Hi! Thanks for another question.
Before providing a rating, please ask for clarification if you will
need further assistance in the answers I have provided.
Here are different articles and theories discussing the concept of
conformity in the adolescent years. And yes it seems that most of them
are in agreement that people tend to conform during their teenage
years.
Preschool Age:
- ?During this period, a child's thinking is extremely self-centered.
Children see the world only from their own perspective, focusing on
themselves and having difficulty understanding other points of view.?
6 to 12 yr. old children:
- ?Children are becoming so "worldly" they typically test their
growing knowledge with back talk and rebellion.?
- ?Children act nurturing and commanding with younger children but
follow and depend on older children.?
- ?Children are beginning to see the point of view of others more clearly.?
- ?Children often resolve conflict through peer judges who accept or
reject their actions.?
- ?Children are self-conscious and feel as if everyone notices even
small differences (new hair cut, facial hair, a hug in public from a
parent)?
- ?Inner control is being formed and practiced each time decisions are made?
Teenagers:
- ?Early adolescence is also a period of intense conformity to peers.
?Getting along,? not being different, and being accepted seem somehow
pressing to the early adolescent. The worst possibility, from the view
of the early adolescent, is to be seen by peers as ?different.?"
- ?Although peers still play an important role in the life of middle
adolescents, they are increasingly self-directed. Their concerns about
peers are more directed toward their opposite sexed peers.?
- ?Late adolescents attempt to crystallize their vocational goals and
to establish sense of personal identity. Their needs for peer approval
are diminished and they are largely psychologically independent from
their parents.?
?Basics in Child Development? by Karen DeBord, Child Development &
Parenting Specialist and Members of the CEMP 09 Planning Team
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/smp9/parent_education/child_development.htm
----------------------------------
Ages 6 to 8: Self-centered and willing to please adults.
Ages 9-11: Continues to be self-centered but is now having a tendency
to ?go with the crowd?
Age 12 to 14: Great desire for conformity with a group and is very
sensitive of what others think of him or her.
Ages 15-19: Beginning to balance his or her desire to belong to a
group and personal individuality.
?Understanding and Working With Youth?
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/famsci/he484w.htm
-----------------------------
Ages 8 -11:
- ?Often relatively low level of concern about physical appearance
(especially boys), although this is influenced by peers as well as the
media.?
- ?Many boys experience pressure to conform to "masculine" stereotype.?
Ages 11-14:
- ?With the onset of puberty, many girls experience pressure to
conform to gender stereotypes, might show less interest in math and
science.?
- ?Might develop cliques of three to six friends (usually same
gender), providing greater sense of security. Antisocial cliques can
increase antisocial behaviors.?
Ages 15-18:
- ?Antisocial peer groups can increase antisocial behaviors.?
- ?Close friendships help youth with process of developing an
individual identity separate from that of a child in a family.?
?Adolescence?
http://www.focusas.com/Adolescence.htm
-----------------------------
?Stark explains at some length how social controls vary by age. When
we are young we are closely bound (most us anyway) to our families and
our behavior is controlled by this connection. As we age, we begin to
develop our freedom and move toward independence. In this process the
bonds connecting us to the local community may be considerably
weakened and we are able to 'deviate' more or less freely from the
standards set forth by our parent's community.?
?However, as we grow older we gradually pick up more 'baggage,'
connections to the existing social order. These informal connections
become a powerful source of social control that keeps us conforming to
the the expectations of the community in which we live.?
?Deviance, Conformity and Social Control?
http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/sociology/introsoc/CUOnlineRevise/UnitNotes/week05.html
------------------------------
Erikson's Stages of Development
- ?The second psychosocial crisis, Erikson believes, occurs during
early childhood, probably between about 18 months or 2 years and 3½ to
4 years of age. The "well - parented" child emerges from this stage
sure of himself, elated with his new found control, and proud rather
than ashamed.?
- ?Erikson believes that the fourth psychosocial crisis is handled,
for better or worse, during what he calls the "school age," presumably
up to and possibly including some of junior high school. Here the
child learns to master the more formal skills of life: (1) relating
with peers according to rules (2) progressing from free play to play
that may be elaborately structured by rules and may demand formal
teamwork, such as baseball and (3) mastering social studies, reading,
arithmetic.?
- ?During the fifth psychosocial crisis (adolescence, from about 13 or
14 to about 20) the child, now an adolescent, learns how to answer
satisfactorily and happily the question of "Who am I?" But even the
best - adjusted of adolescents experiences some role identity
diffusion: most boys and probably most girls experiment with minor
delinquency; rebellion flourishes; self - doubts flood the youngster,
and so on.?
?Stages of Social-Emotional Development In Children and Teenagers.?
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/erickson.shtml
Search terms used:
age child teens adults social conformity conforming study studies
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
Thanks for visiting us.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
