Many moral dilemmas of adults become accessible to the understanding of a high school student: personal gain or public good, the search for truth or patience and trust, love or self-affirmation, career or communication. It is at this age that the formation of a special "youthful" system of values ​​takes place. The young man alternately appears to others as either very young (naive), or very old, having experienced everything (the phenomenon of a panic feeling of old age). Parents shrug their shoulders in amazement: “You talk as if you are 40 years older.” Let us recall Lermontov's: "Isn't it true that who is not old at eighteen, he certainly has not seen people and the world." Indeed, when all around the big uncles arrange everything so beautifully and reliably and you have no place at this celebration of life, you want to spit on everything from the high bell tower and exclaim in Schopenhaurian: “It is impossible to achieve absolute pleasure ... All our blessings are insignificant ... It is worth living only for the sake of the eternal, and not for the sake of the momentary.

“We need people who can be vouched for, that they won’t take a word for granted, they won’t say a word against their conscience.”

(V. I. Lenin)

Critical reappraisal life values, the most common expression of which is the question of the meaning of life, as a rule, is associated with some kind of pause (vacuum) in activity. Individual unresolved issue of self-determination in a short period "ages" the student. Sweet and consoling thoughts “about meaningless fuss” seem to give indulgence to the young man, reduce the degree of risk before possible life difficulties. Those who endure the burden of self-determination and slowly become “big uncles” themselves, eventually forget past torments and look with amazement at the new generation of young men (who follow Klinsky in friendly ranks!).

Youth mental health standards differ significantly from those of adults in a number of ways. Research through the Minnesota personality questionnaire(MMPI) show that quite normal young men have higher scores on the Schizophrenia scale (isolation, emotional coldness, fruitless philosophizing, unusual thoughts and behavior), on the Hypomania scale (excessive activity, emotional excitability, self-confidence, speech and motor disinhibition, “leap of ideas”) and on the “Psychopathy” scale (disregard for social norms, rejection of authorities, outbursts of immoral behavior).

A young man is both "hot" and "cold" than a person in other age periods. The diverse (complex) youthful behavior seems irrational to the elders. Take, for example, youthful hobbies. Even if their subject is completely innocent and positive, adults are confused and annoyed by youthful obsession, passion, and sometimes isolation that accompanies passion. How can you go crazy because of some disks, computers, motorcycles or sit around the clock with a notebook and a book? (This cannot be explained by the conflicting nature of the youthful psyche alone.) Many parents do not suspect that their child has reached the next, qualitatively new (exploratory) level of development of thinking - hypothetical-deductive (general attraction to analysis and reflection).

The previous period of development (12-15 years) was characterized by the fact that the adolescent matured the ability to abstract mental operations from objects. According to Piaget's theory, from 8 to 62% of young men, depending on the intellectual privilege of the environment, are able to consider, i.e., formulate and sort through, alternative hypotheses (“fall out of the rut”) and make their own thought the subject of analysis.

A young man can spin the problem with cosmic speed in all 4 directions. He is breathtaking from his own cognitive abilities, and, of course, it is difficult for him to stop. The young man really wants to open a universal scheme or try out a universal method, because he is about to grasp the essence, finally systematize everything or understand the principle of action! This is how our own computer programs, "constructs" in psychology, philosophy, politics, formulas for happiness and love are created. (One of my friends at school created his own typology of literary aphorisms.) As Piaget noted, even a girl's dream of a betrothed turns out to be a kind of theory that combines many properties that are either completely incompatible with each other or are extremely rarely combined. assimilating the whole the world into his universal systems, the young man behaves as if the world should obey the schemes, and not the schemes - the world. Apparently, in order to break into science or establish himself in a profession, a person should maintain this youthful obsession (this ability to concentrate on a subject, ignoring breakfasts, lunches, dinners, sleep, compulsory curriculum, etc., etc. . - everything that so tritely interferes with "working out the full load").

“Redrick looked at him over the glass and thought how different they are from each other, father and son. There was nothing in common between them. No face, no voice, no soul...

(Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Roadside picnic)

Youthful mental culture (and culture in general) is not something permanent, integral and complete. Its content is always derived from pedagogical culture adults and secondarily in relation to it. Her most “dangerous” age-related symptoms, not rooted, lie on the surface, but one must be attentive enough to understand the causes of breakdowns, throwing, and instability of one's own child. Maybe you are preventing him from meeting a girl or "pushing through a very principled decision." Maybe he has difficulties in self-determination (worried, panicked and is now urgently trying to replace the goal) or ethical difficulties (made a mistake, and close friends give him negative reinforcement). In youth, everything seems very serious!

“We must sympathize with them, we must try to understand them. We must remember that there is much to forget and much to learn when we come face to face with life for the first time. It is not so easy to give up one's ideals, and the cruel facts of our existence are bitter pills. The mental conflicts of youth can be very cruel, and there is so little we can do to somehow help.

(Somerset Maugham. Theatre)

Youth, gaining the potential of the individual, “is a little nervous” (that is, she is sometimes overwhelmed by emotions, and she commits “unmotivated acts”), which creates a lot of moral and psychological problems for relatives and friends. However, emotionally unbalanced young men, with signs of possible psychopathology, constitute a statistical minority in their age group, not exceeding 10-20% of the total.

