Similarities and differences in adolescent
The adolescent stage in human beings is mostly characterized by changes in body structure for both genders. These young individuals experience a lot of things which later on affect their future lives. There are many differences and similarities that can be drawn from adolescent experiences for both male and females. The similarities and differences can be based on historical, gender or even sub-cultural issues in society. Different generations have of adolescents had different experiences since the world changes with time and people live in different economic, political and economic times. The cultural diversity also varies in different historical times.
Similarities
Adolescents in every community, cultural group, generation or gender have similar experiences during this stage of their lives. These experiences include changes in the body features for both boys and girls. These experiences are universal in all people at puberty stage regardless of their culture, background or generation. This is because it s a stage that all human beings undergo, it is human nature to undergo these experiences.
Another similarity is that individuals experience changes in behavior and character. It is a natural change that occurs in all human beings wherever they are and how they were brought up. The changes in behavior and character are a sign that an individual is developing from childhood to adulthood.
Differences
The experiences of adolescents across different cultures also vary based on the traditions and beliefs of the culture the young people were born. Some of the differences experienced in adolescents include; satisfaction with life and self concept, trajectories in developmental of aggression, differences in cognitive vulnerability-stress model which is related to depression during the transition period to adolescence, and the social bullying characters.
Satisfaction in life and self concept
During the adolescent stage, young people of different backgrounds and gender have different experiences in terms of self concept and their attitude towards life in general. Boys tend to experience more satisfaction in the life they live and have a high self concept compared to girls. This can be attributed to the changes that occur in these young people. Girls in most cases are ashamed of the physical changes like increase in breast size and menstrual cycles. Furthermore, the emotional changes in female adolescents make their self concept weak. Historically, self concept and satisfaction among adolescents is higher currently than it was in the past generations. This can be attributed to improved technology, and the good economic times. Those people who were adolescents during periods of war, economic hardships have relatively lower self esteem compared to those who experience good lifestyles. Culturally, adolescents who are brought up in cultures where they are appreciated and given respect and responsibility have high self concept and are generally satisfied. However, in cultures where they are overlooked as inferior or too young, they tend to have low self concept.
Aggression
Development of aggressive characters among adolescents can be attributed to the changes that occur in their emotional and physical attributes. A comparison of aggression between male and female adolescents shows that males tend to be more aggressive than females. The physical changes in boys tend to make them feel superior to their peers and to prove this, they resort to aggression. The emotional changes also make young adolescents easily irritable hence; they are aggressive.
Historically, there is no proven relationship between differences in aggression levels of adolescents of different generations. However, there have been differences in adolescent aggression between those people who went through tough economic and war periods and those who were adolescents during peaceful times and good economic periods. However, based on culture, there are variations in aggression levels among adolescents. Those who grow up in cultures where violence is common such as in families where domestic violence is common tend to be violent as well. Adolescents who grow up in peaceful cultures are less aggressive.
Cognitive capability
The cognitive ability in adolescence is related to the young individual’s ability to handle difficult moments like stress and vulnerable times. This ability varies from one individual to another. Boys tend to have stronger cognitive abilities. This s because they can face difficult situations compared to their female counterparts. Girls are more vulnerable to stress because they undergo more emotional change than boys.
Historically, those people who were adolescents during difficult moments economically socially or politically periods were found to be highly cognitive of difficulties and could deal with them on their own. However, those who went through good times are likely to face a difficult time dealing with stress. Furthermore, these adolescents are more vulnerable to stress because they do not have the cognitive ability to recognize and deal with them. The cultural environment of an adolescent also affects their cognitive ability. Those individuals whose cultural practices help those master cognitive skills are usually able to deal with cognitive issues easily. They also learn how to easily manage stress and be less vulnerable.
Conclusion
Therefore, the adolescent stage in young individuals is characterized by changes that are uniform in all adolescents and also those that differ. The similarities result from the natural characteristics of human beings that all people undergo. The differences in experiences differ based on culture, historical factors like generation or gender.
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