a whole set of responsibilities, pushes, and pulls, on the
marital relationship.
it alters your identity as an adult, particularly if parenthood was a surprise
parenthood is complicated by the fact that children don‟t come with instructions and aren‟t talking the first year or so.
This means you have to be very patient with them even when frustrated that they cannot tell you what the problem is.
Children demand much of your already stressed time schedule and do not understand why other things can
sometimes be more important even if just for the moment.
If the parent‟s relationship is warm and positive and if both husband and wife share household and child-care
responsibilities, things will go much easier. It also helps if the newborn is an easy baby, not one that is irritable and
cries a lot.
Marrying later seems to be an advantage and waiting until the thirties to start a family can be an easier adjustment.
The couple is more mature and their relationship is more stable.
Marital satisfaction often increases after children leave home. Successfully launching your children into the adult
world represents the greatest success a parent can have.
The Changing American Family
Between 1970 and 1994, the number of American households increased from 63 million to 97 million. During that
same period, however, the average size of the American household decreased from 3.14 to 2.67 persons. The
percentage of single-parent households has almost doubled, while the number of "“traditional” families has decreased
dramatically. (1970 – 40.3% to 1994 – 25.8%)
The number of unmarried couples living together has increased in the last 20 years to over 3 million couples and
better than 30% of all children are being raised by a single parent. Given that almost ½ of all first marriages end in
divorce the phenomenon of remarrying and having a second family later in live is not unusual.
Dual career families have become increasingly common. The career tracks of men and women will often differ if they
have children. Although today‟s fathers are more actively involved in child rearing than previous generations women
still tend to have primary responsibility for child care. Thus married women with children are much more likely than
single women or childless women to interrupt their careers, leave their jobs, or switch to part-time work because of
child-rearing responsibilities.
Most adults with multiple roles (men and women) have greater potential for increased feelings of self-esteem,
happiness, and competence. If the job, marriage, etc. are positive and satisfying then psychological well-being is
increased.
Late Adulthood
Life expectancy for men is about 72 years and for women its about 79 years. Late adulthood can last for 20 years or
more. Just because we experience physical and sensory changes throughout adulthood, that‟s not to say that we
completely fall apart as we age. In fact sometimes people in their nineties or older are sometimes healthier than
people 20 years younger.
In American culture old age is associated with images of poor health, inactivity, social isolation, and mental and
physical incompetence. These images are stereotypes. The majority of older adults live healthy, active, and self-
sufficient lives.
Retirement is viewed positively as long as it involved a choice. Forced retirement can bring low self-esteem etc. as
does other forced actions such as removal of transportation due to infirmities etc. The ability to go where they wish to
go is very important to the elderly. The availability of options helps insure they will be happy and live longer.
Some older adults are very social and will participate in activities like church and senior citizens groups to a greater
degree while others may tend to isolate themselves more. It is important that even if the older adult is not very socially
active have at least one confidant. For older men this is usually their spouse. The confidant provides social support
and can cause the adult to have better mental health and sense of well-being. They provide a buffer in coping with
stressful events.
Living Situations of the Elderly
Over half (55%) the older non-institutionalized persons lived with their spouse in 2000 but there are major gender
differences.
Approximately 10.1 million or 73% of older men, and 7.7 million or 41% of older women, lived with their spouse.
Furthermore, the proportion living with their spouse decreased with age, especially for women. Only 28.8% of women
75+ years old lived with a spouse.
In 2001, older men were much more likely to be married as older women-- 73% of men, 41% of women.
Almost half of all older women in 2001 were widows (46%).
About 30% (9.7 million) of all non-institutionalized older persons in 2000 lived alone (7.4 million women, 2.4 million
men). They represented 40% of older women and 17% of older men. The proportion living alone increases with
advanced age. Among women aged 75 and over, for example, half (49.4%) lived alone.
While a relatively small number (1.56 million) and percentage (4.5%) of the 65+ population lived in nursing homes in
2000, the percentage increases dramatically with age, ranging from 1.1% for persons 65-74 years to 4.7% for persons
75-84 years and 18.2% for persons 85+.
The Final Chapter: Death and Dying
Everyone has a personal history of thinking about death. Some people are obsessed with it while others even in
advanced age take a one day at a time approach to living.
Generally anxiety about death tends to peak in middle adulthood then tends to decrease in late adulthood.
Elisabeth Kubler – Ross and the Five Stages of Dying
Elisabeth Kubler Ross (1969) interviewed 200 terminally ill patients and proposed the dying go through five stages:
– denial – insist the doctors are wrong, need a second opinion
– anger – why me and not someone else?
– Bargain – try to make a deal with doctors, relatives, or GOD promising to live a certain way if the problem will go
away
– Depression – stemming from the impending loss of everything and everyone
– Acceptance – of one‟s fate
Some criticisms of the stage theory of death and dying are that it reduces a very private moment to a very generalized
phenomenon. For most it is a very private thing that does not fit a particular mold.
The major benefit of the attention to the study of death is that it has enabled us to deal more openly and humanely
with death and grief. The establishment of hospices whose staff and volunteers work in special facilities and in
people‟s homes to support and comfort the terminally ill and their families has been a very positive development.