The latest research refutes the view of youth as a "neurotic" period of human development. For most people, the transition from adolescence to adolescence is accompanied by an improvement in communication and overall emotional well-being. Painful states of the personality, even if they occur, ultimately develop the reflexive nature of the young man, his emotionality (sensuality) and interpersonal synsitivity, selectivity. Over time, the "subtle natures" will form their own psychological defense mechanisms, but this will happen at more mature stages of life.

Communication and isolation

"The development of self-consciousness is the central mental process of adolescence."

(I.S. Kon. Opening "I")

The transition of the age limit of youth does not guarantee the appearance of reflection and spirituality. (Boys at the beginning of the 10th grade still behave like teenagers.) Reflections about yourself and your life arise involuntarily, on random occasions. (Participated in zonal competitions, lost the first bout and "flew out." Six years of training, and the results are inexpressive. The thought came to leave the section: "Apparently, not mine ..." strength and external contours of the body, puberty, sexual attention, an increase in the level of claims, feedback - excite the young man's interest in his person. By gaining the ability to immerse himself in himself, in his experiences, the young man discovers a whole world.

Opening inner peace- a joyful and exciting event. The average teenager has relatively little awareness of what is going on in him. The youth experiences moments of heightened awareness. At such moments, he thinks, acts, feels most clearly and clearly. This means, for example, that a young man can decide for himself whether he likes this book (picture, music, film, teacher), regardless of the collectively opportunistic opinion of others. The "self-aware" young man does not pose and does not try to "look good": such a person is looking for answers not outside, but inside himself. (Adolescence is the least conformal of all human ages.) Sometimes a self-actualizing youth takes his independence to a degree that shocks those around him: he dances, dresses, speaks, ignoring the group norm. (Everyone goes to school at leather jackets, and he showed up in a shirt and tie!) The desire to be different from peers is expressed in the young man as strongly as the desire to copy each other in younger teenagers. (The phrase "In our class everyone wears this" is pronounced in adolescence with a completely different meaning.)

The experience of one's otherness (uniqueness, individuality) spills out onto the pages of a youthful diary. More than half of the girls surveyed and 12% of boys in high school keep diaries.

The child acquires the first literary experience of self-description in adolescence. “Diary of Friends” is the name of a school notebook, where everyone writes down their favorite book, film, domestic and foreign film actor, computer game, female-male name etc. (In adolescence, a new psychological plan of self-description will appear). The reflexive activity of girls manifests itself much earlier (from the age of 13), it is they who keep the "Diaries of Friends" and attract boys to participate.

Girls' diaries are distinguished by a greater degree of intimacy. Charlotte Buhler, having collected over 100 such diaries, discovered the surprising persistence of their subject matter. This, as a rule, is an analysis of one's own feelings and thoughts (especially love ones), interest in one's own personality, a feeling of loneliness, the problem of time, the search for an ideal - a continuous conversation with oneself and about oneself. Youthful diaries are less subjective and more objective: they reflect the intellectual hobbies and interests of the authors (the tendency to abstract abstract thinking), and also describes the event side of new contacts. (Emotional experiences are described by young men more sparingly and with restraint.) Young men begin to keep a diary from overflowing with a sense of their own significance. Most of the "boy revelations" are short-lived and not particularly intimate. For some, the diary helps to overcome temporary periods of loneliness, for others it serves as a help in literary activity. (High school students, when working on a diary, show a strong desire to improve their speech. They can rewrite the same page several times until they achieve the most “pretty” form of presentation.)

Age subcultures are relatively closed and opaque to each other. A teenager knows little about what awaits him in his youth. Together with the diary and the awareness of uniqueness, the young man discovers a state of loneliness (transient "attacks" of depressed mood). The feeling of loneliness visits all young men without exception. The unfinished judgment “More than anything in the world I'm afraid of ...” 35% of the eleventh graders add the verb “not to act”, and 85% of the tenth graders - with the noun “loneliness”.

“Pictures were hung, drawings were pinned to the walls, sometimes illustrations cut out from magazines, which often changed. A southern landscape, photographs of a provincial German town, apparently Haller's homeland, hung here interspersed with bright luminous watercolors, which we only later learned were painted by him. Then a photograph of a beautiful young woman or girl. At one time, a Siamese Buddha hung on the wall, replaced first by a reproduction of Michelangelo's "Night", and then by a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Books filled not only a large bookcase, but also lay everywhere on tables, on a beautiful old secretary, on a sofa, on chairs, on the floor, books with paper bookmarks that were constantly changing ... "

(Hermann Hesse. Steppe wolf)

Loneliness is experienced as a vague anxiety or a feeling of inner emptiness that needs to be filled with something. For the most part, this is a normal mental phenomenon, a consequence of the birth of inner life. In the transitional age, the idea of ​​the content of such concepts as "solitude" and "loneliness" gradually changes. Unlike adolescents, young men fill these words with not only negative, but also positive meanings and often make ambivalent judgments. (“More than anything in the world I am afraid of ... loneliness”, “I very often want to ... be left alone.”) The more independent and purposeful a young man is, the more pronounced his need to be alone. Only in the silence of his own soul does a person realize the meaning of personal existence.

