PSYC 336 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Premarital Sex, Moral Disengagement, Peer Pressure
22 Nov 2017
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•independence: an individual’s capacity to behave on his or her own
•autonomy: not only acting independently, but also feeling independent &
thinking for oneself
-3 different components:
(i) emotional: feeling separate from parents
(ii) behavioural: the growth of independent decision making
(iii) cognitive: developing personal beliefs & values
-early adolescence is a period of growing independence & autonomy
-establishing a healthy sense of autonomy is a life long process
-the cognitive, biological, & social changes of puberty influence the
development of autonomy
-3 types of autonomy:
(1) emotional autonomy: gaining emotional independence in relationships
with others, especially parents
•by the end of adolescence, teens are far less dependent on their parents
than they were during childhood
-no longer rush to their parents when they are upset, hurt, worries, etc.
-no longer see their parents as “all-knowing” or “all-powerful”
-have a great deal of emotional energy invested in relationships
outside the family
-interact with their parents as people, not just parents
•past perspectives — viewed the development of emotional autonomy as
being the need to “break away”
-psychoanalytic theory suggest that separation is a form of detachment
-detachment: process through which teens sever emotional
attachments to their parents or other authority figures
-teens are driven to separate emotionally from parents & turn to peers,
thus the relationships with parents become severed
-views conflict as a normal part of adolescent development
•modern perspectives — views the development of emotional autonomy
as being a progressive transformation of family relationships, not the
breaking off or severing of parental relationships
-adolescents become emotionally autonomous without detaching from
their parents
-high levels of tension between teens & their parents is not the “norm”
-parents & adolescence may bicker, but there is no significant
emotional distance — they are often quite close
-research studies do not support the “storm & stress” of adolescents
-individuation: progressive sharpening of one’s sense of self as
autonomous, competent, & separate from one’s parents
•begins during infancy
•does not involve any stress or turmoil
•involves relinquishing childish dependencies on parents in favour
of a more responsible & less dependent relationship
•2 competing hypothesis for what triggers individuation:
(a) puberty — changes in the teen’s appearance provokes
changes in how the teen views themselves & how parents
view the teen
-alters parent-adolescent interactions
(b) social-cognitive development — a more sophisticated
understanding of oneself & their parents stimulates the
movement towards individuation
•measure emotional autonomy — examine extent to which youth:
(i) de-idealize their parents
(ii) see their parents as people
(iii) depend on themselves, rather than on their parents
•one’s transition into autonomy influences its outcomes & effects
-teens who become emotionally autonomous, but also feel distant or
detached from their parents have poorer psychological health
•family relationships — healthy individuation & positive mental
health are fostered by close (not distant) family relationships
-teens’ mental health is best when their desire for autonomy matches
their parents’ willingness to grant autonomy
-conditions that encourage both individuation & emotional closeness
facilities autonomy
-strained family relationships are associated with a lack of autonomy
-authoritative — fosters independence, responsibility & self-esteem
-authoritarian — interfere with individuation
-no parental guidance or rules results in greater reliance on one’s peers
•problematic, because they too are young & inexperienced
-correlation between autonomy support & life satisfaction is similar
across all cultures
•the benefits of autonomous support is beneficial for everyone
(2) behavioural autonomy: making independent decisions & following
through on them
•seen both in relationships with parents, as well as peers
•decision making abilities — improves, as the result of cognitive
changes across adolescence
-older teens are more likely to consider both the risks & benefits
associated with the decisions they make
•able to think in hypothetical terms
•early teens are more drawn to potential benefits of a decision
rather than the potential costs
-begin to weigh the long-term consequences of their choices
-a decline in the salience of immediate rewards
-improvement in the ability to control impulses
-more sophisticated reasoning leads teens to hold multiple view points
in their mind at once, allowing to them compare different perspective
•crucial for weighing opinions & advice of others
•susceptibility to influence — conformity to peers is higher during
middle adolescence than later adolescence
-when teens are with their friends, they pay more attention to potential
rewards of a risky choice, rather then potential costs
-parents are more influential regarding long-term issues & basic values
-peers’ opinions are more influential for day-to-day matters
-conformity is most observed for antisocial behaviours
-individual differences in susceptibility depends on:
(i) sex — girls are less susceptible to peer pressure than boys
(ii) parental support — those with less parental support are more
susceptible to peer pressure
•authoritative is associated with behavioural autonomy
•the impact of authoritative parenting on a teen’s
susceptibility to peer pressure depends on its nature
-less susceptible to antisocial peer pressure, but more
susceptible to the influence of positive peers
(iii) brain structure — supported by brain imaging studies
•cultural differences — different expectations for autonomy among
differing cultures
-caucasian teens & their parents have earlier expectation for autonomy
than do Asian teens & parents
•sex & birth order — have little to no effect on behavioural autonomy
-may depend on the number of sons & daughters in the home
-primarily determined by the parents’ attitudes toward sex roles
(3) cognitive autonomy: developing an independent set of beliefs, opinions,
values & principles, & resisting peer & parental pressures
•follows the development of emotional & behavioural autonomy
•3 trends in adolescents’ beliefs:
(i) beliefs about moral, political, & religious issues become more
abstract
(ii) beliefs become increasingly rooted in general principles
(iii) beliefs become founded in the young person’s own values, not
merely a reflection of their parents or other authority figures
•enhanced reasoning capabilities, development of hypothetical thinking,
& ability to consider alternative possibilities allow for teens to explore
different value systems, political ideologies, & religious beliefs
•moral development — most widely studied aspect of cognitive
autonomy, involving the study of:
(a) reasoning: how individuals think about moral dilemmas
-moral behaviour does not always match moral reasoning
-prosocial reasoning becomes more mature during
adolescence, though changes in actual prosocial behaviour are
not consistently found in teens
(b) behaviours: how they behave in situations that call for moral
judgements & reasoning
-prosocial behaviour: acts people engage in to help others
•don’t necessarily reflect intentions (ex. bi-strategic bullies)
•fairly stable with age
•more common among girls
-positive parenting promotes prosocial behaviour by increasing
the teens’ ability to regulate their emotions & be able to
emphasize with others
-civic engagement: involvement in political & community affairs
•way for teens to demonstrate prosocial behaviour
•very few teens are engage in political affairs
•those who are more civic engaged show more prosocial behaviours
•involvement in community service leads to short-term gains in
social responsibility & gains in commitment to tolerance, equal
opportunity, & cultural diversity
PSYC 336 - Chapter 9: Autonomy
Document Summary
Independence: an individual"s capacity to behave on his or her own (2) behavioural autonomy: making independent decisions & following. Psyc 336 - chapter 9: autonomy: autonomy: not only acting independently, but also feeling independent & thinking for oneself. 3 different components: (i) emotional: feeling separate from parents (ii) behavioural: the growth of independent decision making (iii) cognitive: developing personal beliefs & values. Early adolescence is a period of growing independence & autonomy. Establishing a healthy sense of autonomy is a life long process. The cognitive, biological, & social changes of puberty in uence the development of autonomy. 3 types of autonomy: (1) emotional autonomy: gaining emotional independence in relationships with others, especially parents: by the end of adolescence, teens are far less dependent on their parents than they were during childhood. No longer rush to their parents when they are upset, hurt, worries, etc. No longer see their parents as all-knowing or all-powerful .
