Chapter 9: Autonomy

Understand the difference between the changes in susceptibility to peer pressure and the strength of peer pressure during adolescence

- As adolescents come to spend more time outside the family, the opinions and advice of others—not only peers but adults as well—become more important. A variety of situations arise in which adolescents may feel that their parents' advice may be less valid than the opinions of others. Adolescents might seek the advice of friends, rather than their parents, about how to dress. They may turn to a teacher or guidance counselor for advice about what courses to take in school. Or they might talk something over with more than one person. A teenage girl who is trying to decide whether to take a part-time job after school might discuss the pros and cons with her parents but also ask friends for their advice. When different "advisors" disagree, adolescents must reconcile the differences of opinion and reach their own independent conclusions - Adolescents are often portrayed as being extremely susceptible to the influence of peer pressure—more so than children or young adults—and as being stubbornly resistant to the influence of their parents. - Adolescents are more likely to conform to peers' opinions when it comes to short-term, day-to-day, and social matters—styles of dress, tastes in music, choices among leisure activities, and so on. This is particularly true during the junior high school and early high school years. When it comes to long-term questions concerning educational or occupational plans, however, or to issues concerning values, religious beliefs, or ethics, teenagers are primarily influenced by their parents - Most peer pressure operates when adults are absent—when adolescents are at a party, driving home from school, or hanging out with their friends. To get closer to this issue, researchers have studied how adolescents respond when they must choose between the pressure of their friends and their own opinions of what to do. For example, an adolescent might be asked whether he would go along with his friends' pressure to vandalize some property even though he did not want to do so - Most studies using this approach show that conformity to peers is higher during middle adolescence than later (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007). Some studies find that conformity to peers increases between early and middle adolescence, peaking around age 14, whereas others find no change during this time (T. Sim & Koh, 2003) or that preadolescents are even more susceptible to peer influence than teenagers (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007). The especially heightened susceptibility to peer pressure around age 14 is most often seen when the behavior in question is antisocial—such as cheating, stealing, or trespassing—especially in studies of boys (Erickson, Crosnoe, & Dornbusch, 2000). These findings are in line with studies of delinquency, which are often committed by boys in groups, often during middle adolescence (Farrington, 2009). Adolescents who are more susceptible to peer pressure to engage in delinquent activity actually are more likely to misbehave (J. Allen, Porter, & McFarland, 2006; Monahan, Steinberg, Cauffman, & Mulvey, 2009). Susceptibility to antisocial peer pressure is also higher among relatively more acculturated Latino adolescents than their less acculturated peers, and higher among Latino adolescents who were born in the United States than those who were born abroad, consistent with research showing higher rates of delinquency among more acculturated adolescents - Although we know that conformity to peer pressure is high during early adolescence, it isn't clear why. One possibility is that young adolescents are more susceptible to peer influence because of their heightened orientation toward social stimuli (Nelson, Lau, & Jarcho, 2014; Somerville, 2013). Another is that individuals' susceptibility to peer pressure doesn't change, but that peer pressure may be especially strong around the time individuals are 14. In other words, adolescent peer groups may exert more pressure on their members to conform than do groups of younger or older individuals, and the pressure may be strong enough to make even the most autonomous teenagers comply. - Yet a third account is that being around other teenagers changes the way the adolescent brain functions. During adolescence the mere presence of friends activates brain regions associated with the experience of reward, but that no such effect is found when adolescents are with their parents, or when adults are with their friends - Girls are less susceptible to peer pressure than boys, as are Black adolescents in comparison to adolescents from other ethnic groups. Asian American adolescents, in contrast, seem especially susceptible to peer pressure, perhaps consistent with the greater emphasis placed on the importance of the group over the individual in Asian cultures (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007). Adolescents from single-parent families, as well as those with less supportive or more controlling parents, appear especially susceptible to peer pressure - Being able to resist peer pressure is associated with stronger connections between areas of the brain active during decision making and other regions, perhaps because individuals who are more likely to stand up to their friends are better able to better control the impulsive, emotional decision making that often occurs in the peer group (Grosbras et al., 2007; Paus et al., 2008). Similarly, adolescents whose neural activity is indicative of better emotion regulation also report more resistance to peer influence (Pfeifer, Masten, Moore, & Oswald, 2011). This brain research is consistent with the idea that a key aspect of positive development in adolescence involves the development of self-regulation

