Introduction
This study focusses on the role played by guardians and peers on the lives of adolescents and young adults. This study sheds light on the stages of human development and the social, emotional, behavioral, physical changes in these individuals, which are shaped by the lifestyle of their parents and peers. Moreover, the implication of various theories such as Freud’s psychosexual theory and Erikson’s theory on different stages of human development are discussed in this particular study.
It is seen that parenting style varies from one family to another family. Raising a child is a complicated task for parents as children tends to idolize their guardians since childhood. Any wrong behavior of parents creates a negative impact on the psychology of children. During their transition from childhood to adolescence, these individuals, become aggressive and cruel by nature. In accordance with Hickman & Campbell (2016), if a child experiences lack of care and love from their parents, it might happen that they become a self-centered person. There are high chances that these adolescents and young adults become an emotionless person. They might become a non-affectionate person. This shows that emotional aspect of adolescents as well as young adults are highly influenced by the parental style. In the opinion of Pinquart (2016), a child whose upbringing has been done by his or her guardians in a negligent manner, might become socially secluded adolescent in future. It may happen that these individuals may exhibit unacceptable behavior whenever they have to communicate with other individuals. This shows that behavioral and social aspect of an individual is shaped up by the parental style from infancy until adolescence.
Peers are considered as an integral part in the life of young adults along with adolescents. Thus, peers play a significant role in shaping up the behavioral and emotional aspect of young adults along with adolescents. As stated by Smokowski et al., (2015), sometimes these individuals are unable to cope up with peer pressure and they become prone towards alcohol consumption and smoking. In addition to this, adolescents often tend to isolate themselves from their close associates including family members, relatives and friends. It has been observed that extreme peer pressure often leads to create a negative influence on their academics. As a result, such individuals becomes mentally upset because they are unable to unleash their emotions to anyone.
According to this theory, there are overall eight stages of development through which a child has to pass beginning from infancy until adulthood. Therefore, sociocultural elements determine the personality of an individual. These stages are Trust Vs Mistrust, Autonomy vs Shame, Initiative vs Guilt, Industry vs Inferiority, Identity vs Role Confusion, Intimacy vs Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation and Ego Integrity vs. Despair (Bursztyn & Jensen, 2015). Any kind of failure to finish each of these phases will result in the development of an unhealthy personality having behavioral and emotional issues. A sense of mistrust towards other individuals might make the adolescents and young adults socially secluded and such emotionally distressed people might consume drugs, drinks on a regular basis.
This theory sheds light on how a child’s personality is being developed since childhood. As per this theory, the id (pleasure-seeking energy) of the child concentrates on some erogenous areas. In this context, it can be stated that libido (psychosexual energy) is considered as the driving force that shapes up the behavior of the child. This theory implies that a child’s personality is being developed after passing through different stages such as oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latent stage and genital stage (Malone et al., 2016). It is seen that if an adolescent and a young adult exhibits behavioral issues, it can be stated that such an individual has been raised in an inappropriate way. In other words, they might have experienced rash behavior from their parents. Adolescents with emotional issues might have experienced extreme peer pressure. In addition to this, Malone et al., (2016) commented that young adults facing extreme peer pressure might result in doing self-harm. Thus, self-harm or suicidal tendency are the outcomes of extreme peer pressure in adolescence.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that parental style as well as peer pressure are the determinants of an individuals’ personality development. It has been observed that the proper application of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development and Freud’s psychosexual development identifies the underlying reasons behind the emotional and behavioral issues faced by an individual. In addition to this, these theories also help to understand the different factors that affects the upbringing of a child since childhood.
In the opinion of Smokowski et al., (2015), adolescents suffering from anxiety and depression have been neglected by their parents since their children. In other words, it can be stated that lack of affection and care from family members, especially guardians are responsible for causing aggression among these adolescents as well as young adults. In addition to this, lack of attention from parents might cause depression among these individuals (Kline, 2014). As a result, they fail to perform well in their educational care. It has been observed that adolescents experiencing negligence often suffers from low self-esteem.
In accordance with Hickman, & Campbell (2016), teenagers often consume alcohol with their peers because they are not taken care by their close ones. It is seen that adolescents sometimes drink for spending quality time with their peers and this alcohol consumption becomes an integral part of their life. Liberalized licensing legislations in the UK regarding alcohol consumption also drives individuals to drink with their peers thereby hampering their overall health.
References
Bursztyn, L., & Jensen, R. (2015). How does peer pressure affect educational investments?. The quarterly journal of economics, 130(3), 1329-1367.
Hickman, M., & Campbell, R. (2016). Among friends: a qualitative exploration of the role of peers in young people’s alcohol use using Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital Georgie J. MacArthur, Nina Jacob 2, Pandora Pound. Sociology of Health and Illness, 39(1), 30-46.
Kline, P. (2014). Psychology and Freudian theory: An introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.
Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., Rentz, D. M., & Waldinger, R. J. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health. Developmental psychology, 52(3), 496.
Pinquart, M. (2016). Associations of parenting styles and dimensions with academic achievement in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 28(3), 475-493.
Smokowski, P. R., Bacallao, M. L., Cotter, K. L., & Evans, C. B. (2015). The effects of positive and negative parenting practices on adolescent mental health outcomes in a multicultural sample of rural youth. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 46(3), 333-345.
