Self-identification among adolescent boys.

Abstract

Many psychologists maintain that the child allies himself more closely with the physical aspects of his existence as represented by his and its function than he does with the mental and emotional aspects because these latter are less accessible and tangible to him (6). Social relationships are carried out with the body, and as a social vehicle it becomes important in the judgments that are made about the total self. From the time of Hall's first writings, adolescent psychology texts have emphasized the upsurge of concern with the and its adequacy at adolescence. Several investigators have pointed out that the strong, muscular type of physique is a social advantage among adolescent boys. Cabot (2) found athletosomic boys more ascendant, extroverted, creative and less socially introverted than those having leptosomic or pyknic physiques. He concludes that the physique regarded as good is a strong determinant in traits which are fundamentally social in their genesis and development. The California Adolescent Growth Studies have indicated that the late maturing boy is likely to suffer some degree of social isolation because of his lag in physical development (4, 5). The immature of the late-maturing girl does not seem to ostracize her to the same extent. In these studies the adult investigators make the judgment of whether a physique is good or poor, it being assumed that the adolescent boys' judgment proceeds from the same base-line used by the adult. Those who have been interested in the body image, or picture of the which the adolescent is forming in this preoccupation with his corporeal self, believe this image is sharpened by evaluation in terms of what their peers regarded as a good physique.