TREASURED POSSESSIONS AND THEIR MEANINGS IN ADOLESCENT MALES AND FEMALES

Although studies have found that treasured possessions function in dev elopmentally significant ways for infants and young children, little r esearch has focused on their meanings and functions during later life stages. The present study analyzes treasured possessions and their mea nings in adolescence, including their relation to those treasured duri ng early life. Subjects were 249 14- to 18-year-old high school studen ts (119 males, 130 females) who completed a questionnaire. Results sho wed that males' most treasured possessions (i.e., motor vehicles, spor ts equipment, and music) embodied enjoyment and instrumental meanings, whereas females' treasured objects (i.e., jewelry, stuffed animals, m otor vehicles) embodied primarily interpersonal meanings. Comparisons of early childhood vs. adolscent treasured objects showed that the kin ds of objects treasured changed with age, and that instrumental qualit ies of objects became more important with age. Thus, clinical claims t hat adolescents' treasured objects function in ways similar to that of early childhood were not supported. Active use of early treasured obj ects declined with age, although these objects continued to be psychol ogically important, especially for adolescent females. It is proposed that during adolescence, treasured objects mirror age- and gender-rela ted aspects of the adolescent self, and simultaneously contribute to t he development of self-identity.