Identity development provides a person’s self definition through the evaluation of individual characteristics. Through this, people are able to explain the origin of these characteristics and the reasons behind them. A complete identity focuses on the person’s moral standards, ethical values and relationship of the person with his or her peers. The Scholarly Resources below help to explain the trends in identity development in adolescents.
Adamson, L., & Lyxell, B. (1996). Self-concept and questions of life: Identity development during late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence , 19 (6), 569-582.
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The study by Adamson & Lyxell (1996) aimed at exploring the trends in identity development of youths in their 18-20 years. They examined the following areas in their study:
Self-concept
Communication patterns
Connections between self-concept and communication patterns in youths
His study focused on 44 Swedish youths. They conducted the study using questionnaires and short essays. They conducted extensive analysis of social behaviors of the adolescents. The outcome demonstrated that there is a positive self-concept among the youths in relation to their future. The positivity of the self-concept indicated that there is a close relationship between the life in adolescent and the social environment at hand.
Damon, W., Menon, J., & Cotton Bronk, K. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied developmental science , 7 (3), 119-128.
In the past the role of psychology did not focus on the importance of purpose in identity development. The role of purpose is to install motivators when adolescents learn to adapt to the life threatening conditions and character development (Damon, Menon, & Bronk, 2003).
In the recent studies, the role of psychology in understanding identity development has been characterized with personal study and analysis of personal internal factors. They argue that youths tend to acquire positive purpose and tend to dedicate themselves to them.
French, S. E., Seidman, E., Allen, L., & Aber, J. L. (2006). The development of ethnic identity during adolescence. Developmental psychology , 42 (1), 1.
Adolescents experience a critical facet when it comes to ethnic identity. This is a common character of the adolescents of color. According to French et al (2006), after examining colored adolescents over three years, they found that ethnic identity tend to increase among the middle adolescents. The African Americans have high degree of ethnic identity than the uncolored youths. The article focused on the following factors:
The place of school context
Variability in development
Phinney, J. S. (1993). A three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities , 61 , 79.
To understand the extend of identity development among youths; Phinney (1993) formulated an integrated model of development in youths. The model is based on the following indicators:
Ego identity
Ethnic identification
Recent empirical research
The study focused on youths from different ethnic backgrounds. Ego identity provides the base for identity development. Therefore as youths reach adolescence they tend to use their ego to identify themselves with the peers and the social setting around them.
Sartor, C. E., & Youniss, J. (2002). The relationship between positive parental involvement and identity achievement during adolescence. Adolescence , 37 (146), 221.
The parental involvement in the lives of children influences their identity development. Parental involvement contributes a great deal to the positive identity development among the adolescents. There is gender factor in identity development. Girls have a higher level of identity achievement than boys.
According to Barber model, demandingness is crucial in self-regulation among adolescents. The monitoring of behavior is the best mean of inducting morals and norms in children. When parents socialize with their children, they install appropriate conformity in their development (Sartor & Youniss, 2002).
References
Adamson, L., & Lyxell, B. (1996). Self-concept and questions of life: Identity development during late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence , 19 (6), 569-582.
Damon, W., Menon, J., & Cotton Bronk, K. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied developmental science , 7 (3), 119-128.
French, S. E., Seidman, E., Allen, L., & Aber, J. L. (2006). The development of ethnic identity during adolescence. Developmental psychology , 42 (1), 1.
Phinney, J. S. (1993). A three-stage model of ethnic identity development in adolescence. Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities , 61 , 79.
Sartor, C. E., & Youniss, J. (2002). The relationship between positive parental involvement and identity achievement during adolescence. Adolescence , 37 (146), 221.
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology , 2 (1), 55-87.
Waterman, A. S. (1982). Identity development from adolescence to adulthood: An extension of theory and a review of research. Developmental psychology , 18 (3), 341.
