The neurobiological procedures defining adolescence, as well as influencing risk-taking, are quite complex. The role that these processes play is slowly emerging as a critical factor shaping adolescent behavior. A need exists for psychologists and the public at large to comprehend the contexts of psychological developments and social influences. Bradford Brown’s idea on psychological development and risk-taking among adolescents is one of the most useful approaches to understanding the psychological influences on adolescence (Brown, 1987). For instance, Brown argued that adolescents must always accomplish four primary tasks in their growth trajectories. The first task is that of standing out, which literature relates to the need for adolescents to develop their identities and to pursue autonomy (Brown, 1987). The second task that should be accomplished during this developmental stage is that of fitting in, which suggests the need for teenagers to develop comfortable affiliations, and to gain significant levels of acceptance from their peers. The third task for teenagers is the need for them to measure up, which Brown described as the need for adolescents to develop competence and ways of achieving in life. Lastly, teenagers should always take hold, which means that they should be committed to specific beliefs, activities, and goals.
In line with the psychological perspective describing the duties of adolescents, older generations are tasked with advising the teenagers on the approaches to attaining the four goals. Consequently, this advisory portfolio provides a psychological perspective to the youth using the key terms developed during week six of the training. Precisely, the paper advises teenagers on ways that they should treat ideas of mere exposure effect, reciprocity, friendship, and love, as they seek to attain the four objectives.
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On The Mere Exposure Effect
First, it is imperative defining the meaning of the mere exposure effect before contextualizing it to the case of you teenagers. Literatures advanced in the field of psychology identify the mere exposure effect as a phenomenon that a repeated encounter with a stimulus of some kind makes people to like it more (e.g. Gordon & Holyoak, 2013). The stimulus in this case could be related to listening to melodies on the radio, meeting someone frequently, and others. You should note the most interesting aspect of the mere exposure effect is that it does not need any forms of reward for perceiving the stimulus. In this case, the stimulus is merely depicted, however accidentally or briefly, to the individual for them develop familiarity. As you can judge from the definition of the term, people do not have to be familiar with a stimulus for them to develop a liking, but the tendency to like something is drawn from a repeated exposure to it.
Consequently, the mere exposure effect could have profound effects on your development and transition into adulthood. The most obvious of the effects of the mere exposure effect is the idea that it may shape your likes and dislikes in life through drawing your to a specific line of thought. The reason for this common sense perception of the mere exposure effect draws from psychology. For instance, it is argued that the cognitive system utilizes familiarity as a method of judging that something is relatively safe or unsafe (National Research Council, 2011). Take a moment to think about what occurs when you meet something unpleasant. I believe that you agree with me that an encounter with an unpleasant event would always breed negative reaction to the same thing. For instance, you may feel disgusted, scared or experience pain because of the experiences. You need to understand that the human cognitive system has an exemplary capacity to store the information concerning our experiences, which causes us to get immediate signals to avoid things that would hurt our wellbeing and to like those that would make us happy. Consequently, we should always be keen with the type of stimuli to which we are drawn to during our brief but important stage. Precisely, encountering bad stimuli, such as violence and drugs among others during this stage might affect our self-esteem during early and late adulthood. Consequently you might fail to realize full autonomy in life, and fail on one of your objectives during this stage of life.
On Reciprocity
Reciprocity may be defined both from its English and psychological contexts, and the meanings drawn from each sector are synonymous. From an English standpoint, the term refers to exchanging things for mutual beneficence (van den Bos et al., 2010). On other hand, psychology suggests that the term is drawn from the rule of reciprocation, which is related to the universal tendency of people to feel the obligation to repay when they receive gifts regardless of whether the gifts are acts of generosity or kindness. As adolescents, you should comprehend that people from all cultures around the world experience strong impulses to repay favors and gifts. The impulses often express themselves in reciprocation to invitations, acts of kindness, and birthday presents among others.
In line with Brown’s (1987) idea about the duties of adolescents, reciprocity is one of the ways through which you as teenagers fit into the society; the ways through you develop comfortable affiliations and gain acceptance among your peers. Nevertheless, you should understand that some teenagers fail to develop useful connections with their peers, especially when they cannot develop critical thinking skills that would help them avoid reciprocating negative favors, such as invitations for drinks and others. In some cases, teenagers do not understand the best ways of repaying their teenage friends, and they may end up choosing the wrong options. For example, because of the pressure to repay others for what they have received and to gain the acceptance of their peers, some teenagers enter into teenage sexual relationships, substance abuse and other risky behavior that could have adverse implications on their development during adulthood. Therefore, you as teenagers should always strive to develop critical thinking skills that would help them choose the right acts to reciprocate. Where some of you may not have the ability to do so, it would be advisable to seek guidance from older people, such as parents and psychological counselors.
