One of the most important periods in a person’s development, personality and character is during their adolescent years. This is between 12-18 years of age, when people experience many types of social, mental, emotional and cognitive growth. As adolescents, they develop reasoning skills and moral reasoning. Their physical stature is affected by these structural and/or morphological changes. Their desire to be autonomous is influenced by the environment they are exposed to during this critical period (Mousikou, 2021). Effectively directing teenagers to develop the desirable qualities and personalities is now a must. My autonomy was affected by different cultural, biological, and social influences throughout my teenage years.
Social Influences
O’Brien 2020. Social variables refer to the aspects of an individual’s life that can impact their lifestyle. My youth was influenced by the number of my friends, my family structure, and my social circle. My life was very restricted because I only had few friends. My inability to communicate freely and my inability to speak up made it difficult to have meaningful conversations with other people. I was unable to have a social impact on other people at that time. This is what my few friends in this stage of life showed me. My childhood years were heavily influenced by my parents. My parents’ split as a teenager greatly helped me develop a sense of responsibility during my transition to adolescence. My father left and I had to fill his shoes. This taught me independence even as an adolescent. These experiences had profound effects on my spirituality. I’ve learned to be more compassionate and to pay attention to other people’s details because of my inability to establish social relationships.
Bowlby’s attachment theory has a significant impact on the effects of my social environment on my teenage years. John Bowlby created the concept to describe the social development and importance of healthy social environments. The belief is that for sustainable growth all individuals must create ties and connections in order to grow (Holmes (2014)).