Theme 10. YOUTH (FROM 15-16 TO 20 YEARS)

10.1. cognitive changes

In adolescence, a philosophical orientation of thinking is noted, which is due to the development of formal-logical operations and emotional characteristics.

Young men tend to be more abstract thinking, girls - concrete. Therefore, girls usually solve concrete problems better than abstract ones, their cognitive interests are less definite and differentiated, although they, as a rule, study better than boys. The artistic and humanitarian interests of girls in most cases prevail over the natural sciences.

Many at this age tend to exaggerate their abilities, knowledge, mental capabilities.

In adolescence, the amount of attention increases, as well as the ability to maintain its intensity for a long time and switch from one subject to another. But attention becomes more selective and dependent on the orientation of interests.

Creativity develops. Therefore, at this age, boys and girls not only learn information, but also create something new.

Personal properties of a creatively gifted person can be different. It depends on the field of activity in which talent is manifested. Researchers have found that a creatively gifted person can show normal results in learning activities.

The mental development of a high school student consists both in the accumulation of skills and the change in individual properties of the intellect, and in the formation of an individual style of mental activity.

The individual style of mental activity, according to the definition of the Russian psychologist E.A. Klimov, it is "an individual-peculiar system of psychological means to which a person consciously or spontaneously resorts in order to best balance his (typologically determined) individuality with the objective, external conditions of activity." N. Kogan believed that in cognitive processes the individual style of mental activity acts as a style of thinking, i.e. as a stable set of individual variations in the ways of perception, memorization and thinking, behind which there are various ways of acquiring, accumulating, processing and using information.

The possibility of intellectual advancement at this age comes through the development of learning skills when working with texts, literature, working out formal logical operations, etc.

10.2. Educational and professional activities

In adolescence, personal and professional self-determination takes place. Professional self-determination, according to I.S. Konu is divided into several stages.

1. Children's game. Acting in the game as a representative of various professions, the child "loses" individual elements of the behavior associated with them.

2. Teenage fantasy. A teenager imagines himself in the role of a representative of a profession that is attractive to him.

3. Preliminary choice of profession. Many specialties are considered by a young person first from the point of view of interests (“I love mathematics. I will become a mathematics teacher”), then from the point of view of abilities (“I am good at a foreign language. I will be a translator”), and then from the point of view of his value system ( "I want to work creatively", "I want to earn a lot", etc.).

4. Practical decision making. This is directly the choice of a specialty, which includes two components: the choice of a specific profession and the determination of the level of labor qualification, the volume and duration of training for it.

The choice of specialty is characterized by multistage. By the end of the 9th grade, students will have to decide what to do next: either get a secondary education, i.e. continue their studies at school, or start vocational training, i.e. go to college or lyceum, or go to work and continue their education at night school. Those who prefer vocational training or work should decide on a specialty. It is very difficult for a ninth-grader to do this, and the choice often turns out to be erroneous, because the choice of a profession implies that the student has both information about the world of professions and about himself, his abilities and interests.

The choice of profession depends on social and psychological conditions. Social conditions include the general educational level of parents. If parents have a higher education, then the likelihood that their children will want to study in a higher educational institution increases.

Psychological conditions are determined by three approaches to choosing a profession:

1) it is necessary that the personal and business qualities, on which the success of the activity will depend, have already been formed and are unchanged and constant;

2) directed formation of abilities necessary for activity. There is an opinion that the necessary qualities can be developed in each person;

3) observance of the principle of unity of consciousness and activity, i.e., orientation towards the formation of an individual style of activity.

The process of professional self-determination is very complex and depends on the following factors: the age at which the profession is chosen; level of awareness and level of claims.

For later life, the age at which the choice of profession was made is of great importance. It is believed that the sooner self-determination occurs, the better. But this is not always the case, because, on the one hand, in adolescence, hobbies are sometimes random, situational. On the other hand, a teenager is not yet very familiar with the world of professions, their features, and when making a choice, he sees only the positive aspects of the profession, while the negative ones remain "in the shadows." In addition, at this age there is some categoricalness, which leads to the division of professions into "good" and "bad". The negative side of early professionalization also lies in the fact that the younger a person is, the more influence adults, peers or older acquaintances have on him when choosing a specialty. In the future, this may cause disappointment in the chosen specialty. Therefore, early professional self-determination is not always correct.

