Adolescence 8th edition

1. Adolescence8th edition Chapter Ten: Intimacy By Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D.

2. Chapter 10 Overview • What are the major theoretical perspectives on the development of intimacy? • Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory • Erikson’s View of Intimacy • How does intimacy develop in adolescence? • How does dating and romantic relationships relate to intimacy? • How does intimacy impact psychosocial development during adolescence?

3. Why Is Intimacy An Adolescent Issue? • Intimacy in adolescence does not necessarily have a sexual or physical component • True intimacy is characterized by openness, honesty, self-disclosure, and trust • Intimacy becomes an important concern because of changes including puberty, cognitive changes, and social changes • Not until adolescence do truly intimate relationships first emerge Insert DAL photo

4. Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Intimacy Sullivan’s Theory of Interpersonal Development • Emphasized the social, rather than the biological aspects of growth, and that psychological development can be best understood in interpersonal terms • Theory focuses on transformations in relationships with others • Four stages of interpersonal needs over the course of adolescence

5. Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Intimacy • Sullivan’s Developmental Progression • Infancy: need for contact and for tenderness • Early childhood: need for adult participation • Middle childhood: need for peers and peer acceptance • Preadolescence: need for intimacy • Early adolescence: need for sexual contact and intimacy with opposite-sex peer • Late adolescence: need for integration into adult society

6. Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Intimacy • Erikson’s View of Intimacy • Crisis of Identity vs. Identity Diffusion is prominent during adolescence • Crisis of Intimacy vs. Isolation is prominent during early adulthood • In a truly intimate relationship, two individuals’ identitiesfuse, neither person’s identity is lost • Adolescents must establish a sense of identity before intimacy, or else they will experience pseudointimacy in their relationships

8. Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Intimacy • Erikson and Sullivan: Conflicting Views? • Sullivan: the development of intimacy leads to the development of a coherent sense of self in late adolescence • Erikson: one must have a clear sense of who one is in order to avoid becoming lost in a relationship with someone else • Contemporary research shows that these are complementary, not competing tasks during adolescent development

9. Attachment in Adolescence • Attachment is defined as a strong and enduring emotional bond (usually formed first in infancy) • Three types of attachment based on security • Secure – characterized by trust • Anxious-avoidant – characterized by indifference • Anxious-resistant – characterized by ambivalence

10. Attachment in Adolescence • An “internal working model” of relationships develops during childhood • Do we feel trusting or apprehensive in relationships with others? • Do we see ourselves as worthy of others’ affection? • Working models provide a set of expectations we draw from when forming close (intimate) relationships

11. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Changes in the Nature of Friendship • Companionship appears before adolescence • Intimacy emerges later • Early adolescence • Self-disclosure and trust emerge as dimensions of friendship

12. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Changes in the Nature of Friendship • Conflicts that adolescents have with friends • Older adolescents typically have conflicts over private matters • Younger adolescents typically have conflicts over public disrespect

13. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Changes in the Display of Intimacy • Adolescents become more knowledgeable about their friends • Adolescents become more responsive to close friends and less controlling • Friends become more interpersonally sensitive and show more empathy • Friends resolve conflicts more frequently by negotiation or disengagement, not coercion

14. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Sex Differences in Intimacy • Girls’ relationships are more intimate than boys’ across many different indicators • Girls disclose more to their friends • Girls are more sensitive and empathic to friends • Girls are more concerned with trust and loyalty • Sex differences in intimacy differ across ethnic groups

15. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Changes in the “targets” of intimacy • Sullivan hypothesized that • intimacy with peers replaced intimacy with parents • Intimacy with peers of the opposite sex replaced intimacy with same-sex friends • However, research shows that new targets of intimacy are added to old ones

16. How Does Intimacy Develop in Adolescence? • Changes in the “targets” of intimacy • Teens experience different types of intimate relationships with parents and peers • Parent-adolescent relationships • Imbalance of power, teens receive advice • Adolescent peer relationships • Mutual, balanced, equal exchanges

17. Dating and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence • High school dating no longer functions as mate selection, now recreational • Romantic relationships are very common, in the past 18 months • 25% of 12-year-olds reported having one • 50% of 15-year-olds reported having one • 70% of 18-year-olds reported having one

18. Dating and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence • Dating and the Development of Intimacy • Dating can mean a variety of things • Group activities involving boys and girls • Casual dating in couples • Serious involvement in a steady relationship • Transitions into and out of romantic relationships can be difficult for adolescents • Breakups are the leading cause of depression

19. Dating and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence • Four Phases of Adolescent Romance • Infatuation – discover an interest in socializing with prospective romantic partners (focus on learning about oneself) • Status – focus on establishing, improving, or maintaining peer group status • Intimate – focus on beginning to establish true and meaningful attachments to romantic partners (become involved in the emotional side of romance) • Bonding – focus on commitment (not necessarily marriage) and caring more than passion and pleasure • These stages may not apply to sexual-minority youth because they are less likely to have a public relationship

20. Dating and Romantic Relationships in Adolescence • Impact of Dating • Serious dating before age 15 has a stunting effect on psychosocial development • Adolescent girls who do not date at all show • retarded social development • excessive dependency on parents • feelings of insecurity

21. Intimacy and Adolescent Psychosocial Development • During adolescence, friends • serve as sounding boards for future plans • provide advice on a range of identity-related matters • contribute to adolescents’ self-esteem • Individuals with satisfying close friendships do better than those without them, in adolescence and in adulthood • Psychologically healthy adolescents are better able to make and maintain close relationships with others