Development of Self Identity in Teens

 Development of stable and strong self identity is taken as a major task among many teenagers. Although this development happens throughout the life of a person, teenage is the first time that a person starts to think about how identity may affect life. It is during this time that teenagers get more self conscious about the change of their identities than all others stages in life. Identity is the sense of who a person is not only as an individual, but also as a member of social groups. This grows in response to both external and internal factors. However, identities can also be developed by environmental factors that a teenager may out of one's control.

Self identity in teens is important as it helps in forming the basis of the development of self esteem. The way teenagers see themselves changes in response to family, peers, school and other social environment.

It is this identity that shapes the perceptions of belonging. With positive self identity, it becomes easy for teenagers to develop positive self esteem. However, it is also good to note that all identities are not valued by the society, so some teenagers may especially require reinforcement to assist them in constructing positive sense.

Self Identity dimensions

Many dimensions of self identity interact to develop our sense of self and it is hard for them to be separated. Some of the dimensions of identity that can be seen include gender and race. These dimensions are more vital for individuals since they are necessary in every social context and have more severe consequences in society.

Development of self identity in teens starts when teenagers start to make identification and express emotions in the right way. In addition, it also involves the ability a teenager has in demonstrating a repertoire of coping with response to stress and other negative things in life in a positive manner. Emotional maturity requires the understanding of making reflections upon oneself. The physical changes that occur during this stage, with the newly emerging mental abilities make the teenagers to get more self conscious about their own bodies and get concerned the way other people view them.

Self identity development in teens also involved the understanding of differences between performance outcomes that result from ability, natural talent and performance outcomes that result from perseverance and hard work. Teens realize that even if they have natural talent they can still take personal satisfaction and pride in attaining their goals especially when they have put efforts and with their full potential.

With the development of self identity, teens think about themselves in more abstract terms and this new ability allows them to expand their own definition. Teens start to use more abstract characteristics to give description of themselves such as kindness, humor and loyalty. It is this development that makes teens be able to see them and recognize their position in the social groups or in the entire society. With the development of self identity, then it means that the teens are growing to be more independent young adults.