Blog #2

                Both of the readings assigned for this week forced me to think a lot about my childhood.  I found myself reflecting on my experiences and trying to relate to the things I was reading in the book.  I was very interested by the section about developing a self-concept.  In this section it states that, "To a large extent, your self-concept is formed by what others tell you about yourself" (Corey & Corey, 2008, p. 57).  This stuck out to me because I always assumed that your self-concept had to be formed from within one's self, but on the other hand, it makes complete sense that most individuals derive their self-concept from what they hear others say about them.  Growing up, I was definitely someone that based my opinion of myself off of what other kids said to me.  I can specifically remember a time when I was so upset and thought I was ugly because no boys liked me.  All the boys liked my best friend at the time.  She was a tall, skinny, blonde, that was always up on the latest fashion for the 5th grade.  I came home from school one day so upset and I can remember my dad saying to me, "one day all these boys will look past the blonde and glitter and realize that you are beautiful."  Those words stuck with me and eventually I started to believe them.

                After one creates a self-concept about him or herself, it makes sense that they would want to protect it.  The ego-defense mechanisms are tools that individuals use in combating the blows to their self-concept (Corey & Corey, 2008).  It was extremely interesting to see all the different ways that individuals shield their egos and it was so helpful for the authors to actually give a real life example for each.  Although I realized that most of these mechanisms were negative if used too frequently, I did not realize that these were self-deception tools.  Although they may seem to reduce anxiety in the short term, extended use of these mechanisms only causes more stress in the long term (Corey & Corey, 2008).

                Relating to self-concept, the article that we read about Adolescent risk taking also provided several things to ponder.  The one section that really stood out to me dealt with sensation-seeking and evolutional adaptation.  Up until this point in the article, you are assuming that this risk-taking is negative for adolescents, but the author poses an interesting point when she questions what  it was like for our ancestors to take risks.  These people were forced to take some risks in order to survive.  These risk-takers also were probably more favorably viewed by the females when it came time to choose a mate for reproduction purposes.  "I makes biological sense for males to engage in those behaviors that attract females and for females to choose males most likely to bear offspring with high prospects of surviving and reproducing themselves" (Steinberg, 2008, p. 87).

Corey,G.,& Corey, M.S. (2008). I never knew I had a choice: Explorations in personal growth. (9th ed.). Belmont, California: Thompson Brooks/Cole.

Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 78-106.