Social and personal aspects of self knowledge: a balance of individuality and belonging

Concerns with persistent self-stereotyping by adolescents about academic ac hievements and body image focus attention on sources of self concepts. A se lf categorization approach to self concepts highlights a sense of individua lity at a personal level, and a sense of belonging at a social level. This study investigates developmental trends in these social aspects of self kno wledge for adolescent girls and boys (N=461) 11 to 17 years old. Results su ggest that Individuality and Belonging are separate constructs, with consid erable variability among adolescents. On average, a sense of individuality seems stronger for older adolescents and a sense of belonging seems more mo derate for older adolescents. The implications are for individual differenc es as well as age-related variations in the personal and social basis of ad olescent self concepts. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.