The young man has many new questions for himself, new contexts and angles of view. Now there is no desire to constantly be in the yard (where there is always noise and din), I want to retire and think about something, I want to wander alone around the city (in the places where I once lived), stand by the picture, listen to music. The need is growing not only for social, but also for territorial (spatial) autonomy - I really want my own room. “All my childhood and youth, I passionately and hopelessly dreamed of my room” (Francois Mauriac). “As soon as I had my own room, I also had an inner life” (Anatole France). A huge part of the time of youthful loneliness is dreams (dreams of tenderness, dreams of glory). In dreams, the youth anticipates and plays countless versions of his life path. Many of them he would never share with anyone. In youth, a person seeks to protect his unique world from the invasion of strangers. Isolation in adolescence acts in relation to the elders. In adolescence, it also acts in relation to peers. In adolescence, a person is isolated from others in the process of more detailed identification (isolation as a means to preserve oneself, as a fear of losing oneself, just formed).

Of course, in addition to calm, peaceful solitude, there is also painful and intense loneliness, this is a sudden feeling of deaf melancholy or an acute state of complete hopelessness. (The mania of destruction in relation to oneself has been characteristic of youth at all times.) This is a very strong, but not very long condition (in adolescence), to overcome which it is sometimes enough to get enough sleep. Boys and girls are much more likely than older people to feel abandoned, lost, unnecessary. It’s just that they still have everything for the first time and don’t have that stubbornness and hardness that distinguish adults. (The repeated signal does not enter the brain!). The lack of experience of such experiences (love or moral) makes youth extremely vulnerable. The situation is aggravated by the fact that it is at this age that the final reconciliation of a person with the inevitability of his death takes place.

The theme of death is as irremovable from the individual consciousness of a young man as it is from the history of human culture. The child begins to be interested in the nature of death quite early, but for a long time death seems to him completely reversible (according to the principle “you can die and then come to life again”). Initially, interest in death is predominantly cognitive in nature: "Where does it come from?". In early adolescence, death is already perceived as an unavoidable phenomenon. However, most children (under adolescence) do not extend this new knowledge to themselves for a long time (“Everyone will die, but I will stay”). In older adolescence, the theme of death sounds strong enough, but the teenager is still afraid of death and drives away thoughts of it. The teenager tries either not to think, or, on the contrary, plays with death at construction sites, on motorcycles, being absolutely sure that everything will work out or get away with it (the test of fate is the test of mortality). Parting with the idea of ​​personal immortality falls on adolescence. This is a rather secretive and rapid process. In order to come to terms with one's mortality, one must "love death", one must find the beautiful and attractive sides of death. The attractive side of death could be death at the zenith of glory, when everyone around weeps and laments the loss. Being in a state of cosmic loneliness, the young man clearly imagines (paints) these pictures literally with tears in his eyes, although he understands in a corner of his consciousness that he will not be able to take advantage of this glory, that he simply will not see it. This is a very common youthful fantasy that is accompanied by making fundamental decisions, such as the decision to participate in hostilities or the choice of a suicide weapon (death craving). The young man feels his power over life and literally “walks” along the edge of death. One circumstance helps him to keep himself on the verge of life - a strange question: “Why are all those who glorify death so much, who push me to a decision about death, all these poets, writers, philosophers, film directors and rock musicians, enthusiastically talking about the emptiness of life, do not settle scores with life themselves? Why do huge masses of people live and rejoice, and only my position is so stupid?

The flip side of isolation and loneliness is a sharp youthful craving for friendship.

“A young man does not choose friendship, he is literally drawn into it.”

(Elizabeth Dauvan)

The feeling of loneliness associated with age-related difficulties in the formation of a personality gives rise to an insatiable thirst for communication in young men (but not just communication, but “real communication”). A number of researchers consider intimate-personal communication to be the leading activity of adolescence. The need for a second "I" is probably the most important need early youth. The desire to have true friends is ahead (in high school), among other life values, even love. “The first feeling to which a carefully brought up young man is susceptible is not love, but friendship,” wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762. It is the lack of communication with a friend that stimulates the birth of youthful diaries. As 15-year-old Nikolai Dobrolyubov accurately expressed: “Talk ... at least (if only - V.K.) with yourself for the lack of another interlocutor who would listen to my confessions with participation.”

The more diverse a person is, the more difficult it is for him to find another consonant with him in all respects. Complaints about the absence of a true friend were heard at all times: in antiquity, in the Middle Ages, and in the era of romanticism. Nowadays, at every second professional consultation, the psychologist asks “What do your friends think about your choice of profession?” high school boys and girls answer with a counter question: “And who do you call friends?” (On this issue, in fact, you can accurately determine with whom you are dealing: with an older teenager or with a young man.)

Teenage friendships are tied to gender, age and hobbies (even to the place of residence). Friendly communication in adolescence arises on the basis of a community of spiritual interests and mutual trust; gender, age, place of residence, joint studies or activities do not play a significant role here. Often, yesterday's teenage friends, becoming young men, do not want to have anything in common with each other. (High school teachers will tell you many heartbreaking stories about how “two girlfriends are inseparable waters” suddenly sat in different corners of the classroom and never again interested in each other.) Psychologists have found enough explanations for this psychological phenomenon. First explanation: “Adolescence is a period of active search for a friend”(to whom you can trust everything and who will praise you).

