Self-understanding in Early Adolescence: Developmental Changes Captured in Short Autobiographical Stories
| Title in English | Self-understanding in early adolescence: developmental changes captured in short autobiographical stories |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | R&D Presentation |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | This study focuses on changes in self-perception (reflecting self) and self-presentation (social perspective of dialogical self) in early adolescence. We use data from the Czech subsample of the longitudinal study ELSPAC. As a part of complex psychological examinations at the age of 13 and 15, probands (75 girls, 70 boys) also were to write a short story about themselves. In autobiographical stories adolescents tell about themselves from their own personal perspective and also from the perspective of others. By using these data, we can try to identify dialogical processes of their self-reflections. They reflect themselves in the stories which are part of their own identity (Mc Adams, 2006), and choose aspects of their life for self-presentation designated for others. As preliminary results reveal, in the stories collected it is possible to distinguish short story lines (personal memories) which have particular importance in one's reflections about the self and in which the respondents are the main characters (e.g. fight with parents, time spent with a close friend, an important event at school, extraordinary experience, etc.). Other responses are more likely self-representations. This more frequent category of responses includes personal characteristics, status and relationship characteristics, and also characteristics expressing personal possessions. The last category of responses includes theories of self, which contribute to the interpretation of oneself. We presuppose that the occurrence and importance of this category of responses is likely to increase with age and that it will offer the adolescents a basis for the sense of identity. |
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