Understand why autonomy is an important psychosocial issue in adolescence

- Like identity, autonomy is a psychosocial concern that surfaces and resurfaces during the entire life cycle. The development of independent behavior begins long before puberty. Toddlers try to establish an initial sense of autonomy when they begin to explore their surroundings on their own and assert their desire to do as they please—a stage of development so frustrating to parents that it is often called "the terrible twos." The toddler who insists on saying "No!" and the young adolescent who insists on keeping her whereabouts secret are both demonstrating their growing sense of independence and autonomy. And just as psychologists see toddlers' oppositional behavior as normal, they also see adolescents' interest in privacy as normal, too—however frustrating that might be to parents - Although early childhood and adolescence are important periods for the development of autonomy, issues of autonomy are not resolved once and for all upon reaching young adulthood. Questions about being able to function independently arise whenever individuals find themselves in positions that demand a new degree of self-reliance. Following a divorce, someone who has depended on a spouse for economic support, guidance, or nurturance must find a way to function more independently. During late adulthood, autonomy may become a significant concern of someone who, after losing a spouse, suddenly finds it necessary to depend on others for assistance and support. - If establishing and maintaining a healthy sense of autonomy is a lifelong concern, why has it attracted so much attention among scholars interested in adolescence? When we look at the development of autonomy in relation to the biological, cognitive, and social changes of adolescence, it's easy to see why

Explain why there is (or is not) a gap between adolescents' moral thinking in hypothetical situations and adolescents' behavior in real-life situations

- Much of the growth in cognitive autonomy can be traced to the cognitive changes characteristic of the period. With adolescents' enhanced reasoning capabilities and the further development of hypothetical thinking come a heightened interest in ideological and philosophical matters and a more sophisticated way of looking at them. The ability to consider alternate possibilities and to engage in thinking about thinking allows for the exploration of differing value systems, political ideologies, personal ethics, and religious beliefs. - As adolescents begin to test the waters of independence behaviorally, they may experience a variety of cognitive conflicts caused by having to compare the advice of parents and friends and having to deal with competing pressures to behave in different ways. These conflicts may prompt young people to consider in more serious and thoughtful terms what they really believe. For example, during adolescence, individuals become increasingly likely to say that it is permissible to lie to one's parents about disobeying them when they think their parents' advice is immoral (for instance, if the parents had forbidden their teenager to date someone from another race) (S. A. Perkins & Turiel, 2007). This struggle to clarify values, provoked in part by the exercise of behavioral autonomy, is a key component of the process of developing a sense of cognitive autonomy. - Adolescents who are capable of reasoning at higher stages are less likely to commit antisocial acts, less likely to cheat, and less likely to bow to the pressures of others, as well as more tolerant, more likely to engage in political protests, more likely to volunteer their time, and more likely to assist others in need of help. They are also more likely to be influential over their friends in group decisions about moral problems (Gummerum, Keller, Takezawa, & Mata, 2008). Conversely, those who reason at lower stages of moral thought are more aggressive, delinquent, accepting of violence, and tolerant of others' misbehavior -

Understand the similarities in the changes that take place in how adolescents' think about moral, political, and religious issues