Youthful friendship actually borders on falling in love. (And there is only one step from love to hate!) In dire need of emotional attachment, the young man initially does not notice the real properties of the “partner” in communication, therefore exceptional friendships can be very swift and short-lived, until the first collision (as a test). They (relationships) are destroyed as soon as they cross the level of self-disclosure. (“I’m crazy about you while I reveal myself to you.”) “Happiness is when you are understood” is a well-known formula for youthful friendship. Youthful friendship is, to a certain extent, an intensive form of psychotherapy. Often, not a carrier of unique personal properties is chosen as a friend, but simply an object for self-disclosure. The object is chosen and then thrown (youthful egocentrism): it was absolutely necessary to prove our abilities. (We managed to get someone interested in ourselves.) The Other heals our inflamed identity with his positive feedback. Boys in high school may leave friends with little regard for their feelings. (Why do they all love to read to each other the fairy tale of Antoine Exupery " A little prince with his suggestions: “We are responsible for those we tame!”. Everything we tell each other is somehow our own problem.) Abandoned objects are quickly and completely forgotten, but the manner of relating to them (down to the smallest detail) is preserved and transferred to another object. Thus, unstable friendly relations at the first stage of identity formation (at the age of 15-17) help the young man to "reset" (neutralize) his overwhelming feelings, find confirmation that someone shares his doubts, hopes, anxieties, and again return to itself for further self-construction.

True friendship rarely arises immediately. It is often preceded by some experience of a short-term relationship. This is how the ideal of a friend is honed. A specific embodiment of one-time youthful overcontacts is visiting each other. The boys love to visit each other. (“Guests” perform a special psychological mission, this is the next stage of rapprochement between people after self-disclosure.) A guest is a contender for intimacy, for the opportunity to be present in the personal psychological space of another person with all his household quirks, “little things of life”, closest relatives, originality their relationship, etc. A friend-guest does not constrain the manifestation of our spontaneity. A guest-guest (that is, a person who still will not become our friend) by his presence forces the host (hosts) to behave not quite naturally. Repeatedly inviting a person to visit (with a short interval of time) is already the birth of a true friendship. (A friend, in general, is not invited to visit, they simply discuss the time of the meeting with him.) With a friend, you can not be afraid to “lose your face”. It is by this ease of relations at home, when no one hides anything and no one prepares for anything, that the young man recognizes his friend. With friends, the fullness of one's own life is preserved. The friend provides the necessary psychological support for the further integration of the new "I". A casual friend (“only a guest”) quickly becomes unwanted, as it interferes with this integration (in order to integrate with him, the young man must part with some parts of his “I”). A random friend (fake friend, guest) takes energy from the owner of the house, as it forces him to consciously build relationships. A few home visits are enough to accurately determine whether “friend” or “guest”; and from that moment on, either curtail communication, or open arms to another.

In youth, friendship occupies a privileged position, since it develops when a person has neither his own family, nor a profession, nor a loved one. The only rival of friendship in this age period is the young man himself, or rather his in-depth self-reflection and youthful egocentrism.

A young man is attracted to adults who have their own principles, make autonomous judgments and achieve something in life. Such mature people, admiring the personal qualities of young men and making impartial remarks about their current state, receive complete power over them. The young man is drawn to someone who does not particularly stand on ceremony in communication, but sees the potential, believes in success and suggests the direction of development.

How much do you get?

Fifteen pounds a week.

Not true. You get twelve, which is way more than what you're worth right now. You still have to learn everything. Your gestures are banal. You don't even realize that every gesture has to mean something. You don't know how to get the audience to look at you before you speak. You're putting on makeup too harshly. With a face like yours, the less makeup the better... You have a lot of charm, but you don't seem to have the slightest idea how to use it yet... Do you want to be a star?

(Somerset Maugham. Theatre)

Young men and women eagerly reach out to their elders, eagerly listen to their words and peer into their behavior. The need for emotional contact with a senior often takes the form of a passion. A young man, for example, is able to become strongly attached to a teacher. Some students attribute to their favorite teacher almost the same and even much more high level understanding than a father or mother. But there are not many such attachments. For most high school students, a close emotional connection with an adult cannot develop for various reasons. Sometimes you have to be content with episodic contacts with very nice and very strong people, which are quickly mystified and become the living embodiment of the ideal. For true friendship, the frequency and duration of contacts does not matter. The content side of short meetings is important and the only essential one. (In fact, peers predominate among youthful friends, or guys are 1-2 years older or younger.)

The degree of identification with parents in adolescence is less than in preadolescent childhood. A high school student has other authorities besides his parents. However, correct and successful parents remain an important standard of behavior for a young man. Most of all, high school students would like to see friends and advisers in their parents. (According to the Institute of Psychology of the APN, the need for informal confidential communication with parents in adolescence is less than half satisfied.) For all their need for independence, young men and women are in dire need of life experience and the help of loved ones. Particularly attractive to young people is the optimistic life concept of parents, that is, a positive perception of their profession (by their parents), their life path and a holistic attitude towards the world.

You can endlessly admonish parents about understanding adult children, but friendship does not grow from this. The essence of friendship, in the terms of Eric Berne (the author of transactional analysis), is that friends do not have an active ego state of "I am a parent." A friend is not a mentor or a teacher (although officially he can be a teacher), and certainly not a judge. He has no attempt to change the other. The friend avoids judgmental statements (“What are you dressed up as today?”) and generalization statements (“Did you go without a hat again?”). A friend cannot afford to communicate with you in an authoritarian manner and always accepts you for who you are. A friend will accept and forgive everything. A friend is an equal to you, and the ego-state “I am a child” is available to him.

