impact of these differences depends on the cultural
beliefs and norms that relate to the meaning of early
maturation for both girls and boys. For example,
among white populations, early maturation tends to
be advantageous for boys, particularly with respect to
their participation in sports activities and their social
standing in school. By contrast, early maturation can
be problematic for white girls, because the kinds of
physical changes girls experience with puberty (such
as weight gain) are not highly valued among many
white American groups who value the slim, androgy-
nous female body characteristic of white fashion mod-
els. In a 1987 study, Roberta Simmons and Dale Blyth
found that early maturing white females had lower
self-esteem and more difficulty adjusting to school
transitions, particularly the transition from elementa-
ry to junior high school, than later maturing white fe-
males, white males, and both early and later maturing
African-American females. Similarly, in a 1990 study
in Sweden, Håkan Stattin and David Magnusson
found that early maturing girls obtained less educa-
tion and married earlier than their later maturing
peers, because they were more likely to join older
peer groups and date older males. In turn, these girls
were more likely to drop out of school and get mar-
ried, perhaps because school achievement was not
valued by their peer social network while early entry
into the job market and early marriage was. Early
maturation does not have these kinds of effects in all
cultural groups. For example, African-American fe-
males in the United States do not evidence these pat-
terns.
Directly linked to the biological changes associat-
ed with puberty are the changes in both body archi-
tecture and emotions related to sexuality. Puberty is
all about the emergence of sexuality. The physical
changes of puberty both increase the individual’s own
interest in sex and turn the individual into a sexual
object in other people’s eyes. Both of these changes
can have a profound impact on development. Sexual
behavior increases dramatically during early to mid-
dle adolescence. With these increases go increases in
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Both
the frequency of these behaviors and the long-term
consequences of these behaviors differ across cultural
groups.
Changes in Cognition
Adolescence is accompanied by an increasing
ability to think abstractly, consider the hypothetical as
well as the real, engage in more sophisticated and
elaborate information processing strategies, consider
multiple dimensions of a problem at once, and reflect
on one’s self and on complicated problems. There is
also a steady increase in learning strategies, in knowl-
edge of a variety of different topics and subject areas,
in the ability to apply knowledge to new learning situ-
ations, and in the awareness of one’s strengths and
weaknesses as a learner. With practice these new cog-
nitive skills can help adolescents become more effi-
cient, sophisticated learners, ready to cope with
relatively advanced topics in many different subject
areas.
These kinds of cognitive changes also affect indi-
viduals’ self-concepts, thoughts about their future,
and understanding of others. Many theorists have
suggested that the adolescent years are a time of
change in children’s self-concepts, as they consider
what possibilities are available to them and try to
come to a deeper understanding of themselves in the
social and cultural contexts in which they live. In a
culture that stresses personal choice in life planning,
these concerns and interests also set the stage for per-
sonal and social identity formation focused on life
planning issues such as those linked to educational,
occupational, recreational, and marital choices. Fi-
nally, as adolescents become more interested in un-
derstanding the psychological characteristics of
others, friendships become based more on perceived
similarities in these characteristics.Social Changes Associated with
Adolescence in Western Industrialized
Countries
There are also major social changes associated
with adolescence. Since these vary more across cul-
tures than the biological and cognitive changes just
discussed, the following social changes are common
in Western industrialized countries.Friendships and Peer Groups
Probably the most controversial changes during
adolescence are those linked to peer relationships.
One major change in this arena is the general in-
crease in peer focus and involvement in peer-related
social sports, and other extracurricular activities.
Many adolescents attach great importance to the ac-
tivities they do with their peers—substantially more
importance than they attach to academic activities
and to activities with family members. Further, early
adolescents’ confidence in their physical appearance
and social acceptance is a more important predictor
of self-esteem than confidence in their cognitive/
academic competence.
In part because of the importance of social accep-
tance during adolescence, friendship networks dur-
ing this period often are organized into relatively
rigid cliques that differ in social status within school
and community settings. The existence of these
cliques reflects adolescents’ need to establish a senseADOLESCENCE 9