- Political thinking changes during adolescence in several important ways (Flanagan, 2004). First, it becomes more abstract. In response to the question "What is the purpose of laws?" for example, 12- and 13-year-olds are likely to reply with concrete answers—"So people don't kill or steal," "So people don't get hurt," and so on. Older adolescents are likely to respond with more abstract and more general statements—"To ensure safety and enforce the government" or "They are basically guidelines for people. I mean, like this is wrong and this is right and to help them understand" (Adelson, 1972, p. 108). Individuals' understanding of various rights— for example, their beliefs about whether children and adolescents have the right to have some control over their lives—also becomes more abstract with age (Ruck, Abramovitch, & Keating, 1998). With age, individuals are more likely to judge the appropriateness of having certain rights (e.g., freedom of speech) in light of characteristics of the individual (e.g., whether the individual is mature enough to act responsibly) and the context within which the right is expressed (e.g., whether the authority who is regulating speech is a parent or a government official) (Helwig, 1997; Tenenbaum & Ruck, 2012). There is strong support among adolescents for fundamental democratic principles such as representation and majority rule, even in countries whose governments do not operate on these principles (Helwig, Arnold, Tan, & Boyd, 2007; Smetana & Villalobos, 2009). - Second, political thinking during adolescence becomes less authoritarian and less rigid (Flanagan & Galay, 1995). Young adolescents are inclined toward obedience, authority, and an uncritical, trusting, and acquiescent stance toward government. For example, when asked what might be done in response to a law that is not working out as planned, an older teenager may suggest that the law needs to be reexamined and perhaps amended. - Finally, during late adolescence people often develop a roughly coherent and consistent set of attitudes—a sort of ideology—that does not appear before this point and that is based on a set of overarching principles. These principles may concern a wide range of issues, including civil liberties, freedom of speech, and social equality (Flanagan & Galay, 1995; Helwig, 1995). As is the case among adults, adolescents' views about political matters—the causes of unemployment, poverty, or homelessness, for example—are strongly linked to their social upbringing. Adolescents from higher social classes tend to attribute unemployment, poverty, and homelessness to societal factors ("People are poor because not everyone receives the same skills or training and encouragement when they are young"), whereas adolescents from lower-class backgrounds are more likely to attribute these problems to individual factors ("People are poor because they are lazy and don't want to work hard"). Socioeconomic differences in explanations of why some people are wealthy are not as striking, but they follow a similar pattern, with adolescents from lower-class backgrounds more likely to favor individual explanations ("People are rich because they stayed in school") than societal ones ("Some people are rich because they inherited money or a big business"). Adolescents' explanations of wealth tend to be more multifaceted than their explanations of poverty - As is the case with moral development, there often are gaps between adolescents' political thinking in hypothetical situations and their actual attitudes and behavior. The most important influence on the political behavior of young people tends to be the social context in which they grow up (Flanagan, 2004; Kirshner & Ginwright, 2012). This context includes both the immediate community and the larger social and historical environment. Minority adolescents, especially those living in environments in which there are limited economic opportunities, tend to be more cynical about politics than their White counterparts. - Religious beliefs, like moral and political beliefs, become more abstract, more principled, and more independent during adolescence. Beliefs become more oriented toward spiritual and ideological matters and less oriented toward rituals, practices, and the strict observance of religious customs. Although more than 90% of all American adolescents pray and 95% believe in God, a substantial proportion of young people say that organized religion does not play a very important role in their lives (Gallup & Bezilla, 1992; Holder et al., 2000; Wallace, Forman, Caldwell, & Willis, 2003). Compared with children, adolescents place more emphasis on the internal aspects of religious commitment (such as what an individual believes) and less on the external manifestations (such as whether an individual goes to church) (Lopez, Huynh, & Fuligni, 2011). Adolescence is an important time for "spiritual questioning, doubting, and creating" (P. King & Roeser, 2009, p. 447). There are enormous differences around the world in the extent to which adolescents say that God is important in their life -

Discuss patterns of involvement and individual differences in religious beliefs. Describe the differences between religiosity and spirituality and the impact of religious involvement during adolescence

