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2.2 Niche-picking
I experienced niche-picking throughout adolescence when I had to make a decision on what environment I matched with the best. I sought out the athletes due to participating in sports most of my life. This could be because I grew up in an environment of athletes as my family was full with collegiate level athletes. This affected my continued environment because I hung around majority of athletes and that continued to develop me into the person that I am today. -
4.1 Gender Intensification
My experience of my early adolescent supports the gender intensification theory well. Gender Intensification Theory is forced pressure to conform to culturally acceptable gender roles early in adolescence. I faced increased pressure to conform to a boy because that was my expected gender role. I was always a rather masculine when I was younger. I also believe this is because I socialized more with masculine people on football teams. I also had friends that were more feminine and faced pressures. -
2.1 Maturational Timing
I was a rather late maturer as I didn't start puberty until at the age of 13. My experience is relatively similar to that described in the text. I hit a growth spurt rather late at age 16 in my second year of high school. I faced peer pressure a lot due to developing later than most of my friends. I also had problem with behavior as I was argumentative with my parents, I believe that maturing late effected my overall development and made me who I am today. I would be different if I matured early -
1.1 Entering Adolescence
I do not have to specific date of when this happened but it seems to be around the time I was in 7th grade. This is when I began the transition from a child into an adolescent. I hit a growth spurt, started having hormonal changes, and began sexual maturation. I also started trying to get more independence and separate from my parents more at this time. My parents and I would argue a lot more leading to more conflict. I began to look at women in a different way at this age as well. -
6.2 Companionship
My friendship served this function well, as my friend Ethan was always there for me when I needed him. We hung out a lot and seemed to always be together. We helped each other as we never had any loneliness as we were always together. We would go to movies or just hang out at each others houses on a regular basis. We felt that we could disclose any information to each other. We were great companions to each other and were very close throughout both of our adolescence. -
6.3 Stimulation
The friendship with my friend Ethan also provided stimulation. It was always exciting and amusing when we were around each other. It would be a very fun time hanging out together. We would talk a lot so we would also exchange interesting information. We would go on many adventures as he lived out in the country and had a lot of wooded area, this would also stimulate our mind. When we were young we would build things out in the woods and play games using creativity. -
3.3- Social Comparison
I would make comparisons about myself and others. I had certain beliefs about myself and others. I would compare myself to others and try do to have better qualities than them so I could become more popular. An example of this is I would be funny and try to be more funny than others my age to be able to be better than them. I would also compare myself to others academic or athletic wise, I would try to compete to be better than the other person I am comparing myself too. -
3.2- Self-Protection
There was many times that I would deny negative characteristics about myself to make myself look better or to protect myself. I was friends with many of the athletes and popular kids in high school but I also had friends that were less popular who were in the band. I would deny I was friends with them due to trying to look cool for the football players. I was trying to protect myself due to being self-conscious of who my friends were. -
7.1 Transition to High School
I went to a smaller high school due to living in a small town in Nebraska. I did not experience not being noticed by the teachers compared to those who go to a bigger school. I had really good relationships with students as well, I was on the football team so I was accepted by people right away. There was a lot more stress placed on me compared to middle school with the classes and sports. I also experienced the top dog phenomena from going from the most powerful to the least powerful. -
3.1- Social Congnition
I experienced adolescent egocentrism through puberty. I had experienced an imaginary audience a few times as I had pretty bad acne I would always thinking people were looking at me but in reality they were not. Nobody would look at just my zits, they would judge me as a person. I was rather vulnerable going through this time as I thought people would always be looking at me. I eventually used deductive reasoning to understand that they were not looking at my face. -
6.1 Parent Adolescent Conflict
I had conflict with my stepmom on a regular basis throughout my adolescence. She had very high expectations for me and I didn't always meet them. This would lead to majority of the conflict. We also had everyday issues as she would get on me about not finishing chores or not going to sleep on time. We seemed to also have a generation gap as she didn't grow up with the same beliefs that I did. We eventually used logic and met in the middle to fix all of the fighting. -
7.3- Intrinsic Motivation
I experienced intrinsic motivation many times throughout my school career. I have a love for learning and gaining knowledge. This motivates me to do homework and continue to go to school. I enjoy the cognitive engagement that it creates as I focus and continue to educate myself. I was able to choose the subjects that I enjoyed the most. I would be able to have self-determination and self-responsibility to be able to complete assignments due to the motivation. I am able to achieve more due to it. -
7.2- Transition to College
I experienced the top-dog phenomena once again when I started college. I felt more freedom once in college compared to when I went to high school. I believe that I began to become more independent and able to do more things by myself without help from parents. I experienced a lot of diversity in students for the first time. I also started more career exploration during this transition. I began training in classes to begin a career in psychology. Stress was also very increased due to work load. -
8.1- Rite of Passage
I did not experience any specific ceremony or ritual when I began to become an adult. But when I decided to go to college on the east coast and got a serving job by myself would be when I began to become an adult. I moved out with my girlfriend. I gained many new responsibilities such as rent, paying for gas, and living without my parents. It is traditional that a rite of passage is when somebody moves out of their house they grew up in. I started to begin adulthood at this time. -
1.2 Emerging Adulthood
I believe that this is the date due to this is when I moved out into an apartment with my girlfriend. I picked up many different obligations and responsibilities living on my own. I would have to pay bills and work a job while attending college. I had to experience some instability through this time and learn to save money to be able to survive. I also payed for mostly everything without the help of parents. This is when I felt I started to become a full adult.