An important role in choosing a specialty is played by the level of awareness of young men and women about their future profession and about themselves. As a rule, young people are poorly informed about the labor market, the nature, content and working conditions, business, professional and personal qualities required when working in a particular specialty, which also negatively affects the correct choice.

When choosing a profession, the level of personal claims is of great importance. It includes an assessment of objective capabilities, i.e. what a person can really do (it is difficult for someone who cannot draw to become an artist) and abilities.

Since professional orientation is a part of social self-determination, the choice of a profession will be successful only when a young person combines a social and moral choice with thoughts about the meaning of life and the nature of one's own "I".

10.3. The process of becoming self-conscious

The most important psychological process in adolescence is the formation of self-consciousness and a stable image of the "I".

Psychologists have long been interested in why it is at this age that the development of self-awareness occurs. As a result of many studies, they came to the conclusion that the following factors contribute to this.

1. There is a further development of intelligence. The development of abstract-logical thinking leads to the emergence of an irresistible desire for abstraction and theorizing. Boys and girls are ready to talk and argue for hours on abstract topics, about which, in fact, they know nothing. They like this very much, because an abstract possibility knows no limits other than logical ones.

2. In early youth there is an opening of the inner world. Boys and girls begin to immerse themselves and enjoy their experiences, look at the world differently, discover new feelings, the beauty of nature, the sounds of music, the sensations of their bodies. Youth is sensitive to internal, psychological problems. Therefore, at this age, the young man is already beginning to worry about the psychological content of the story, and not just the external, eventful moment.

3. With age, the image of a perceived person changes. It is considered from the position of outlook, mental abilities, emotions, strong-willed qualities, attitudes towards work and other people. The ability to explain and analyze human behavior, the desire to accurately and convincingly present the material is growing.

4. The opening of the inner world leads to anxiety and dramatic experiences. Along with the realization of one's uniqueness, originality, dissimilarity to others, a feeling of loneliness or fear of loneliness appears. The youthful "I" is still vague, indefinite, unstable, so there may be a feeling of inner emptiness and anxiety, from which, as well as from a feeling of loneliness. need to get rid of. Young people fill this vacuum through communication, which at this age becomes selective. But, despite the need for communication, the need for solitude remains, moreover, it is vital.

5. Adolescence tends to exaggerate its uniqueness. You can hear such statements from young people, for example: “In my opinion, it’s not harder for me ... It goes away with age. The older a person is, the more developed he is, the more differences he finds between himself and his peers. This leads to the emergence of a need in psychological intimacy, which allows you to reveal yourself and be admitted into the inner world of another person, which leads to the realization of one's dissimilarity to others, an understanding of one's inner world and unity with people around.

6. There is a feeling of stability in time. The development of time perspectives is associated with intellectual development and a change in life perspective.

If for a child of all time dimensions the most important is "now" (he does not feel the flow of time, and all important experiences occur in the present, the future and past are vague for him), then in a teenager the perception of time covers not only the present, but also the past, and the future seems to be a continuation of the present. And in adolescence, there is an expansion of the time perspective both in depth, covering the distant past and future, and in breadth, including personal and social perspectives. For boys and girls, the main dimension of time is the future.

Due to such temporary changes, the consciousness is reoriented from external control to internal self-control, the need to achieve goals increases. There is an awareness of the fluidity, irreversibility of time and the finiteness of one's existence. For some, the thought of the inevitability of death causes fear and horror, while for others - the desire for activity, everyday activities. Some adults believe that the less young people think about sad things, the better. But this is erroneous: it is the realization of the inevitability of death that makes a person seriously think about the meaning of life.

The formation of a personality includes the formation of a stable image of the "I", that is, a holistic view of oneself. There is an awareness of one's qualities and a set of self-assessments. Boys and girls begin to reflect on the topics: "Who can I become, what are my opportunities and prospects, what have I done and what else can I do in life?"