The influence of parents and peers in adolescence is not always opposite (Dad was a doctor all his life, and a friend came from the regional center and told how fun medical students live). The significance for boys and girls of their parents and peers is fundamentally not the same in different fields of activity. The greatest autonomy from parents (with a focus on peers) is observed in the field of leisure, entertainment and free communication. Studies of high school students show that the vast majority of them (93-99%) prefer to spend their leisure time outside of school and outside the home.

Friendship with adults and friendship with peers satisfy different psychological needs. Boys and girls talk more about themselves with their peers. “Despite all my friendship for Dmitry ... I didn’t want to know anything more about his feelings, but I certainly wanted to tell about my love for Sonechka” (L. N. Tolstoy. Youth). A peer friend is the only person from whom a boy or girl expects higher marks than their own self-esteem. (One of the main functions of youthful friendship is to maintain the self-respect of the individual.) With an adult friend, it is unlikely that it will be possible to discuss the most intimate topics (cases of great disappointments, features of relations with the opposite sex), and even in a confessional-permissive mode. This is only possible during a consultation with a psychologist. High school students resort to confidential communication with adults mainly in career-problematic situations, when they find it difficult to make a decision related to plans for the future. With his father, the young man clarifies plans for the future, outlines ways to achieve his goals, and analyzes the difficulties of current studies. The range of issues discussed with the mother is somewhat wider; it includes, in addition to vocational guidance, satisfaction with the situation at school and the characteristics of life in the family. Personal value orientations and value orientations of parents (correlation between material and spiritual) are negotiated with an "outsider" adult (an adult friend). Thus, the choice of an older friend, in all variants, is not only based on the principle of identity, but also expresses the youthful need for an example, guardianship and guidance.

Boys in high school outside of school communicate quite a lot in groups - same-sex companies. (In the lives of men, a same-sex group means much more than in the lives of women.) Schoolchildren like to go to a disco as a team and “hang out” in the evening at their own entrance. Youth-boy groups satisfy, first of all, the need for free, unregulated communication. (You have to move your arms and legs somewhere and feel the feeling of an elbow.) Group contacts stimulate competition, leadership, the struggle for position and authority. But since the youthful company is formed mainly on the basis of joint entertainment, human contacts in it still remain superficial. No matter how important companionship and a sense of belonging to a group are at 15-17 years old, the young man is looking for deep communication. For the sake of full-fledged deep communication, the young man is ready to challenge the familiar environment and step over that “herd feeling” that so strongly characterized him in the previous (adolescent) period. In adolescence, individuality was affirmed through uniformity; in adolescence, uniformity manifests individuality! The feeling of belonging to a group of same-sex peers, of course, supports the young man, but for the sake of extremely real communication, he can neglect both gender and age.

"Friendship with a girl", the friendship of a boy and a girl (the choice of a heterosexual friend) requires a special discussion.

“A boy comes to my daughter, they lock themselves in her room, and what should I do?”

(From a letter to the regional newspaper Znamya Truda)

Friendly communication between boys and girls in high school causes embarrassment for adults: “Isn't it too early? What if it didn't work out?" Often parents try to prevent or limit such communication (“Mom chose a place for swimming away from the village boys”). However, normally, the attraction of the sexes cannot be suppressed! The desire to communicate with members of the opposite sex develops earlier than the desire for sexual contact. Only with the accumulation of sexual experience (specific sexual experience), the desire for sexual contact can become the dominant motive for intersexual communication. For a high school student, the main candidate for friends is a peer of the same sex, and only 14% of boys (students in grades 10-11) choose a girl as an ideal friend. Is it friendship or love? After all that we know about youthful friendship, the question is clearly irrelevant. (There, same-sex peers “breathe unevenly” at each other.) Mixed, opposite-sex friendship, of course, differs from the usual one and is often a veiled form of first-born love. Only this love is still on the border of love and friendship. “First youthful love” (or heterosexual friendship), just like “true friendship”, first of all helps to solve the problems of identity formation. It is difficult for her to develop into a more serious feeling; most likely, it will suddenly end, like any other early adolescent friendship (The need for intimacy at this time is almost insatiable and extremely difficult to satisfy). Many young men and women do not even have time to open up to themselves. And they are locked in a room together, because an integral part of true intimacy (communicative intimacy) is distance from outsiders and protection of their own borders.

Adolescence is the period of life from adolescence to adulthood. The age limits of this period are rather conditional - from 15 years to 21-25 years. In this period of time, a person goes from an insecure, inconsistent and aspiring adolescent to a truly adult person. The main problem of youth is the problem of choosing life values, and central neoplasm this age becomes self-determination, including the internal position of an adult, awareness of oneself as a member of society, understanding of one's purpose. At the same time, youth may not give a person anything in terms of the development of reflection and spirituality, and, having lived through this period, an adult may forever remain in the psychological status of a teenager.

15 (or 14-16) years - the transitional period between adolescence and youth. This time falls on the 9th grade of the school, when the question of the future life is decided: to continue studying at school, go to college or work? In essence, society demands initial professional self-determination from a young man. He must understand his own abilities and inclinations, have an idea about the future profession and specific ways to achieve professional excellence in the chosen field. This is extremely difficult task. It becomes even more complicated in the present historical period, when the stereotypes and values ​​developed by previous generations, including ideas about the importance of education and the prestige of a particular profession, are crumbling.

