Les représentations du changement de soi en période adolescente

Abstract

This research concerns how adolescents perceive their physical and psychological deve~ lopment. The methodological approach is comparative with a survey (open and closed- item questions) administered to 425 adolescents. Of these, 425 respondents, 251 were students at Italian « Medie » schools who varied by sex, age (12, 13, 14 years), environment (urban v. rural), and state of puberty for the females (pre-puberty and puberty), while 174 were students at the « Liceo Scientifico » (scientific branch of high school) who varied by sex and age (15-16 v. 17-18 years). They survey addresses the following points : 1 / age at which most important changes occurred from the adolescents perspectives; 2 / nature of such changes; 3 / attitude toward physical changes (positive or negative); 4 / comparison of physical/ mental maturity with poers; 5 / definition of oneself in terms of proximity to childhood/adulthood; 6 / personal resemblance to a child/ adult from a physical and psychological point of view. The age at which the greatest personal changes are thought to occur by the . respondents increased as their real age increased, while the difference between real age and age cited as time when most important changes occurred also increased during adolescence. The nature of these changes tend, in the main, to be seen as psychological rather than physical and differences in how changes are perceived depend above all on sex and age of the respondents. There was a clear difference by sex regarding the evaluation of physical change : males had both a more clearly defined and shared sense of physical identity than did females. Comparisons among peers revealed a general tendency to conform. Regarding the definition of self in terms of proximity to childhood or adulthood, the majority of the adolescents questioned viewed themselves as being closer to adulthood than childhood. There were, however, interesting discrepancies depending on geographical area (urban v. rural), sex, state of puberty, and age. The findings regarding personal resemblance to child or adult stress one major fact : adolescents place little value on their childlike features and place greater value on those features that resemble adult status.