Both for boys and girls, appearance is of great importance: height, skin condition; the appearance of acne, blackheads is painfully perceived. Weight becomes an important issue. Sometimes young people, especially girls, begin to resort to various diets, which are categorically contraindicated at this age, as they can cause great harm to the developing organism. Young men tend to build up their muscles (strongly go in for sports), and girls, wanting to have a graceful figure, try to “fit” it to the standard of beauty imposed by advertising and the media (the required size of the chest, waist, hips, etc.).

Since the properties of a person as an individual are formed and realized earlier than personal ones, the ratio of "bodily" and moral and psychological components of the "I" in adolescence is not the same. Young people compare the structure of their body and appearance with the developmental features of their comrades, find shortcomings in themselves and begin to "complex" about their "inferiority". As a rule, the standard of beauty at this age is overestimated and unrealistic, so such experiences are mostly groundless.

Growing up, a person becomes more self-confident, preoccupation with appearance disappears. At the forefront are such qualities as mental abilities, strong-willed and moral qualities, relationships with others.

In adolescence, changes occur in the holistic perception of the image of "I". This is reflected in the following points.

1. With age, the cognitive complexity and differentiation of the elements of the "I" image change. In other words, adults distinguish and recognize in themselves more business and personal qualities than young men; young men - more than teenagers; teenagers are more than children. It has to do with the development of the intellect.

2. The integrative tendency is intensifying, on which the internal consistency, the integrity of the image of the "I" depend. This is expressed in the fact that adolescents and young men are able to characterize themselves, that is, describe their qualities, better than children. But since the level of their claims has not yet been completely determined and the transition from external assessment to self-assessment is still difficult, internal meaningful contradictions of self-consciousness are noted (for example, a young man can say about himself: “I am a genius + insignificance in my mind”), which will serve as a source further development.

3. The stability of the image of "I" changes over time. Adults describe themselves more consistently than boys, teenagers, and children. Self-description of adults depends less on situational, random circumstances. We must also take into account the fact that the personality traits that make up the image of the "I" have varying degrees of stability. They can change, disappear, other traits can develop (for example, a person was shy, but became active, sociable, etc.).

4. There are changes in the concretization, degree of significance and distinctness of the image of "I". The more mature a person becomes, the more clearly he realizes his individuality, uniqueness, difference from others, the more clearly he can explain the peculiarities of his behavior. With a change in the content of the image of the "I", the degree of significance of its individual features, on which the individual focused attention, changes, for example, in adolescence, external manifestations come to the fore, while for adults, internal qualities become priority. There is an awareness of one's experiences, which may be accompanied by increased attention to oneself, concern for oneself and the impression that a young person makes on others. The consequence of these experiences is shyness, which is characteristic of many young men and women.

10.4. Relationships with others

In adolescence, the development of relationships with peers and adults also goes separately. These relationships become more complex, boys and girls begin to play many social roles, the relationships in which they are included, externally and internally, become similar to relations between adults. Their basis is mutual respect and equality.

Relations with peers are divided into comradely and friendly. Among peers, those who possess such qualities as responsiveness, restraint, cheerfulness, good nature, compliance, and a developed sense of humor are respected. Friendship is the most important type of emotional attachment and interpersonal relationships of adolescence. Friendship is measured by the degree of selectivity, stability and intimacy.

If a child does not distinguish between friendship and companionship, then in adolescence friendship is considered an exclusive, individual relationship. In childhood, the child's attachments must be constantly reinforced, otherwise the attachment will be destroyed, and in youth, friendship can be maintained even at a distance, it does not depend on external, situational factors.

With age, interests and preferences stabilize, so friendships become more stable. This is expressed in the growth of tolerance: a quarrel, which in childhood can become a reason for a break, in youth is perceived as a particularity that can be neglected in order to preserve the relationship.

Mutual assistance, fidelity and psychological closeness become the main thing in friendship. If the basis of group relations is joint activity, then friendship is built on emotional attachment. Personal closeness is more important than common subject interests.