On Friendship
Scholars have found friendship to be an integral element of psychological and psychiatric development over the years. Aspects, such as peer influence and how parents influence the relationships of the adolescents, effects of gender on friendships, and social status affecting the behavior of adolescents when they relate, all contribute to the facet of adolescents friendships. Teenagers, through friendships, are able to develop as sense of belonging and acceptance. A sense of identity when relating outside the family, contributes to development of care, empathy, and compassionate feeling ( Payment 2012 ).
First, you can develop happiness through friendships. Psychological well-being is directly linked to friendships. Having good friends can make you happy; thus, aiding to the development of a better mental health through development of a resistance to the symptoms of depression. You need to comprehend that the sense of belonging and acceptance, coupled with the care and compassion your peers offer you, makes it possible for you to resist depression easily (Bagwell & Schmidt 2011). The positive feeling when relating to other people in the society further ensures the development of your happy nature. Secondly, friendship may aid you to develop and manage social tasks rather than focusing on popularity. You are able to prioritize on tasks, preferences, and duties through forming close friendships. Where, you may feel a sense of self-worth, which will prove to be a pillar during your vulnerable stages of adolescents’ years. Additionally, you can note that it is important to have a strong tie of relationship rather than a number of friends to reduce the feeling of social anxiety (Bagwell & Schmidt 2011).
Third, it is important for you to note that current technology enhances online friendships since, that is the real life. Up to 57 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 17 years meet online, you can make more friends through Instagram, Facebook, and other media such as online games rather than when you do face-to-face interaction ( Payment 2012) . This will enable you to connect and know how your friends feel, and go through stressful and challenging times more effectively. Concisely, friendships will enable you develop better self-esteem, lower the rates of anxiety and depression significantly, consequently feel happy and more optimistic. In addition, you will have stronger emotional regulation skills, hence developing a higher-functioning immune system to depression. Finally, you will develop a feeling of empathy and build trust towards your friends and a further improved cognitive skill.
On Love
Love is the most significant aspect of developing interpersonal skills especially in tanagers, during the stage, the main social context of love fundamentally lies in friendships and dating (Furman, Brown, & Feiring 2014). Through love, you can develop significant externalizing and internalizing behaviors, a good-quality relationship can make you develop high levels of psychological adjustments. First, love makes you develop strong social skills and emotional control. Through having fun, companionship can enhance your ability to develop mature identities and practice management of emotions even in your adult life. Second, there is no doubt that developing love relationships will make you feel very pleased or even unpleased, depending on how you will be able to control your emotions (Pickhardt 2013).
Third, in order to have a successful love relationship, it will be important for you to differentiate between an infatuation based on random attraction and a relationship where two people are compatible basing on their personalities, this will significantly reduce the risks associated with the heartbreaks and pains usually experienced with teenage. Forth, it will be important for you to understand that teenage relationships are regularly accompanied with violence and abuse. The journal of the American Medical Association has reported that about 20 percent of high school girls had physically or sexually experienced abuse (Pickhardt 2013). If not abused, you have to take considerations with early pregnancies affecting teenagers with 40 – 60 percent prevalence to teenage girls (Furman, Brown, & Feiring 2014). A relationship is too consuming, incites jealousness, feeling of coercion and ownership, hence you are advised to make serious decisions while considering the risks associated with forming a relationship.
Conclusion
Literature cited in this advisory portfolio teaches that adolescents have four duties to accomplish during their short, but brief developmental stage. Most importantly, the duties with which they are tasked suggest the need for adults to support them through their critical stage of development. The influence of adults, as described in the paper, is to guide teenagers towards making informed decisions. Proper development and attainment of the four objectives of teenage life would attain physical and psychological growth for them, and result in a sense of fulfillment with the world around them. The adolescents would then begin to transit to adulthood responsibly, especially because the environments in which they live allowed them to reside. Love, reciprocity, friendship, and the mere exposure effects learned during week six of the course develops important insights into the need for supporting adolescents to manage their lives, especially on the need to make the right choices.
References
Bagwell, C., & Schmidt, M. E. (2011). Friendships in childhood & adolescence .
Brown, B. B. (1987). Peer-group affiliation and adolescent self-esteem: An integration of ego-identity and symbolic-interaction theories. Journal of personality and social psychology , 52 (1), 47.
Furman, W., Brown, B. B., & Feiring, C. (2014). The development of romantic relations in adolescence . New York: Cambridge.
Gordon, P. C., & Holyoak, K. J. (2013). Implicit learning and generalization of the" mere exposure" effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 45 (3), 492.
National Research Council. (2011). The science of adolescent risk-taking: Workshop report . National Academies Press.
Payment, S. (2012). Friendship, Dating, and Relationships (e-Book) . New York: Rosen Digital.
Pickhardt, C. (2013). Surviving Your Child's Adolescence: How to Understand, and Even Enjoy, the Rocky Road to Independence . New York: Wiley.
van den Bos, W., Westenberg, M., van Dijk, E., & Crone, E. A. (2010). Development of trust and reciprocity in adolescence. Cognitive Development , 25 (1), 90-102.
