Cognitive development and aggressive personality in adolescents

Cognition and Personality Development

Cognition is the process of human thought and this development of cognition typically enables the decision-making outcomes of an adolescent. Adolescence itself is a "period of transition that involves biological, cognitive, psychological, social, and physical changes" (Commendador, 2010). As the adolescent transitions between the level of immaturity to that of maturity, the adolescent's cognitive capabilities are also developing. This can be attributed to the individual's ego, wherein one's personality changes and accordingly reacts to one's morals, self-esteem, and character (Lambie, 2010). Cognition and personality development can be affected by biological and environmental factors just as easily as social and economic constructs. A person's ego develops through relationships and experiences gained within the person's general environment. The same person's cognition and personality development can also be attributed to genetic and biological functions that involve neural pathways.

Donellan et. al. (2007) briefly mentions an adolescent's personality development with respect to the adolescent's cognitive maturity. The more cognitively mature an individual is, the fewer changes there are in the personality (Donellan et. al., 2007). Contrary-wise, the less mature one's cognitive development is, the more likely that the individual becomes prone to personality changes (Donellan et. al., 2007). For example, it is more likely that an adolescent changes moods more often than an adult does due to the adolescent's lack of further cognitive development; an adult's maturity level is generally higher in that respect. Cognitive development seems to affect whether a person's behavior is erratic; a more erratic behavior shows indication that the individual still has not reached his or her emotional and developmental stability.

Question 2: Aggressive Personality

The notion of a person's aggressive personality tends to be determined through a number of factors which involve biological and environmental development. An individual's social and parental rearing can influence a child's aggressive personality -- or lack thereof. Social psychology demonstrates that there are two types of aggressive personality dimensions: general aggression and displaced aggression (Denson et. al, 2009). According to Denson et. al (2009), different neural pathways are affected regarding the two types of aggressive personality dimensions. In this study, the dorsal anterior cingulated cortex (dACC) had been found to be related to the dimension of general aggression, an aggressive personality that is characterized with angry responses to provocation within experimental and real-world environments. Displaced aggression, on the other hand, relates to the neural signals taking place in the hippocampus, insula, and cingulated cortex (Denson et. al, 2009) as opposed to the dACC. This kind of aggression tends to be the result of an insult experienced from the environment; one who acts upon displaced aggression usually "takes it out" (Denson et. al, 2009) on innocents.

Additionally, research published in Science News has also indicated that one's degree of aggressiveness is a genetic trait passed on by parental aggression. Aggressive personality seems to "[remain] remarkably stable across time, situations, and even generations within a family" (1984). The study -- consisting of 632 males and females -- conducted by L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard D. Eron at the University of Illinois in Chicago (1984), it was found that more aggressive parents had aggressive children. The subjects were studied from the age of 8 to well over their 30s, wherein it was concluded that those who were aggressive at 8 years old also carried their aggression to adulthood.

Question 4: Self-Efficacy and Personality Development

Albert Bandura defines self-efficacy as one's "belief about his or her ability to perform a specific behavior" (Strauser et. al, 2002). In this case, self-efficacy is an individual's outlook regarding his or her potential to do certain tasks, and this outlook can determine one's attitude toward the particular task and/or event. Self-efficacy has been directly linked to an individual's "self-esteem, locus of control, and neuroticism" (Schyns et. al, 2002). Bandura himself believed in the fact that self-efficacy was a mere part of the larger social cognitive theory (Strauser et. al, 2002), and can be used to determine an individual's effectiveness in carrying out tasks. The amount of self-efficacy -- low or high -- usually influences a person's behavior towards the person's environment or probable outcome. A higher degree of self-efficacy results in a positive cognitive development, whereas a lower degree of self-efficacy gives a more negative effect in cognitive development (Strauser et. al, 2002).

Efficacy itself can influence an individual's choice and decision-making process. Those with high expectations tend to increase their outlook in difficult situations and achieve a certain amount of success; conversely, those with low expectations tend to give up more easily after being thrown into difficult situations and continue on a downward spiral when it comes to self-esteem (Strauser et. al, 2002). For example, an individual with a support system -- a parent, friend, mentor, etc. -- tends overcome difficult situations with a more positive result than an individual with no support system. This can be said for recovery in a patient, where the patient tends to want to recover faster if there is a support system waiting for him or her; this support system tends to raise the patient's self-efficacy.