YGI ASSIGNMENT 1

KHUSHI NADGAUDA

1. WHAT IS PERSONAL IDENITY AND SOCIAL IDENTITY? RELEVANCE OF INTERGROUP AND INTRAGROUP
COMPARSION

Personal identity refers to those characteristics of a person that make them stand out from others. Ex:
Seema is a hardworking, creative, and smart person. These all are characteristics that define Seema,
they can be used to describe Seema.

Social identity refers to those characteristics of a person that link them to some community or social
group.

Ex: Seema is an Indian woman, she’s a Buddhist. These are all characteristics of Seema that link her to a
community hence they are her social identity.

Seema Is all of these things at the same time, she is an Indian Buddhist woman while also being
hardworking and creative. So how would she describe herself when asked to? That is where intragroup
and intergroup comparison comes in.

Intragroup comparison is when one describes their personal identity. How they define their personal
identity depends on several factors like comparison group. For example, one might call herself a fast
runner because she is comparing herself to the students in her school however when she goes for an
interschool tournament and the average candidate is faster than her, that description may change.

Intergroup comparison is when one describes themselves in the context if the groups one belongs to.

So when Seema is asked to describe herself, what matters is what identity of hers, social or personal, is
more salient. If her social identity is more important to her, she will describe herself as a Buddhist Indian
woman and if it’s her personal identity, she will describe herself as smart, hardworking and creative.

2. GROUP MEMBERSHIPS THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR YOUTH

Peer groups

Having a close-knit set of friends is important when one is surfing the waves of adolescence. Having a
group of people who you can talk to about your problems is vital. During this time, the teenager is
moving away from her parents and spends more time outside so her peer group plays an important role
in influencing her. They can be the ‘good’ type of influence where the peer group supports her
emotionally, pushes her to work towards her goals and helps her build her self esteem and self-identity
with productive discussion. Or they can be a ‘bad’ type of influence where peer pressure is involved,
there is encouragement to dwell into addictive substances and unprotected unsafe sex.
Parents and family

Although the teenager is moving further away from home and family, that is not to say that they don’t
lay any role in the life of their teenager. Parents and family can be there for their adolescent during this
time by supporting her search for identity and self. This mostly has to do with autonomy and if the
family agrees to give her it or if they should simply withhold it. If parents and their teenager have a
relationship where the teenager can approach her parent and talk about difficult topics, then that will
greatly benefit the teenager. Strong and healthy relationship with parents also involves boundaries. As
the teenager Is growing older, she will need more space from her parents. Ideally, parents should
respect that need and provide it to her. However in south Asian culture, asking for space and
maintaining boundaries can be seen as pushing away parents and isn’t taken nicely by the parents and
family.

Romantic relationships

Romantic relationship is one domain where the teenager has full autonomy and is in control. These
relationships will help with identity formation for the teenager.

Romantic relationships can also help one understand their sexual identity and sexual preferences. As
being heterosexual is seen as the default, one might date the member of the opposite sex out of
compulsion. This interaction might help the teenager understand if they really are attracted to member
of the opposite sex, same sex, both the sexes or no sex at all.

Teachers

Besides parents, teachers are the only other adults that are in the lives of teenager who the teenager
might approach with her problems. As one cant always go to her parents to talk about difficulties, the
only other adult left could be a trusted teacher.

While having a strong relationship or bond with a teacher isn’t crucial to development, it definitely has
its advantages as the teacher might have an unbiased opinion and advice on things as compared to ones
parents.

3. SALIENCE OF GROUP MEMBERSHIPS- PEER, PARENTS, ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Peer group memberships

For development of sense of identity: when one is between the ages of 12-19, they are amidst a stage
called identity development. In this stage, one will grow distance from their parents and home and
develop themselves as an individual separate from what their parents taught to them. Peer groups help
with this as they expose the teenager to new views and different ways of thinking that the parents may
or may not approve of. The experiences on will have with a peer group one’s own age during
adolescence. peer groups can also help with career ideas and hobbies.