- Studies of the development of religious beliefs indicate many parallels with the development of moral and political reasoning. During late adolescence, individuals enter into a stage in which they begin to form a system of personal religious beliefs, rather than relying solely on the teachings of their parents (P. King & Roeser, 2009), which is similar to adolescents' transition to principled moral reasoning or to the development in late adolescence of a coherent political ideology. Developments in all three domains—moral, political, and religious—reflect the underlying growth of cognitive abilities and the shift from concrete to abstract reasoning that characterizes the adolescent transition. This fundamental shift in cognitive ability affects adolescents' thinking across a wide variety of topics - Although both can be part of the process of psychosocial development, religiosity may be more important for identity development, since it involves the identification of oneself with a particular religious group and its practices and beliefs (not unlike identifying oneself with a particular ethnic group), whereas spirituality may be more closely linked to the development of cognitive autonomy, since it involves the development of a personal meaning system, self-awareness, and certain values. For most religious adolescents, religiosity and spirituality are deeply interconnected (D. C. French, Eisenberg, Vaughan, Purwono, & Suryanti, 2008). But there are substantial numbers of adolescents who practice religion without giving much thought to its spiritual aspects (for instance, adolescents who attend religious services each week or celebrate religious holidays either because their parents expect them to or because they enjoy the familiarity and routine of regular observance), as well as many who devote a great deal of time and energy to thinking about spiritual matters but who don't identify with an organized religion or practice customary religious rituals. - The stated importance of religion—and especially religiosity—declines during adolescence (Koenig, McGue, & Iacono, 2008). Compared with older adolescents, younger ones are more likely to attend church regularly and to state that religion is important to them (Wallace et al., 2003) (see Figure 10). The early years of college are a time when many individuals reexamine and reevaluate the beliefs and values they grew up with. For some, this involves a decline in regular participation in organized religious activities (perhaps because the college environment doesn't encourage this) but an increase in spirituality and religious faith (Lefkowitz, 2005). The religious context of the college environment plays an important role, though; religious commitment often becomes stronger among students who attend a college with a religious orientation - Although some parents interpret the adolescent decline in religiosity as indicating rebellion against the family's values, the development of religious thinking during late adolescence is better understood as part of the overall development of cognitive autonomy. As adolescents develop a stronger sense of independence, they may leave behind the unquestioning conventionality of their younger years as a first step toward finding a truly personal faith. Adolescents who continue to comply with their parents' religious beliefs without ever questioning them may actually be showing signs of immature conformity or identity foreclosure, not spiritual maturity. - There is more consistent evidence for the role that religion plays in preventing problem behavior than for its role in promoting positive development. Although studies show that religious adolescents are more involved in the community, more altruistic, and more prosocial, other research finds that rates of identity foreclosure are higher among religious adolescents - Some clues to the reasons that religious involvement may protect against involvement in problem behavior come from the finding that religiosity, rather than spirituality, is the stronger predictor of staying out of trouble (Good & Willoughby, 2014; Jang & Franzen, 2013; Kim-Spoon, Farley, Holms, Longo, & McCullough, 2014; Salas-Wright, Vaughn, Hodge, & Perron, 2012). Moreover, it does not appear to be attending religious services that matters—it is being a part of a community of individuals who share similar values and engage in similar activities (French, Christ, Lu, & Purwono, 2014; French, Purwono, & Rodkin, 2012). In one study of churchgoing rural youth, adolescents frequently mentioned participating in youth groups and the relationships they formed with youth group leaders as important influences on their behavior and development (M. Good & Willoughby, 2007). Seen in this light, the connection between religious participation and lower problem behavior is not surprising, since some of the strongest predictors of adolescents' involvement in sex, drugs, and delinquency are the behavior and attitudes of their peers.

Understand the influence of parenting practices and parenting styles on the development of adolescent autonomy

