experiences conflicting feelings and also receives conflicting messages and social expectations from the people around her/him. You may have experienced this for yourself. For example, the family members may expect you to behave in an adult-like manner in social situations as far as talking or dressing is concerned, but may still think you are too young to discuss the family budget. Since individuals are different they may respond differently to situations.
The conflicting expectations from familial and societal sources, one’s own changing needs and conflicting emotions may interfere with integrating the newly emerging selves during adolescence. Thus, the adolescents may experience what is known as role confusion or identity confusion. They may show behaviours like the inability to concentrate on the work at hand, difficulty in starting or finishing work on time, and a general difficulty in coping with schedules. It is important to stress that the difficulties that the adolescent experiences in the process of developing an identity are a normal part of development – there is nothing inappropriate with the contradictory feelings and emotions the adolescent experiences during this period.
The feeling of identity crisis or role confusion arises when the adolescent feels that there is a significant gap in terms of what she/ he is expected to do and how she/he is expected to behave as compared to earlier times. However, for many adolescents, especially those who are involved in family occupations, this sense of break may not be distinct and may not cause much emotional upheaval. For example, if a child in a village is assisting the family in agriculture, her/his role does not change much from when she/he was to when she/he is , except may be in terms of being given more responsibility. The following are the characteristics of an adolescent’s sense of self.
. Self-descriptions during the period of adolescence are abstract . Adolescents are likely to lay less emphasis on describing themselves in physical terms as “tall”, or “big”; they emphasise the abstract or inner aspects of their personality. Thus, they may describe themselves as quiet, sensitive, cool headed, brave,