At this time, the importance of one's own values ​​is enhanced. In connection with the development of self-consciousness, the attitude towards oneself becomes more complicated. If earlier teenagers judged themselves categorically, rather straightforwardly, then young men now do it more subtly. Indefinite, ambivalent value judgments appear, such as: "I am not worse, but not better than others." "I have a bad character, but it suits me."

At this age, anxiety associated with self-esteem persists. Children are more likely to perceive relatively neutral situations as containing a threat to their self-image and experience intense anxiety because of this.

Often youth is considered stormy, uniting it in one period with adolescence. The search for the meaning of life, your place in this world can become especially intense. New needs of an intellectual and social order arise, the satisfaction of which will become possible only in the future. Sometimes this is accompanied by intrapersonal conflicts and difficulties in relationships with others.

But not everyone has a stressful period. On the contrary, some high school students move smoothly and gradually to a turning point in their lives, and then, with relative ease, are included in a new system of relationships. They are not characterized by romantic impulses, usually associated with youth, they are pleased with a calm, orderly way of life. They are more interested in generally accepted values, are more guided by the assessment of others, rely on authority. They tend to have a good relationship with their parents and give teachers little to no trouble. However, with such a prosperous course of early adolescence, there are some disadvantages in personal development. Such young men are less independent, more passive, and sometimes more superficial in their affections and hobbies. In general, it is believed that the searches and doubts characteristic of adolescence lead to the full development of the personality. Those who have gone through them are usually more independent, creative, have a more flexible mindset that allows them to make independent decisions in difficult situations, compared to those who had an easy process of personality formation at that time.

There are other options for development. These can be quick, abrupt changes, which, thanks to a high level of self-regulation, are well controlled without causing sharp emotional breakdowns. Young men define their life goals early and persistently strive to achieve them. However, with high arbitrariness and self-discipline, they have less developed reflection and emotional sphere. Another variant of development is associated with a particularly painful search for one's own path. Such young men are not self-confident and do not understand themselves well. Insufficient development of reflection, lack of deep self-knowledge in this case is not compensated by high arbitrariness. Young men become impulsive, inconsistent in actions and relationships, not responsible enough. They often reject the values ​​of their parents, but instead are unable to offer anything of their own, having merged into adulthood, they continue to rush about and remain restless for a long time.

The dynamics of development in early adolescence depends on a number of conditions. First of all, these are the features of communication with important people that significantly affect the process of self-determination. Already in the transition period from adolescence to adolescence, young people have a special interest in communication with adults. This trend intensifies in high school.

With a favorable style of relationships in the family after adolescence, with its stage of emancipation from adults, emotional contacts with parents are usually restored, and at a higher, conscious level. With all their striving for independence, young men need life experience and the help of elders; the family remains the place where they feel most calm and confident. At this time, life prospects are discussed with parents, mainly professional ones. Young men can discuss life plans both with teachers and with their adult acquaintances, whose opinion is important to them. A high school student treats a close adult as an ideal. In different people, he appreciates their different qualities, they act for him as standards in different areas - in the field of human relations, moral standards, in various activities. To them, he, as it were, tries on his ideal "I" - what he wants to become and will be in adulthood.

Relationships with adults, although becoming trusting, maintain a certain distance. In addition, in communicating with adults, they do not have to achieve deep self-disclosure, feel real psychological closeness. Those opinions and values ​​that they receive from adults are then filtered, can be selected and tested in communication with peers - communication "on an equal footing".

Communication with peers is also necessary for the formation of self-determination in early youth, but it has other functions. If a high school student resorts to confidential communication with an adult, mainly in problem situations, when he himself finds it difficult to make a decision related to his plans for the future, then communication with friends remains intimate, personal, confessional. He, just as in adolescence, introduces the other to his inner world - to his feelings, thoughts, interests, hobbies. WITH best friend or a friend discusses the cases of the greatest disappointments currently experienced, relationships with peers - members of the opposite sex (in addition to spending free time, which is also discussed with less close friends). The content of such communication is real life, not life prospects; the information passed on to a friend is quite confidential. Communication requires mutual understanding, inner closeness, frankness. It is based on the attitude to the other as to oneself, it reveals one's own real "I". It supports self-acceptance, self-respect. Youthful friendship is unique, it occupies an exceptional position among other attachments. However, the need for intimacy at this time is practically insatiable, it is extremely difficult to satisfy it. The requirements for friendship are increasing, its criteria are becoming more complicated. Youth is considered a privileged age of friendship, but high school students themselves consider true friendship rare.

The emotional tension of friendship is reduced when love appears. Youthful love involves a greater degree of intimacy than friendship, and it kind of includes friendship. After feigned, as a rule, hobbies in adolescence (although even then there may be very serious exceptions), the first real love may appear.

High school students, imagining what they will be like in their close adult life, expect a deep, vivid feeling to come. Youthful dreams of love reflect, first of all, the need for emotional warmth, understanding, and spiritual intimacy. At this time, the need for self-disclosure, human intimacy, and the sensuality associated with physical maturation often do not coincide. As I.S. Cohn, the boy doesn't love the woman he's attracted to, and he's not attracted to the woman he loves.

