Autonomy, Identity, and Narrative Construction with Parents and Friends

Abstract

(from the chapter) Everyday conversation is an illustration of some accepted wisdom about identity and autonomy development during adolescence. In this chapter, we first discuss that accepted wisdom, namely, that adolescents' conversations with parents and peers are a nexus for the achievement of identity exploration and autonomy, and that warm, supportive responses from parents and peers foster identity exploration and support adolescent autonomy. We begin by looking at theories about the connected developmental concerns of identity and autonomy in adolescence. We then examine current research, which suggests that identity and autonomy are constructed in everyday conversations with family and friends. Then, we consider some more complicated aspects of autonomy and identity in these conversations. One set of complications has to do with negotiations between adolescents and their audiences around issues of voice, silence, connection, and independence. We illustrate these complications with other examples from parent-adolescent conversations recorded in our laboratory—conversations that are recognizable, but less idealized in their form. A second set of complications has to do with how autonomy and identity are played out in the context of conversations with friends—about the same topics discussed with parents—and in a final section of the paper, we consider adolescent-friend conversations. We conclude by discussing the implications of these complications involving voice, silence, independence, connection, and context on constructed identities and on development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)