Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Adolescence 8th edition By Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D. Chapter Nine: Autonomy Insert Textbook Photo

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Chapter 9 Overview  Why is autonomy development an adolescent issue?  How does emotional autonomy develop?  How do parenting styles influence this?  How does behavioral autonomy develop?  How does value autonomy develop?  What are the major theories of moral development?  How do political and religious beliefs change during adolescence?

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 What is Autonomy?  Independence  An individual’s capacity to behave on his or her own  Autonomy  Emotional components (feeling separate from parents)  Behavioral components (the growth of independent decision making)  Cognitive components (developing personal beliefs and values)

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Autonomy Development in Modern Society  Today’s teens spend much more time away from the direct supervision of adults than prior generations  But today’s teens also have become more economically reliant on their families than prior generations Insert Photo from DAL

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Why Is Autonomy an Adolescent Issue?  Erik Erikson’s Theory  Autonomy is the central issue of toddlerhood  Identity is the central issue of adolescence  However, early adolescence is another period of growing independence and autonomy  Establishing healthy sense of autonomy is actually a lifelong process

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Three Types of Autonomy  Emotional Autonomy  Gaining emotional independence in relationships with others, especially parents  Behavioral Autonomy  Making independent decisions and following through on them  Value Autonomy  Developing an independent set of beliefs and principles, resisting peer and parental pressures

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Development of Emotional Autonomy Psychoanalytic Theory: Anna Freud  Physical changes of puberty disrupt family system  Resurgence of sexual impulses increase family tensions  Detachment:  Adolescents are driven to separate emotionally from parents  Conflict is normal part of detachment in adolescence

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Development of Emotional Autonomy Modern Theories: Individuation  Process of individuation begins during infancy  Does not involve stress or turmoil  Acceptance of responsibility for choices and actions Measure emotional autonomy by examining:  Extent to which teens deidealize parents  Extent to which teens see parents as people  Nondependency (the extent to which adolescents depend on themselves, rather than on parents)  Extent to which the adolescent feels individuated within the relationship with his/her parents

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Development of Emotional Autonomy  What triggers individuation?  Changes in teen’s appearance provoke changes in how teen views self and how parents view teen. This alters parent- adolescent interactions  Social-cognitive development stimulates movement toward individuation

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Age differences in four aspects of emotional autonomy

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Development of Emotional Autonomy  Emotional Autonomy and Parenting Practices  Healthy individuation and positive mental health are fostered by close, not distant, family relationships  Conditions that encourage both individuation and emotional closeness facilitate autonomy Insert DAL photo

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Development of Behavioral Autonomy  Changes in Decision- Making Abilities  How do decision making abilities improve from 7th to 12th grade?  Older adolescents showed more sophisticated abilities in:  awareness of risks  considering future consequences  turning to a consultant  recognizing vested interests

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Development of Behavioral Autonomy  Changes in susceptibility to influence  Conformity to peers is higher during early and middle adolescence  Parents are more influential regarding long-term issues, basic values  Peers’ opinions are more influential for day-to-day matters (music tastes or clothing style)

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Development of Behavioral Autonomy  Adolescents whose parents are authoritarian or permissive are most easily influenced by peers, especially in antisocial situations  Adolescents from authoritative homes are less susceptible to antisocial peer pressure but more so to positive peers

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Development of Behavioral Autonomy Changes in Feelings of Self-Reliance  Adolescent girls report feeling more self- reliant than adolescent boys do  Adolescents who have a stronger sense of self-reliance report having  higher self-esteem  fewer behavior problems

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 The Development of Value Autonomy  Moral Reasoning Development  How individuals think about moral dilemmas and make moral judgments  Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory  Used morally challenging stories (Heinz)  More interested in the reasoning behind people’s explanations than whether the answer was right or wrong

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 The Development of Value Autonomy KOHLBERG’S THREE LEVELS OF MORAL REASONING Preconventional Moral Reasoning (worrying about punishment/reward) Conventional Moral Reasoning (following societal rules and norms) Postconventional Moral Reasoning (most abstract and advanced)

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 The Development of Value Autonomy  Moral Development during Adolescence  Research has shown that moral behavior does not always match moral reasoning  Contextual factors influence how a person acts when facing moral dilemmas in the real world  Carol Gilligan  Argues against Kohlberg, says his theory is gender- biased  Women may use a care orientation to moral dilemmas  Men may use a justice orientation  However, research does not support Gilligan’s argument

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 The Development of Value Autonomy  Prosocial Reasoning, Behavior, and Volunteerism:  Prosocial behavior (helping others)  Prosocial reasoning becomes more sophisticated  But changes in actual prosocial behavior, such as helping others or empathizing with others, are not consistently found in adolescence  Involvement in community service leads to  Gains in social responsibility  Gains in tolerance  Increases in the importance that individuals place on the importance of helping others

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 The Development of Value Autonomy Political Thinking  Becomes more abstract  Becomes less authoritarian and less rigid  Becomes more principled (an increase in a consistent set of attitudes; an ideology)

Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 The Development of Value Autonomy Religious Beliefs  Become more abstract, more principled, and more independent during the adolescent years  The stated importance of religion—and participation in an organized religion— declines somewhat during the adolescent years