The psychological value of friendship lies in the fact that it is at the same time a school of both self-disclosure and understanding of another person.

It is very important for young men and women to communicate with adults: they listen to their words, observe their behavior, and in some cases are prone to idealization. The choice of an older friend is determined by the need for guardianship, guidance, and example. Friendship with adults is necessary and desirable, but friendship with peers is more important and stronger, because here communication takes place on an equal footing: it is easier to communicate with peers, you can tell them everything without fear of ridicule, you can be with them what you are without trying to seem smarter.

According to the French psychologist B. Zazzo, youth is both sincere and most insincere age. In youth, most of all I want to be in harmony with myself, to be uncompromising; there is a need for complete and reckless self-disclosure. But the uncertainty and instability of ideas about one's own "I" gives rise to a desire to test oneself by playing unusual roles, drawing, self-denial. The young man suffers from the fact that he cannot express his inner world, because the image of his "I" is still incomplete and unclear.

Youth is emotional: at this age, there is a stormy passion for new ideas, deeds, people. Such hobbies may be short-lived, but they allow you to experience and learn a lot of new things. A new quality appears - estrangement, the essence of which is that, before accepting something, everything must be carefully and critically checked, to be convinced of the truth and correctness. An excessive manifestation of estrangement can lead to the fact that a person becomes rigid and insensitive, and then not only other people, but also his own feelings and experiences will be criticized and turned into an object of observation. Even in his first love, he will be occupied only with his experiences, with which he will be more passionate than his loved one. This can lead to difficulty both in self-disclosure and in understanding it by another person, as a result of which problems may arise in establishing interpersonal contacts.

The psychology of youthful friendship is closely related to gender and age differences. The need for deep, intimate friendship in girls occurs one and a half to two years earlier than in boys. Girls' friendships are more emotional, they often lack intimacy, are more prone to self-disclosure, and attach more importance to interpersonal relationships. This is due to the fact that girls mature faster, they begin to develop self-awareness earlier, and therefore the need for intimate friendship arises earlier than boys. For high school boys, peers of the same sex remain a significant group, and a friend of the same sex is also the “confidant of all secrets”. Girls dream of a friend of the opposite sex. If one appears, then he, as a rule, is older than his girlfriend. Friendship between a boy and a girl can eventually develop into love.

A common communication problem in adolescence is shyness. It limits the social activity of the individual and in some cases contributes to the development of deviant behavior: alcoholism, unmotivated aggression, psychosexual difficulties. A favorable climate in the team and intimate friendships help to overcome shyness.

In early adolescence, not only friendships arise. A new feeling appears: love. Its occurrence is due to:

1) puberty, ending in early adolescence;

2) the desire to have a close friend with whom you can talk about the most intimate topics;

3) the need for strong emotional attachment, understanding, and spiritual intimacy.

The nature of love feelings and attachments depends on the general communicative qualities. On the one hand, love is the need and thirst for possession (the ancient Greeks called it "eros"), on the other hand, the need for selfless self-giving (in Greek - "agape"). Thus, love can be characterized as a special form of human relationships, involving maximum intimacy and psychological closeness. A person who is not capable of psychological intimacy with another person may experience a need for love, but it will never be satisfied.

Speaking about the strength and duration of love relationships, let us recall the words of A.S. Makarenko: "... a young man will never love his bride and wife if he did not love his parents, comrades, friends. And the wider this non-sexual love, the more noble sexual love will be."

Boys and girls need the help of their elders, as they face many problems in developing these new relationships. These are the features of relationships, and moral and moral problems, and the rituals of courtship, and the very moment of declaration of love. But such help should be unobtrusive, because young people want and have every right to protect their intimate world from intrusion and peeping.

Relationships with adults are changing. They become more even, less conflicted, young people begin to listen more to the opinion of their elders, realizing that they wish them well. Boys and girls in love do not react as emotionally as in adolescence to the comments of their parents regarding their appearance, housework, and teaching. Relationships are moving into a new stage: they are built in the same way as between adults.

Authors: Marina Khilko, Maria Tkacheva

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