The opposition between love as a lofty feeling and biological sexual need is especially pronounced in boys. Falling in love, they can call friendship the nascent affection, and at the same time they experience strong, devoid of subtle psychological content, eroticism. Boys often exaggerate the physical aspects of sexuality, and some try to block it out. Usually in such cases asceticism or intellectualism serve as psychological protection. Instead of learning to control the manifestations of their sensuality, they strive to completely suppress them: ascetics - because sensuality is "dirty", and intellectuals - because it is "uninteresting". High school students, just like teenagers, tend to imitate each other and assert themselves in the eyes of their peers with the help of real or imaginary "victories". Not only in middle school, but also in high school, easy loves resemble epidemics: as soon as one couple appears, everyone else immediately falls in love. Moreover, many are addicted at the same time to the same most popular girl (or boy) in the class. The ability for intimate youthful friendship and romantic love that arises during this period will affect future adulthood. These deepest relationships will determine important aspects of personality development, moral self-determination, and who and how an adult will love.

Early youth is characterized by aspiration to the future. If at the age of 15 life did not change dramatically, and the older teenager remained at school, he thereby delayed the exit to adulthood for two years and, as a rule, the very choice of further nougat. In this relatively short period, it is necessary to create a life plan - to decide who to be (professional self-determination) and what to be (personal or moral self-determination). A life plan is not the same as a teenager's vague dreams about the future. A high school student should not only imagine his future in general terms, but be aware of ways to achieve his life goals. In the senior class, children focus on professional self-determination. It involves self-restraint, the rejection of teenage fantasies in which a child could become a representative of any, the most attractive profession. A high school student has to navigate in various professions, which is not at all easy, since the attitude to professions is based not on one's own, but on someone else's experience. This experience is usually abstract, not lived through, not suffered by the child. In addition, you need to correctly assess your objective capabilities - the level of training, health, material conditions of the family and, most importantly, your abilities and inclinations. Now, apparently, one of the most important is the material factor - the ability to earn a lot in the future. How prestigious the chosen profession or university the child is going to enter will turn out to depend on his level of aspirations. There is a clear trend that manifests itself throughout the senior classes: the closer the school graduation, the more often the revisions of one's life plans, the lower the level of claims. This may be the result of a reasonable rejection of groundless hopes, but it may also be a manifestation of cowardice, fear of taking a decisive step. Self-determination, both professional and personal, becomes the central neoplasm of early adolescence. This is a new internal position, including awareness of oneself as a member of society, acceptance of one's place in it. Self-determination is associated with a new perception of time - the correlation of the past and the future, the perception of the present from the point of view of the future. In childhood, time was not consciously perceived and experienced, now the time perspective is realized: “I” embraces the past that belongs to it and rushes into the future. But the perception of time is contradictory. The feeling of the irreversibility of time is often combined with the notion that time has stopped. A high school student feels either very young, even very small, or, on the contrary, very old and experienced everything. Only gradually is a connection established between “me as a child” and “the adult that I will become”, the continuity of the present and the future, which is important for personal development.

Striving for the future only has a beneficial effect on the formation of personality when there is satisfaction with the present. Under favorable conditions for development, a high school student strives for the future, not because he feels bad in the present, but because the future will be even better. Awareness of the time perspective and the construction of life plans require self-confidence, in one's strengths and capabilities.

After 15 years, self-esteem increases again, not only compensating for the “losses” of adolescence, but also surpassing the level of self-esteem of younger students. IN Russian schools interesting dynamics of self-esteem development was revealed. Typically youthful features are characteristic of tenth-graders' self-assessment - it is relatively stable, high, relatively conflict-free, and adequate. Children at this particular time are distinguished by an optimistic view of themselves, their capabilities and are not too anxious. All this, of course, is connected with the formation of the "I-concept" and the need for self-determination.

In the senior class, the situation becomes more tense. Life choices, which were quite abstract last year, are becoming a reality. Some high school students still maintain an “optimistic” self-esteem. It is not too high, it harmoniously correlates desires, claims and assessment of one's own capabilities. For others, self-esteem is high and global - it covers all aspects of life; mixes the desired and the realistically achievable. Another group of children, on the contrary, is distinguished by self-doubt, experiencing that gap between claims and possibilities, which they are clearly aware of. Their self-esteem is low, conflict. In connection with changes in self-esteem, anxiety increases by the end of schooling. Self-esteem of a particular high school student depends not only on the general situation, but also on individual value orientations that determine the evaluative component of the "I-concept", which includes not only intellectual qualities, but also sociability, the ability to maintain friendly relations.

