This document discusses social development during adolescence, including rites of passage, social roles, personality development, temperament, and moral development. It covers formal and informal rites of passage, different social roles adolescents take on, psychoanalytic and trait theories of personality, how temperament is influenced by both genetics and environment, and theories of moral development from Piaget, Kohlberg, Gilligan, and social learning perspectives.

1. Social Development during
Adolescence
Chapter 4

2. Social Development and Rites of Passage
• Formal Rites of Passage
– Religious (Bar/Bat Mitzvah; Confirmation; Walk-
About)
– Academic (Transition in Schooling; Graduation)
• Informal Rites of Passage
– Drivers’ License
– Social Clubs
– What others?????
• What functions do rites of passage serve?

3. Social Roles
• Contexts of Roles
– Family Roles
– Friendship Roles
– School/Student Roles
– Employee
• Role Conflicts
– Within Context
– Across Contexts

4. Personality Development
• Psychoanalytic Theories:
– Largely driven by unconscious forces
– Largely formed by childhood
– Neuroscientific evidence suggests that some of
our drives may be outside our conscious
awareness
• Problems with Psychoanalytic Theory
– Explanations occur in hindsight
– Traumatic events across the lifespan can bring
about change in personality

5. Personality Development
• Trait Theory—The Big Five
– Trait: Relatively stable over time with some
variability
• Openness to experience
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
– Traits tend to be relatively stable across
adolescence

6. Personality Development
• Trait Theory (cont’d)
– South, Krueger, Johnson & Iacono (2008)
• The contribution of genetic and environmental forces
varied as a result of the adolescent’s personality and
parent interaction;
• The genetic-environment interaction is complex and
varies according to multiple factors

7. Temperament
• Temperament:
– Patterns of arousal and emotionality that are
consistent and enduring (Feldman, 2008, 122)
• Activity level
• Irritability level
– Strong genetic component
– Frequently observable in neonates
– Impact of temperament can be moderated by
environmental forces (e.g. parental reactions,
peers’ reactions)

8. Moral Development
• Piaget—Understanding rules & intent
– Heteronomous morality
• Rigid rules with no necessary agreement on rules
• Little or no focus on intent
– Incipient cooperation:
• Rigid rules, but shared understanding
• Some focus on intent based on rules
– Autonomous cooperation:
• Rules exist
• Rules can be changed by participants
• Intent is considered

9. Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s Theory
– Moral reasoning: Process of making a judgment,
not the judgment itself is the object of study
– Tied to cognitive development and experience
– Assessment is based on moral dilemmas and the
reasoning one uses to resolve them
– Based on Levels and Stages of reasoning

10. Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s Theory
– Level 1: Preconventional
• Self-serving interests
• Focus is on outcomes for the individual
– Stage 1: Rules followed to avoid punishment;
morality is based on decisions that will avoid
negative outcomes
– Stage 2: Transition from avoiding negative to
seeking benefit or reward

11. Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s Theory
– Level 2: Conventional
• Moral decisions are based on societal rules and
conventions for being accepted as good members of
society
– Stage 3: Moral decisions are made in order to
manage others’ impressions and maintain their
respect;
– Stage 4: Moral decisions are made to comply with
rule of law and societal rules

12. Moral Development
• Kohlberg’s Theory
– Level 3: Postconventional
• Moral reasoning at this level transcends specific
societal or personal rationales and moves to a broader
set of principles that transcend time and context
– Stage 5: Reasoning here is based on a sense of
what is right; rules and laws are seen as malleable
based on social contracts
– Stage 6: Decisions are based on universal principles
that transcend time and context; Rules or Laws that
violate these principles are not obeyed

13. Moral Development
• Gilligan’s Moral Development:
– Kohlberg’s model was based on a masculine/male
perspective of justice
– Feminine approach would be based on
relationships and care (the ethic of care)
– Gender role may be more important than
biological sex

14. Moral Development
• Gilligan’s Moral Development:
– Stage 1: Self-Care from Need: Orientation toward
individual survival
– Stage 2: Other-Care from Need: Sacrifice self for
others’ needs
– Stage 3: Self-Other Care from Need: Recognize the
value in working to balance costs and benefits for
all concerned
• Research has demonstrated that both
Kohlberg’s ideas and Gilligan’s ideas work for
both sexes

15. Moral Development
• Social Learning Models of Moral Development
– Modeling moral behavior (e.g. observing a coach
reinforcing winning at any cost; observing a
teacher rewarding one of your friends for helping
a special needs student)
– Model Characteristics:
• Well respected
• Viewed as competent
• Seen as similar to the observer

16. Moral Development
• Moral reasoning VS Moral Behavior
– Evaluation of moral reasoning takes place out of
context
– Moral behavior is typically contextualized and brings
emotional loading
– Adolescents are vulnerable to peer pressure and
influence hence the context can sway decisions to act
even in the face of high levels of moral reasoning
– Perceived negative outcomes (costs) can be see as
being outweighed by positive outcomes (benefits)
– Personal fable and imaginary audience