Chapter 9: Autonomy

What are the 4 measures of emotional autonomy in regard to parents?

- Extent to which adolescent deidealizes parents -Extent to which adolescent sees parents as people -Extent to which adolescent depends on themselves, rather than on parents -Extent to which adolescent feels individuated within the relationship with his/her parents

Involvement in community service leads to which two things?

- Gains in social responsibility - Gains in tolerance

What are the tree components of autonomy?

- emotional (feeling independently) - behavioral (acting independently) - cognitive (thinking independently)

Autonomy has two additional components to independence. What are they?

- emotional independence - cognitive independence

Developing autonomy is a predominant issue in adolescence due to which three things?

- physical changes - cognitive changes - social changes

What are the three trends of cognitive autonomy during adolescence?

1. Increasingly abstract in moral, political, and religious issues 2. Beliefs become rooted in general principles 3. Beliefs become founded in the young person's own values.

Older adolescents show improvements in which four things?

1. awareness of risks 2. considering consequences 3. turning to a consultant 4. recognizing vested interests

Two reasons adolescents improve decision making skills: ___ and ____. Both are the result of the maturation of the ____ where synaptic pruning and increased myelination of neuronal fibers.

1. decisions are less influenced by the potential to produce an immediate reward 2. improvement in impulse control prefrontal cortex

What are Kohlberg's three levels of moral reasoning?

1. preconventional 2. conventional 3. postconventional1

____ thwart adolescents' needs for independence --> more dependence and rebelliousness

Authoritarian

____ parents allow healthy amounts of autonomy --> less conflict and more closeness.

Authoritative

Making independent decisions and following through on them

Behavioral autonomy

Developing an independent set of beliefs, values, and principles Resisting peer and parental pressures Thinking for oneself

Cognitive autonomy

____ influence how a person acts when facing moral dilemmas in the real world.

Contextual factors

Moral Reasoning (following societal rules and norms) Begins to appear in preadolescence

Conventional

Adolescents are driven to separate emotionally from parents. Conflict is normal.

Detachment

____ is a period of growing independence and autonomy.

Early adolescence

Gaining emotional independence in relationships with others, especially parents

Emotional Autonomy

An individual's capacity to behave on his or her own (behavioral independence)

Independence

Gradual process that begins during infancy Does not involve stress or turmoil Acceptance of responsibility for choices and actions

Individuation

Grounded in Piaget's cognitive development theory Three primary stages of moral development Two sub-stages within each primary stage

Kohlberg's Theory

How individuals think about moral dilemmas and make moral judgments

Moral reasoning

Does research support Freud?

NO

____ are more influential regarding long-term issues and basic values.

Parents

___ opinions are more influential for day-to-day matters.

Peers'

____ parents --> child less autonomous and more influenced by peers

Permissive

Moral Reasoning (most abstract and advanced) Appears in late adolescence, if at all

Postconventional

Moral Reasoning (worrying about punishment/reward) Predominates children's thinking

Preconventional

____ reasoning becomes more sophisticated, but changes in the actual prosocial behavior are not consistently found in adoelscence.

Prosocial

(helping others)

Prosocial behavior

_____ stimulates movement toward individuation

Social cognitive development

Religious beliefs become more ____, more ___, and more independent during adolescent years.

abstract and principled

Political thinking becomes more ___, less ____ and rigid, and more ____ (increase in a consistent set of attitudes; an ideaology).

abstract; authoritarian; principled

Adolescents whose parents are ____ or ___ are most easily influenced by peers, especially in antisocial situations.

authoritarian or permissive

Adolescents from ___ homes are less susceptible to antisocial peer pressure but more so to positive peers.

authoritative

In general, the subjective feelings of ____ increase steadily over adolescent years.

autonomy

Compared to non-religious adolescents, religious adolescents are .... because religious adolescents have additional positive influences in their life that promote positive development

better adjusted, less depressed, less likely to engage in premarital sexual intercourse, less likely to use drugs, and less likely to engage in delinquent behavior

With the development of ___ autonomy, there are changes in the adolescent's beliefs, opinions, and values.

cognitive

better decision-making, thinking about abstract concepts, evaluating advice from others, relativistic thinking

cognitive changes

Conformity to peers is higher during ___ and ___ adolescence.

early and middle

But today's teens also have become more _____ on their families than prior generations.

economically reliant

Parents: Conditions that encourage both individuation and ____ facilitate autonomy.

emotional closeness

Physical changes in adolescence leads them to look to peers more than parents for _____.

emotional support

Current view on detachment: Adolescents can become _____ from their parents without becoming detached from them.

emotionally autonomous

Physical changes have an _____ basis: increase in novelty seeking and exploration draws adolescent away from home to reproduce outside of family.

evolutionary

Today's teens spend more time away from the direct supervision of adults than prior generations requiring them to ____.

govern their own behavior

Establishing healthy sense of autonomy is actually a ____ process.

lifelong

Kohlberg used ___ challenging stories. Kohlberg was more interested in the ___ behind people's explanations rather than the answer.

morally; reasoning

Pubertal changes in a teen's appearance provoke changes in how teen views self and how parents view teen, which alters ____ interactions.

parent-adolescent

Freud's psychoanalytic theory suggests that the ___ of puberty disrupt a family system.

physical changes

Moral reasoning becomes more ___ over the course of childhood and adolescence.

principled

Anna Freud expressed a ____ theory on emotional autonomy.

psychoanalytic

____ triggers individuation.

pubertal changes

As adolescents experience physical changes, they go through ____, which leads to interest in intimate friendships, dating, and sexual relationships.

puberty

The stated importance of religion- and participation in an organized religion (___)- declines or increases during the adolescent years?

religiousity declines

Adolescents who have a stronger sense of self-reliance also have higher ___ and fewer ___.

self-esteem and behavior problems

During the development of behavioral autonomy, there are changes in feelings of ___.

self-reliance

Adolescent girls report feeling more ___ than boys do.

self-reliant

Freud's psychoanalytic theory suggests that the resurgence of ____ increase family tensions ("storm and stress").

sexual impulses

New roles require more responsibility and self-reliance

social changes

The result of more sophisticated thinking about oneself and one's parents

social cognitive development

Beliefs become more oriented toward ___ and ideological matters and less oriented toward rituals, practices, and the strict observance of religious customs.

spiritual

During the development of behavioral autonomy, individuals experience changes in ____ to influence.

susceptibility

Current research supports a ____ of family relationships, not a breaking off, through a gradual process called ____.

transformation; individuation