- Tense family relationships during adolescence indicate problems, not positive development. The adolescents who feel the most autonomous—those who are most likely to feel that they have been granted enough freedom by their parents—are not the ones who have severed relationships at home. In fact, just the opposite is true: Autonomous adolescents are close to their parents, enjoy doing things with them, have few conflicts with them, feel free to turn to them for advice, and say they would like to be like them (McElhaney et al., 2009; Qin & Pomerantz, 2013). Rebellion, negativism, and excessive involvement in the peer group are more common among psychologically immature adolescents than among mature ones (Steinberg, 1990). Even during college, students who live away from home (which is in its own way a type of autonomy)—as opposed to remaining in their parents' home and commuting to school—report more affection for their parents, better communication, and higher levels of satisfaction with the relationship (Holmbeck, Durbin, & Kung, 1995). In other words, strained family relationships appear to be associated with a lack of autonomy during adolescence, rather than with its presence - Adolescents whose parents are emotionally close to the point of being intrusive or overprotective—parentswho use a lot of psychological control—may have difficulty individuating from them, which may lead to depression, anxiety, aggression, and feelings of incompetence and dependence (Hare, Szwedo, Schad, & Allen, 2014; Kuppens, Laurent, Heyvart, & Onghena, 2013; Lansford, Laird, Pettit, Bates, & Dodge, 2014). In some families, adolescents respond to excessive parental control by actively rebelling - Independence, responsibility, and self-esteem are all fostered by parents who are authoritative (friendly, fair, and firm) rather than authoritarian (excessively harsh), indulgent (excessively lenient), or indifferent (aloof to the point of being neglectful). As a result, the development of emotional autonomy follows different patterns in different types of households - It is not difficult to see why the sort of give-and-take found in authoritative families is well suited to the healthy development of emotional autonomy. Because standards and guidelines are flexible and adequately explained, it is not hard for the family to adjust and modify them as the child matures (Smetana & Asquith, 1994). Gradual changes in family relations that permit the young person more independence and encourage more responsibility, but that do not threaten the emotional bond between parent and child—in other words, changes that promote increasing emotional autonomy—are relatively easy to make in a family that has been flexible all along (Vuchinich, Angeletti, & Gatherum, 1996). Plus, having a close relationship with one parent protects against the adverse effects of the other parent's psychological control - In authoritarian households, where rules are rigidly enforced and seldom explained, adjusting to adolescence is more difficult. Authoritarian parents see the child's emotional independence as rebellious or disrespectful, and they resist their adolescent's growing need for independence, rather than accepting it. Seeing that their daughter is becoming interested in boys, an authoritarian parent may implement a rigid curfew in order to restrict the teenager's social life. Authoritarian parents may inadvertently maintain the dependencies of childhood by failing to give their children sufficient practice in making decisions and being responsible for their actions. In essence, authoritarian parenting may interfere with adolescent individuation. - In both indulgent and indifferent families, a different sort of problem arises. These parents do not provide sufficient guidance for their children, and as a result, the youngsters do not acquire adequate standards for behavior. In the absence of parental guidance and rules, permissively reared teenagers often turn to their peers for advice and emotional support—a practice that can be problematic when the peers are themselves still young and inexperienced. Adolescents whose parents have failed to provide sufficient guidance are likely to become psychologically dependent on their friends—emotionally detached from their parents, perhaps, but not genuinely autonomous (Steinberg, 1990). The problems of parental permissiveness are exacerbated by a lack of closeness, as is the case in indifferent families. - healthy individuation is fostered by close (not distant) family relationships - closeness to parents promotes psychological health

Describe the development of emotional autonomy and the issues of detachment and individuation

- The relationship between children and their parents changes repeatedly over the life cycle. Changes in the expression of affection, the distribution of power, and patterns of verbal interaction, to give a few examples, are likely to occur whenever important transformations take place in the child's or parents' competencies, concerns, and social roles. - By the end of adolescence, people are far less emotionally dependent on their parents than they were as children. We can see this in several ways. First, older adolescents do not generally rush to their parents when they are upset, worried, or in need of assistance. Second, they do not see their parents as all-knowing or all-powerful. Third, they often have a great deal of emotional energy wrapped up in relationships outside the family; they may feel more attached to a boyfriend or girlfriend than to their parents. And finally, older adolescents are able to see and interact with their parents as people—not just as their parents. Many parents find that they can confide in their adolescent children, which was not possible when their children were younger, or that their adolescent children can sympathize with them when they have had a hard day at work. These sorts of changes in the adolescent-parent relationship all reflect the development of emotional autonomy - Early writings about emotional autonomy were influenced by psychoanalytic thinkers such as Anna Freud (1958), who argued that the physical changes of puberty cause disruption and conflict inside the family. Freud believed that intrapsychic conflicts that had been repressed since early childhood are reawakened at early adolescence by resurgent sexual impulses. (These conflicts revolve around the young child's unconscious attraction toward the parent of the other sex and ambivalent feelings toward the parent of the same sex.) The reawakened conflicts are expressed as increased tension, arguments, and discomfort in the family. As a consequence, early adolescents are driven to separate themselves from their parents emotionally, and they turn their emotional energies to relationships with peers—in particular, peers of the opposite sex. - As an alternative to the classic psychoanalytic perspective on adolescent detachment, some theorists have suggested that we view the development of emotional autonomy in terms of the adolescent's developing sense of individuation (Blos, 1967). Individuation, which begins during infancy and continues into late adolescence, involves a gradual, progressive sharpening of one's sense of self as autonomous, competent, and separate from one's parents. - Individuation does not involve stress and turmoil. Rather, it entails relinquishing childish dependencies on parents in favor of a more mature, more responsible, and less dependent relationship. Adolescents who establish a healthy sense of autonomy accept responsibility for their choices and actions. Rather than rebelling against her parents' midnight curfew by deliberately staying out later, a girl who has a healthy sense of individuation might take her parents aside before going out and say, "This party tonight is going to go later than midnight. If it does, I'd like to stay a bit longer. Why don't I call you at eleven and let you know when I'll be home?" de-idealization - my parents aren't perf non-dependency - i don't always go to my parent for help individuation - my parents don't know everything about me parents are people too - parents have lives/roles other than being parents. may act diff. in diff. roles

