Choose one of the following options:
Option A: Choose an adolescent-aged character from a popular television show.
Option B: Choose an adolescent-aged character from a well-known book.
Option C: Think back to when you were an adolescent.
No matter which option you choose, your task will be to use what you've learned in Chapter 6 from Adolescence and Emegring Adulthood by J.J Arnett to explore the identity of the adolescent you chose. Specifically, for your chosen adolescent, answer 3 of the following bullet points:
- Try your best to explain their "actual self." What words/characteristics best describe them/their identity?
- Also try to describe their ideal self (who do they WANT to be) and their feared self (who are they afraid of becoming) if this information is available.
- Do they ever display a false self? To whom? Is this consistent with who our book says adolescents normally show their false self to?
- Do they have more than 1 identity? For example, are they a different person with their friends than with their family? Explain.
- How high or low is their self-esteem? Is there anything we learned about in this chapter that might explain why they have that level of self-esteem?
- Who might they identify with (pg. 162)? Do they seem to be embracing the characteristics of someone around them and trying to integrate those characteristics into their own identity?
- Which of Marcia's "Identity Status" stages might they be in (diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, or achievement)? What makes you think this?
- Does ethnic identity play a large role in their life? If so, what might be their ethnic identity status (bicultural, assimilated, separated, marginalized)?
- Could they be experiencing social loneliness or emotional loneliness?