Erickson was the first to recognize identity as the major personality achievement of adolescence and as a crucial step toward becoming a product, content adult. Constructing an identity involves defining who you are, what you value, and the directions you chose to pursue in life.
(Berk, 2013, p. 318)
Identity vs Role Confusion: Resolved positively. I feel very fortunate to have a family that pushed me to pursue anything I wanted to pursue and I also feel fortunate that I had the means to do so. I remember the moment that I made the decision to major in psychology (sophomore year: we were reading Our Town in English and learning about Confucious in World History). It was at that moment that I new I was interested in the human mind, thought, and cognition. Throughout all of adolescence, I never doubted the decision I made and my parents never questioned the decision I made for myself and supported me whole-heartedly. Upon entering college, I did not feel directionless and ill-prepared for the challenges of adulthood.
During high school I had about 5 “best friends”: Rachel, Alexa, Allie, Sidney, and Trang with whom I hung out with and rotated throughout junior high and high school. Rachel remained my most consistent friend throughout, however there were times where the other 4 were my main focus. During this time I remember talking with them on the phone for hours, just to log-on to AOL instant messenger and talk to them online. Our hangouts were typically gossip related, and during school we passed notes and utilized notebooks to talk even more. Although many of my friendships with them have waned, if I were to see any of these girls, it would be like time had never passed.
Cliques: Throughout high school I was a part of 3 different cliques. My friends from orchestra, my band friends (we would go to rock shows together and hang out and listen to music), and my boy-crazy friends in which we hung out an talked about boys and gossiped a lot. With each of these cliques there was some overlap of friends and there were times that all of these cliques would come together to form a crowd. The boy-crazy clique has since disbanded, but I believe if my music or orchestra friends were to get together it would be a fun and happy reunion.
Dating: My mother didn’t put a lot of restrictions on me regarding dating. She wanted to know who I was with and when, and I had a specific time I had to be home each night, but she never told me I could or could not date someone. My first “boyfriend” was in 7th grade and the “relationship” lasted 2 days. From there I had several other week-long relationships. My first “real” relationship (that I would consider real) didn’t happen until my freshman year of high school (lasted over a month). From there on most of my relationships lasted several months (the next was 3, the following was 6, and my longest relationship in high school lasted almost 3 years and went into early adulthood). I believe the freedom my mom gave me to make the decision to date was best because I never felt like I needed to hide anything from her and I felt comfortable being open with her about meeting my boyfriends.
Numbers of best friends declines from about four to six in early adolescence to one or two in adulthood. At the same time, the nature of the relationship changes
.
Teenagers stress 3 main characteristics in peer relationships: intimacy, mutual understanding, loyalty.
Cliques: groups of about 5 to7 members who are friends and therefore usually resemble one another in family background, attitudes, and values. These at times will loosely organize into a group called a “crowd”
Dating: Hormonal changes of puberty increase sexual interest but cultural expectations determine when and how dating begins.
(Berk, 2013, p. 330-333)
My Development
Emotional Development
My Development
Most young people move through adolescence with little disturbance. However, some encounter major disruptions in development.
Depression: Feeling sad, frustrated, and hopeless about life accompanied by loss of pleasure in most activities and disturbances in sleep, appetite, concentration, and energy is the most complete psychological problem for adolescence.
(Berk, 2013, p. 334)
Problems of Development
My Development
Peer Relationships
Around the time my father was put into the nursing home, I believe I had some issue with depression dealing with the huge change in my life. During this time my mother had me see a counselor to manage my emotions during this time, but I found that I utilized my friends more to help me through the tough time. There were also times when bursts of depression would happen from break-ups or small fights with my friends. However, even with the circumstances of my dad’s illness, I believe I had a strong support system that helped me through these times.
Adolescence