Understand the correlates and consequences of prosocial reasoning, prosocial behavior, and volunteerism. Be sure to include a discussion of adolescent civic engagement

- prosocial reasoning becomes more sophisticated - Although most research on the development of morality has focused on what adolescents do under circumstances in which a law might be broken or a rule violated, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to the study of reasoning and behavior in prosocial situations. In general, the ways in which individuals think about prosocial phenomena, such as honesty or kindness, become more sophisticated during late adolescence, just like their moral reasoning (Morris et al., 2011). Over the course of adolescence, individuals come to devalue prosocial acts that are done for self-serving reasons (to receive a reward, return a favor, or improve their image) and value those that are done out of genuine empathy, a pattern that has been observed across a variety of cultures (N. Eisenberg et al., 2009). During late adolescence, prosocial reasoning continues to become more advanced, leveling off sometime in the early 20s (N. Eisenberg, Cumberland, Guthrie, Murphy, & Shepard, 2005). Some research connects these changes in reasoning to developments in regions of the brain that govern our ability to look at things from other people's perspectives - Generally, the same type of parenting that facilitates the growth of healthy emotional autonomy also contributes to the development of moral and prosocial reasoning. Adolescents whose parents engage them in discussion, elicit their point of view, and practice authoritative parenting display more advanced reasoning than their peers (N. Eisenberg et al., 2009; Padilla-Walker, Carlo, Christensen, & Yorgason, 2012; Recchia, Wainryb, Bourne, & Pasupathi, 2014). It appears that this type of parenting makes adolescents more likely to feel sympathy toward others, which in turn prompts prosocial behavior (Eisenberg, VanSchyndel, & Hofer, 2015; Shen, Carlo, & Knight, 2013). Growing up in a home that stresses familism (the importance of fulfilling one's obligations to the family) leads adolescents to become more prosocial toward others (Knight, Carlo, Basillo, & Jacobson, 2014). In addition, positive parenting helps facilitate the development of empathy and emotion regulation, both of which contribute to prosocial development - Adolescents who show more advanced prosocial reasoning and who place a high value on prosocial behavior behave in ways that are consistent with this (Hardy, Carlo, & Roesch, 2010). Adolescents who have volunteered considerable amounts of time in service activities score higher on measures of moral reasoning than their peers, are more committed to the betterment of society, and, as children, were made aware of the suffering of those who are less fortunate (Hart & Fegley, 1995; Matsuba & Walker, 2005; Yates & Youniss, 1996). Individuals who score high on measures of prosocial moral reasoning also have been shown to be more sympathetic and empathic (N. Eisenberg, Carlo, Murphy, & Van Court, 1995), to engage in more prosocial behavior (N. Eisenberg, Zhou, & Koller, 2001), and to be less likely to behave violently after having witnessed violence themselves (Brookmeyer, Henrich, & Schwab-Stone, 2005). In general, female adolescents score higher on measures of prosocial moral reasoning than do male adolescents, as do both males and females who are relatively more feminine - One of the most obvious ways in which adolescents can demonstrate prosocial behavior is through various types of civic engagement (Flanagan & Wray-Lake, 2011; Sherrod & Lauckhardt, 2009). Civic Engagement is a broad term for a category of activities that reflect involvement in political and community affairs, including staying knowledgeable about politics and current affairs, participating in conventional political activities (e.g., contacting a political representative about an issue, campaigning for a candidate, or voting in an election), participating in alternative political activities (e.g., being part of a demonstration or a boycott), and engaging in community service. - Volunteering in community service activities, sometimes referred to as service learning, is more common in the United States than in most other countries. Researchers have been interested in both the antecedents of volunteering (what leads adolescents to become involved in volunteer activities) and its consequences (how adolescents are affected by volunteering). Several conclusions have emerged from this work. First, apart from attending a school in which some sort of community service is required, the best predictors of volunteerism in adolescence are being actively involved in religion (most probably because many volunteer activities are organized through religious institutions) and having parents who are active as volunteers in the community (Lenzi, Vieno, Santinello, Nation, & Voight, 2014; van Goethem, van Hoof, van Aken, de Castro, & Raaijmakers, 2014). Volunteers also tend to be female, more socially mature, more extraverted, and more altruistic - During the past several decades, many school districts began requiring, or considering requiring, community service of all students. This suggestion has been met with both praise and criticism. Proponents argue that service activities help develop concern for the community and facilitate adolescents' prosocial development. Opponents counter that forcing adolescents to do something they don't want to do will make them even more negative about community service and less likely to volunteer at later ages. Some worry that turning an activity that adolescents may want to do into a school requirement makes the activity less intrinsically rewarding. Several studies have compared students who have volunteered for community service with those who have had it forced on them. It does not seem that requiring community service makes students develop negative attitudes about volunteering, regardless of whether they had been volunteers previously. But the evidence is mixed with regard to whether the effects are different between adolescents who willingly participate and those who do it only because it is a requirement. Some studies find that participating in community service activities has positive effects regardless of whether the participation is voluntary or required (Hart et al., 2007; J. Schmidt, Shumow, & Kackar, 2007), but others do not (Horn, 2011), and still others find that participation has little effect regardless of whether it is mandatory or voluntary

