10.2: Emotional and Self-Development in Adolescence

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the course of emotional development during adolescence
• Discuss the development of self-regulation and emotional intelligence in adolescence
• Describe the development of self-concept and self-esteem in adolescence
• Explain the relevance of body image in adolescence

The alarm sounds early on fifteen-year-old Kenji’s school days. After dressing and eating breakfast, he practices twenty minutes of meditation each morning. Meditation helps clear his mind and focus his energy and emotions. Today he is especially stressed because he has exams in two classes and a paper due in another. As he enters school, Kenji joins friends exchanging fist bumps. During lunch, two of his tablemates start teasing the girl sitting alone at the end of the table. Kenji weighs saying something to them or moving to a different table to avoid trouble. He decides to move. The end of the school day brings a sense of relief, although several hours of homework await. Once home, he grabs a few rice balls and a piece of candy for a snack, and retreats to his room to scroll through social media for a bit on his phone. Kenji’s day is not only busy but full of different motivational states, opportunities for self-regulation, and emotions.

Emotions are the result of a complex set of cognitive, physiological, behavioral, and environmental components and interactions (Ekman et al., 1972, Scherer, 1997). They often motivate behavior, so it’s not surprising that they play a prominent role in adolescent experience. They are important as teens develop an understanding of themselves, including their developing emotional intelligence, self-concept, and self-esteem, and their increased ability to self-regulate.

Emotional Intelligence

For many, adolescence is a time when the social world expands significantly. Not only do teens spend more time outside the home, both in school and at after-school activities, but their new reasoning capabilities, fueled by physical brain developments, make interacting with peers and non family adults a central means of development. They learn to recognize and understand their own emotions, including their triggers, strengths, and weaknesses, and they begin achieving self-awareness. They learn to control impulses, manage stress, and adapt to changing circumstances with the developing skill of self-regulation. They are on their way to achieving emotional intelligence (EI), the ability to recognize their own and others’ emotional states and feelings, to regulate emotions, and to remain motivated (Goleman, 1998).

Emotionally intelligent individuals can also express their emotions, convey empathy, and maintain their psychological, social, and emotional well-being (Alina et al., 2021). Through social interactions, adolescents learn to express their emotions in appropriate verbal and nonverbal ways. These communication skills in turn help them grow increasingly adept at resolving conflicts and establishing healthy boundaries in their relationships. And emotional intelligence allows adolescents to use emotions as valuable information for problem-solving with rationality and flexibility.

Parents can also help foster emotional intelligence. In particular, the authoritative parenting style has shown a positive relationship with the development of emotional intelligence; while the authoritarian style has been linked with lower emotional intelligence in adolescents (Nastas & Sala, 2012; Nguyen et al., 2020). Recall that authoritative parents are sensitive to their child’s daily needs and emotional states, actively encourage them to express themselves, and help them work through emotional, motivational, and social challenges. These behaviors model the use of emotional intelligence (Reyes-Wapano, 2021).

Emotional intelligence also has long-lasting benefits. Adolescents with high EI have stronger academic performance, are less likely to experience school burnout, have a deeper sense of life satisfaction overall, and tend to view themselves as having the coping skills and capabilities needed to overcome adversity (Collado-Soler, et al., 2023). Next, we’ll look at self-regulation more specifically.

Self-Regulation

The major developments in the frontal lobe and limbic system during adolescence support the growing ability to exert self-regulation, the ability to manage and control behavior and emotions without outside assistance (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000; McClelland et al., 2017). This skill allows us to change or inhibit certain thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to achieve better outcomes (Baumeister & Alquist, 2009; Moilanen et al., 2015). Related abilities include task persistence, delayed gratification, self-monitoring, self-reward for progress, management of frustration and distress, and the capacity to seek help when needed (Murray & Rosanbalm, 2017) (Figure 10.5).