Example: Srinidhi was raised in a conservative hindu household and until the age of 13, she too had a
strong faith in god. Later she made new friends who routinely discussed topics like politics, religion,
philosophy etc. these discussions exposed her to a different line of thought. Intrigued by these
discussions, she looked to the internet for more information. Now at 17, she is an atheist.

Habits ad lifestyle: peer groups can, for the better or worse, deeply influence one’s habits. They could be
good habits like being respectful. Ex: a group of friends go to a restaurant and they each leave the waiter
a tip. Although priya never tips her waiters, she learns from her friends that this is a good way to show
gratitude to the underpaid staff. They can also be bad habits like substance abuse, unsafe sexual
practices, vandalism, theft.

Norms: peer groups teach the adolescent the norms of our society that parents might have been unable
to teach to them. Norms are the unwritten rules of society. They help us interact with one another.
Different cultures have different norms. There are also different norms amongst different ages of
people.

Ex: salma had always seen her father greet his friends by shaking hands. So when she transferred to a
new school and wanted to make new friends, she greeted her peers by shaking their hands. This took
them aback and for a while some people thought salma to be rather strange. Salma was confused until
she was told later that people of their age do not greet each other by a shake of hands but rather a wave
or a hug if they are already acquainted. Later she learns many other norms of society that weren’t told
to her by her parents.

Parents and family members

Identity development: While parents no longer play that massive of a role, they still matter and do
influence the teenagers life to a degree. Having supportive parents will allow the adolescent further in
their process of identity development. Unsupportive parents will lead to children who don’t share their
life details with said parents. When parents are encouraging about questions surrounding religion,
sexuality, unconventional career choices and hobbies.

Acting out: Parents also influence their teen children’s addictive substance use pattern. Overly critical
and authoritative parents will push their children away. They could even drive their teenagers into
wanting to do something rebellious. This can be avoided by simply giving their children space and
autonomy. With it, children will feel a lack of control and will then do things to feel that control.

Sexuality and safe sexual practices: Parents should also ideally guide their teenagers when it comes to
sexuality. Having a talk with their teenagers about safe sexual practices, consent etc. is of great
importance. While this talk might be awkward for most parents, having this openness will help in the
long run. Otherwise, teenagers will look to the internet to satisfy their curiosities. They might also have
these discussions with their friends who may unknowingly feed false information in their minds. Wrong
knowledge can have serious impact, even the psychological kind. Hence the best source becomes their
own parents.

Romantic partners:

Romantic partner can help one navigate through their sexuality and sexual preferences. Partners can
give one something of a trial to understand if they’re attracted to the opposite sex, same sex, both the
sexes or neither.
Further, romantic partners can help one be more comfortable with intimacy, both physical and
emotional. This way, romantic relationships in adolescence prepare one to phase the next stage of
Erikson’s model.

Romantic partners can also make the now overly conscious teenagers feel desirable and hence at ease.
Everybody wants to be desired and loved but for a teenager, when their body Is going through all these
rapid changes, it can make them feel insecure. Romantic partners can instill a level of confidence in the
teenager.

4. EXAMPLES OF SETTINGS AND WHICH MEMBERSHIP WOULD MATTER IN THOSE SETTINGS

Setting 1: a teenager just had a heated argument with her parents and needs to vent.
In this scenario, the teenager will approach her friends to rant to them that will help her cool off.
Further on, her friends may offer valuable advice and insight that can help her improve her
relationship with her parents.

Setting 2: bullying and harassment from 2 people in school

Setting 3: one wants to take their relationship to the next stage and experience sexual intimacy with
their partner.
In this situation, the romantic partner should be approached. The couple should discuss their
feelings and if they both are ready. This whole process involves trust that should be upheld by both
parties.

Setting 4: teenager is experiencing mood swings, fatigue, sense of hopelessness and numbness,and
other relevant symptoms of depression.
If one suspects that they could be clinically depressed, they must seek out a therapist. Here, the
teenager should reach out to a trusted parent or adult and explain to them how they are feeling and
convey that they need to seek professional help.