Identify and define the three types of autonomy

1. emotional autonomy: that aspect of independence related to changes in the individual's close relationships, especially with parents 2. behavioral autonomy: the capacity to make independent decisions and follow through on them 3. cognitive autonomy: which involves having independent values, opinions, and beliefs

Describe the changes in the two important domains of behavioral autonomy: decision-making abilities and susceptibility to the influence of others

Changes in decision-making abilities - The more sophisticated reasoning processes used by adolescents permit them to hold multiple viewpoints in mind simultaneously, allowing them to compare people's different perspectives, which is crucial for weighing the opinions and advice of others. Because adolescents are better able than children to think in hypothetical terms, they also are more likely to contemplate the long-term consequences of each choice. Moreover, the enhanced role-taking capabilities of adolescence permit teenagers to consider another person's opinion while taking into account that person's point of view. This is important in determining whether someone who has given advice has special areas of expertise, particular biases, or vested interests that the teenager should keep in mind. Taken together, these cognitive changes result in improved decision-making skills and, consequently, in the individual's enhanced ability to behave independently. - Many studies have documented important improvements in decision-making abilities during middle and late adolescence that are linked to gains in self-regulation (Christakopu, 2014). With age, adolescents become more likely to consider both the risks and benefits associated with the decisions they make and more likely to weigh the long-term consequences of their choices, not just the immediate ones (Crone & van der Molen, 2007; Steinberg, Graham et al., 2009). Across many different cultural contexts, strong self-regulation is one of the most robust predictors of success in life, whereas weak self-regulation is linked to all sorts of emotional and behavioral problems - During early adolescence, individuals are much more drawn to the potential benefits of a decision than the potential costs. As they mature, the relative balance of reward and cost changes, so that by late adolescence, these factors are weighed about evenly (Cauffman et al., 2010). Psychologists have now mapped this development onto changes in patterns of brain activation, showing that the regions of the brain that are especially sensitive to reward are more intensely activated during early and middle adolescence than childhood or adulthood, especially when rewards are being anticipated, as they might be when adolescents are thinking about how much fun they are going to have before they head out for an evening (Galvan, 2013; Van Leijenhorst, Zanolie et al., 2010). Some of the heightened "reward sensitivity" seen among adolescents is not even conscious (Cauffman et al., 2010). Adolescents are just as consciously aware as adults of the potential rewards and costs of a decision—they are just influenced more by the anticipated rewards - Not only are younger adolescents more drawn to rewards than are adults, but they also seem especially drawn to immediate rewards (Steinberg, 2008). Consider the following question: Would you rather have $200 tomorrow or $1,000 a year from now? How about $600 tomorrow versus $1,000 a year from now? Individuals who are willing to settle for a smaller amount in order to get it sooner are more drawn to immediate rewards. Figure 2 shows the amount of money individuals of different ages would settle for if they received it tomorrow rather than waiting a year (Steinberg, Graham et al., 2009). As you can see, preadolescents and early adolescents are much more willing to settle for less, as long as they can get it sooner. - A second influence on changes in decision making concerns individuals' ability to control their impulses (Steinberg, Albert et al., 2008; van Duijvenvoorde, Jansen, Bredman, & Huizenga, 2012; Weiser & Reynolds, 2011). Regions of the brain that govern self-regulation are still developing during adolescence and early adulthood, as are connections between brain regions that control impulses and those that respond to rewards (Luna, Paulsen, Padmanabhan, & Geier, 2013; Peper et al., 2013; van den Bos, Rodriguez, Schweitzer, & McClure, 2015). This improvement in self-control has important implications for decision making. With age, individuals are better at thinking ahead, imagining and analyzing the consequences of their decisions, seeking and evaluating the advice of others, and making decisions that aren't hasty or excessively influenced by their emotions (Munakata, Snyder, & Chatham, 2012). The combination of heightened reward sensitivity and immature impulse control may lead adolescents to make a lot of risky—even dangerous—decisions. Some writers have suggested that one way to diminish adolescent risk taking is to encourage them to do things like mindfulness meditation, which has been shown to increase self regulation