Figure 10.5 (a) Climate activist Greta Thunberg and (b) advocate for female education Malala Yousafzai became activists as teens and have demonstrated persistence in those activities into adulthood. (credit a: modification of work “Greta Thunberg, March 2020 (cropped)” by © European Union 2020 – Source: EP/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; credit b: modification of work “Malala Yousafzai” by Southbank Centre/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Self-regulation increases steadily across adolescence, shaped in part by parental and peer influences (Farley & Kim-Spoon, 2014). Caregivers regulate a child’s behavior and provide an initial set of expectations and guidance. As an adolescent develops and exhibits self-control, caregivers can reduce the amount of explicit regulation support they provide. A good-quality parent-adolescent relationship predicts good self-regulatory skills in the developing teen. However, this influence can work both ways, and a teen having difficulty regulating their emotions or behaviors will likely contribute to a difficult parent-teen relationship. Caregivers can model many of the same emotion regulation and self-regulation techniques you’ve learned about to help adolescents improve their own regulation skills. However, they can also begin to reduce their support while offering helpful reminders of emotion-regulation tools when frustration levels seem too high (Murray & Rosanbalm, 2017). For example, if a teen seems frustrated with a challenging homework assignment and is about to give up, a caregiver might remind them of the value of taking a short break, eating a snack, and then breaking the homework down into smaller steps.

Positive peer relationships are also an important predictor for, and outcome of, good self-regulation skills, including emotional self-regulation. This influence also goes both ways. Teens who exhibit strong self-regulation skills have been found to form caring, close friendships with peers. In turn, these close peer relations can help to support and reinforce self-regulation (Scholte & Van Aken, 2006; Meldrum & Hay, 2012).

Self-Concept and Self-Esteem

Our self-concept is the mental image or representation we have of ourselves, the cognitive portion of identity. During adolescence, it goes beyond the tangible descriptions of middle childhood (like “dog lover” or “middle child”) to encompass abstract qualities like “fair” and “loyal.” Teens develop their self-concept by comparing their qualities with others’ characteristics and abilities (Harter, 2006). For example, a fifteen-year-old might pride herself on being “trustworthy” and “hard working.” She judges herself to be as trustworthy as her best friend; she believes she works far harder than most peers in her classes.

The dimensions of the self-concept, as outlined by Harter (1983), are scholastic competence, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and self-acceptance. By the end of adolescence, they have been built into a coherent whole that informs an overall identity. Longitudinal research on children suggests self-concept is relatively stable from middle childhood to middle adolescence (Kuzucu, et al., 2014), which may be a result of peer perception and niche-picking. For example, once a ten-year-old demonstrates athletic prowess, peers will likely continue to react to this by encouraging the child to join their team during athletic games, reinforcing this part of the self-concept (peer perception). Likewise, someone who discovers they are good at a skill or activity will likely seek situations that support it (niche-picking). Encouraging adolescents to try out new opportunities can help them to discover new interests, skills, and parts of their self-concept.

If self-concept is the cognitive understanding of our self, self-esteem is the motivational and emotional piece (Harter & Whitesell, 2003). Numerous studies have found a link between low self-esteem and risks of developing depression (Masselink et al., 2018; Nelis & Bukowski, 2019). Adolescents with low self-esteem have been found to have a smaller group of friends who can offer social support, and to show social adjustment problems (Marshall et al., 2014).

Overall, however, self-esteem rises over the course of adolescence, and the factors most likely to predict positive self-esteem at a later age include positive parental relationships, healthy physical activity, and positive body image (Birkeland et al., 2012). No clear sex differences in average levels of self-esteem have been reported (Masselink et al., 2017). Healthy self-esteem and a sense of mastery can be enhanced by practicing strategies like mindfulness and self-compassion (Marshall et al., 2015). Positive reinforcement, supportive feedback, and encouragement of self-discovery and physical activity can also help.

Body Image

Physical appearance is one of the main dimensions of self-concept. Our mental image or representation of our body is our body image and is closely related to self-esteem. Given the rapid physical development of adolescence, and the social environment’s ever-changing response to these developments, body image becomes a major psychological feature of the adolescent experience (Figure 10.6). If someone’s body image is healthy, their mental representation of their body size and shape is healthy and positive. An unhealthy body image is just the opposite: the person’s view of their body does not match objective reality and contains negative self-evaluations (Engeln, 2017; Voelker et al., 2015).

