Wheaton College Norton, Massachusetts
Wheaton College
Wheaton Research Partnerships

Academics

The Adolescent Self-Portrait Project

As the process of self development unfolds, adolescents become increasingly aware of how they think, feel and act with different people and in different settings. The reactions of adolescents to the multiple ways they think, feel and act varies by age due to social and cognitive developmental changes. This research study investigates 7th, 9th, and 11th grade adolescents’ reactions to their own self portrait descriptions in terms of the number of opposites and conflicts they indicate between self descriptors in eight different contexts (i.e., with mother, with father, with best friend, with friend, with romantic partner, on-line, in school, and in the classroom). This study will also investigate individual differences in the number of opposites and conflicts based on gender, ethnicity, parents’ marital status, masculinity/femininity traits, and experiences with peer humiliation. Data collection in three high schools will begin in the fall.

Academic year: 2010-2011