Describe Kohlberg's theory of moral development and its relation to Piaget's theory of cognitive development

What is it? - thinking about moral issues - behavior in situations calling for moral judgements - prosocial behavior theory - dominant theoretical viewpoint in that of Kohlberg - researchers assess individuals' moral reasoning by examining their responses to hypothetical dilemmas about difficult real-world situations - moral reasoning becomes pore principled over the course of childhood and adolescence - post conventional reasoning is relatively rare 3 LEVELS OF MORAL REASONING 1. preconvetional moral reasoning: worrying about punishment/reward 2. conventional moral reasoning: following societal rules and norms 3. postconvetional moral reasoning: most abstract and advanced - The dominant theoretical viewpoint in the study of moral reasoning is grounded in Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Theories of morality that stem from this viewpoint emphasize shifts in the type of reasoning that individuals use in making moral decisions, rather than changes in the content of the decisions they reach or the actions they take as a result

prosocial behavior

behaviors intended to help others

detachment

in psychoanalytic theory, the process through which adolescents sever emotional attachments to their parents or other authority figures

civic engagement

involvement in political and community affairs, as reflected in knowledge about politics and current affairs, participation in conventional and alternative political activities, and engaging in community service

psychological control

parenting that attempts to control the adolescent's emotions and opinions

moral disengagement

rationalizing immoral behavior as legitimatie, as a way of justifying one's own bad acts

behavioral autonomy

the capacity to make independent decisions and to follow through with them

religiosity

the degree to which one engages in religious practices, like attending services

spirituality

the degree to which one places importance on the quest for answers to questions about God and the meaning of life

cognitive autonomy

the establishment of an independent set of values, opinions, and beliefs

emotional autonomy

the establishment of more adultlike and less childish close relationships with family members and peers

preconventional moral reasoning

the first level of moral reasoning, which is typical of children and is characterized by reasoning that is based on rewards and punishments associated with different courses of action ?

postconventional moral reasoning

the level of moral reasoning during which society's rules and conventions are seen as relative and subjective rather than as authoritative; also called principled moral reasoning

service learning

the process of learning through involvement in community service

individuation

the progressive sharpening of an individual's sense of being an autonomous, independent person

conventional moral reasoning

the second level of moral development, which occurs during late childhood and early adolescence and is characterized by reasoning that is based on the rules and conventions of society