Figure 10.6 Beginning new body care rituals, like (a) shaving or (b) using cosmetics, can be common ways adolescents attempt to fit in, maintain a certain body image, or work to develop a body image that matches their new life stage. (credit a: modification of work “Brotherly Supervision” by Alan Antiporda/Flickr, CC BY 2.0; credit b: modification of work “A Look in the Mirror” by “Hamner_Fotos”/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

All adolescents are susceptible to the development of an unhealthy body image. The timing of puberty is particularly influential to this because cultural ideals for physical beauty can heighten a teen’s sense of being on time or off-track for physical development relative to peers and cultural expectations. For early-maturing adolescent females in the United States, for example, breast and hip development may differ from beauty standards of a thin or athletic body shape (Lee & Styne, 2013; Uhlmann et al., 2018). For both adolescent males and females, early maturation is linked to a variety of negative psychological, social, and health outcomes (Hoyt et al., 2020). This includes being more likely to engage in risky health behaviors like experimenting with drugs and higher risks of depressive symptoms both in adolescence and in young adulthood.

Research on teen body image highlights the interplay among media exposure, cultural values, and individual factors shaping body image perceptions in different racial and ethnic groups. For instance, among Latina girls living in the United States, frequent viewing of mainstream television is linked to decreased body satisfaction, while viewing of Black-oriented television improves body satisfaction for Latina girls who have adopted more U.S. cultural beliefs (Schooler, 2008). Black adolescent girls’ exposure to stereotypical media images of Black women predicted more negative interpretations and impacts of these images, particularly when racial identity was low (Jean et al., 2022). This may indicate that having a strong racial identity may protect some adolescents from the harmful influences of negative media images on body image. Asian American girls’ body image perceptions are influenced by both mainstream White culture and Asian culture, which can lead to disordered eating and a lower likelihood of receiving treatment for eating disorders (Javier et al., 2019). In a study of Chinese teenagers, girls were generally more unhappy with their gender and physical appearance, while boys were more unhappy with their sexual organs (Zhang et al., 2020). Overall, many contextual influences and individual differences interact to shape an adolescent’s body image.

Link to Learning

Watch this clip to learn more about a school in East London is the first to start lessons using a Body Confidence Campaign Toolkit to help schoolchildren develop healthy confidence in their bodies.

Information that contributes to adolescents’ body image comes from peers, family members, television and movies, advertisements, and social media. The Surgeon General of the United States recently published an advisory for parents, educators, and practitioners warning of the dangers of social media use by adolescents (Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2023). It notes a particular concern for adolescent girls, citing an increase in the risk for developing a negative body image and eating disorders (Holland & Tiggemann, 2016). Parents’ words, attitudes, and behaviors related to health, diet, exercise, and physical development contribute to teens’ sense of their physical selves, and mothers play a significant role in their teenage daughters’ views (Helfert & Warschburger, 2011; Neumark-Sztainer, et al., 2010). Peers provide feedback about which body types are valued and how someone is doing relative to those standards.

Life Hacks: Promoting a Healthy Body Image

What can we do to encourage a healthy body image in adolescents? Caregivers can start with developing their own healthy body image so they can better model healthy behaviors, emotions, and thoughts for their children (Jensen et al., 2018). Similarly, adults can embrace and encourage body diversity, the idea that our physical diversity is good, and that people all have different strengths. Further, teaching children about media literacy and critically analyzing media messages builds a good set of lifelong skills, helping children counteract negative information about beauty ideals as represented in the media. Finally, one counter intuitive but important recommendation is to avoid saying positive things about someone based solely on notions of physical beauty. By praising someone for their physicality alone, adults are inadvertently signaling that this matters above other characteristics like personality, intelligence, or talents. Instead, praise desirable characteristics and effort.

Here are some other tips for promoting healthy body image:

1. Avoid making comments about your weight or the weight of others, especially around children and teens (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2010). In addition, avoid making negative comments about your own body.
2. Promote media literacy by talking about media representations that may model an unhealthy body image. If a character in a show says negative things about their own body or another person’s body, caregivers can use that as an opportunity to talk about how to interpret media messages.
3. Engage in healthy behaviors at home to maintain a healthy body, including a good diet and exercise habits. Be careful though—it’s better to frame your workout and nutrition choices as being to “stay strong” or “stay healthy” rather than talk about specific beauty or weight goals.
4. If you catch yourself saying something negative about your body, other bodies, or promoting an unhealthy diet—make it right. You can point out that you made a mistake, apologize, and note that you. should do better with being body positive—for your own well-being and the well-being of others.

Link to Learning

Watch this clip of actors depicting a non-judgmental parent-teen conversation about body positivity, followed by some tips about having such conversations from a nutritionist.

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