Adolescent Egocentrism and Delinquent Behaviors

Adolescent Egocentrism

Posting #3 Read articles choose interest. Analyze articles describe leadership roles discussed. Compare attributes nurse leaders. •http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/home/News/women/mch_midwives.

The influence of adolescent egocentrism (personal fable, imaginary audience, invincibility) on delinquent behavior

Parents often refer to adolescents as egocentric and self-centered. However, this is not simply a subjective moral judgment of a frustrated mother or father -- it is an identified product of the biological and social experience of being an adolescent. Adolescent egocentrism is different from the egocentrism of a very young child that perceives no differentiation between self and other (Alberts, Elkind & Ginsberg 2007: 71). With adolescents, egocentrism manifests itself in what is called the 'imaginary audience' or the belief that everyone in the world is equally preoccupied with the adolescent as him or herself. An adolescent might spend hours getting ready to go to a casual party than an adult might prepare for a half hour after work. Another adolescent might become enraged at a sarcastic comment of a peer or teacher and lash out violently, either at his perceived tormentor or by 'acting out' with delinquent behaviors. Adolescents are more inclined to take slights personally and feel that the world, the educational or justice system, or other people 'against them' and deserve to be disobeyed.

A corollary to the 'imaginary audience' is the 'personal fable,' or the sense that the adolescent is very special and unique. This can lead to an overestimation of the adolescent's problems (like a bad grade) and anger at others who do not acknowledge that specialness. This can make the adolescent very unwilling to take advice from adults who cannot 'understand.' Adolescents may engage in black-and-white thinking and see themselves as 'the best' or 'the worst' at everything. Their over-estimation of the need for peer approval can cause them to trust in the judgment of their peers rather than parents or teachers.

The hyper-vigilance about the self can cause the adolescent to act out with drug use, defiant behavior, and a lack of an ability to appreciate the consequences of his or her actions. For example, an adolescent might make an impulsive decision to join a gang or to try drugs to please a friend or boyfriend, ignoring the previous influence of his or her family. This uncertain, pliable sense of self combined with self-preoccupation can make adolescents very vulnerable to negative peer influences.

Adolescents are also more inclined to engage in risky behaviors because of a sense of invincibility: they are often unable to appreciate the consequences of their actions, the do not think past the moment of the act. They are also unlikely to think about the consequences of their behavior upon others. (For example, that drinking while intoxicated could hurt other people in the car and on the roads, not simply the driver). Males in particular score higher on psychometric scales of invincibility and unsurprisingly they also have higher rates of juvenile delinquency (Alberts, Elkind & Ginsberg 2007: 75).