Despite some fluctuations in the levels of self-esteem and anxiety and a variety of options for personal development, we can talk about the general stabilization of the personality during this period, which began with the formation of the "I-concept" at the border of adolescence and senior school age. High school students are more self-accepting than teenagers, their self-esteem is generally higher. Self-regulation is intensively developing, control over one's behavior, the manifestation of emotions is increasing. The mood in early youth becomes more stable and conscious. Children at 16-17 years old, regardless of temperament, look more restrained, balanced than at 11-15. At this time, the moral stability of the individual begins to develop. In his behavior, a high school student is increasingly guided by his own views, beliefs, which are formed on the basis of acquired knowledge and his own, albeit not very large, life experience. Knowledge about the surrounding world and moral standards are combined in his mind into a single picture. Thanks to this, moral self-regulation becomes more complete and meaningful. Self-determination, stabilization of the personality in early youth are associated with the development of a worldview. High school students write: "A difficult age (i.e., adolescence) denotes, rather, a period of physical change, while the crisis of adolescence means a series of moral or philosophical problems."

intellectual development, accompanied by the accumulation and systematization of knowledge about the world, and interest in the individual, reflection, in early youth turn out to be the basis on which worldview views are built. The very process of cognition of the surrounding world has its own specifics in different age periods. A teenager goes to the knowledge of reality largely "on his own", through his experiences. A high school student, on the contrary, cognizing the environment, returns to himself and asks worldview questions: “What do I mean in this world?” "What place do I occupy in it?" "What are my options?" "What am I?" He is looking for clear, definite answers and is categorical in his views, not flexible enough. No wonder they talk about youthful maximalism. It should be borne in mind that worldview problems are not solved once in a lifetime, once and for all. The subsequent turns of life will lead to a revision of youthful positions. An adult will return to these "eternal" questions, abandoning his previous decisions or strengthening his opinion, but at a different, higher level. Of course, not all high school students develop a worldview - a system of clear, stable beliefs. In this regard, it is useful to recall the position of E. Erickson about the need for a worldview choice in youth. The absence of this choice, the confusion of values ​​does not allow the individual to find his place in the world of human relations and does not contribute to his mental health.

Another point related to self-determination is the change in learning motivation. high school students, leading activity which are usually called educational and professional begin to consider education as a necessary base, a prerequisite for the future professional activity. They are mainly interested in the subjects that they will need in the future, they again begin to worry about academic performance (if they decide to continue their education). Hence the lack of attention to the "unnecessary" academic disciplines, often humanitarian, and a rejection of the markedly dismissive attitude towards grades that was accepted among adolescents. The cognitive development of young men is not so much in the accumulation of knowledge and skills, but in the formation of an individual style of mental activity.

In general, adolescence is a period of stabilization of the personality. At this time, a system of stable views on the world and one's place in it is formed - a worldview. Known associated with this youthful maximalism in assessments, passion in defending their point of view. The central new formation of the period is self-determination, professional and personal.

Crisis of adolescence resembles crises of 1 year (speech regulation of behavior) and 7 years (normative regulation). At the age of 17 it happens value-semantic self-regulation of behavior. If a person learns to explain, and, consequently, regulate his actions, then the need to explain his behavior leads to the subordination of these actions to new legislative schemes.

At young man there is a philosophical intoxication of consciousness, he is thrown into doubts, thoughts that interfere with his active active position. Sometimes such a state turns into value relativism (the relativity of all values).

Questions for self-control:

What cognitive changes occur in adolescence?

Describe the characteristics of the communication of young men

How is the process of becoming self-awareness in youth

Describe the educational and professional activities of young men as the leading

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Newborn and infancy

Prenatal development, its features. Psychological characteristic the act of birth (S. Grof). general characteristics newborns as a crisis period in development. Features of the transition from the prenatal period to postnatal childhood. A radical change in the way of life and the type of reflection. Morphological features of the cerebral cortex and features of GNI

baby. The development of analyzers at the time of birth. The nature of early reactions. Unconditioned reflexes baby (food, defensive, indicative).

The social situation of development in infancy. The problem of the formation of the first social need of the child - the need for communication. "Complex of revival" as the main neoformation of the period of early infancy, its significance for the mental development of the child. The problem of deprivation and its consequences for the mental development of the child (R. Spitz, D. Bowlby). Direct-emotional communication as the leading type of activity in infancy. The development of forms of communication and the mechanism of "advanced initiative" of an adult (M.I. Lisina). The need to communicate with peers.

The main patterns of development of sensory processes in infancy. Features of the relationship between the development of sensory and motor skills in the period of early and late infancy, its theoretical significance. The development of visual and auditory perception in the process of developing forms of communication between a child and an adult.

The emergence and development of the act of grasping. Stages of development of manipulations with an object in infancy. Development of postural and locomotor movements. Preparation period in the development of speech. The value of emotional communication with an adult (situational-personal) and communication about the subject (situational-business) for the development of a child's speech. Features of understanding speech and the development of the prerequisites for active speech (cooing, cooing, babbling) for the development of active speech.

The emergence and development of memory in infancy. Factors that determine individual differences in the course of infant development. Temperament, its main characteristics. Psychological characteristics of the infant by the end of the first year of life. The crisis of one year, its causes and psychological meaning. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental features.

Early age

Characteristics of the social situation of development at an early age. Complication of activities and forms of communication. Object-tool activity is the leading activity of a young child. Qualitative differences between the instrumental actions of the child and the instrumental actions of higher primates. The main patterns and stages in the development of subject-tool actions at an early age (P.Ya. Galperin, D.B. Elkonin). The need to communicate with peers. Characteristics of the play activity of a young child. The main patterns of development of perception in early childhood. Early forms of visual-effective thinking. Features and patterns of development of the first children's generalizations and judgments. The main patterns of development of the child's speech. Features of the development of speech understanding. Characterization of the features of the child's mastery of the semantic, phonemic and grammatical aspects of speech at an early age. Memory development in early childhood.

Features of the development of emotions. Initial forms personal development beginning of self-knowledge and the formation of the image of "I". The transition from "field" to volitional behavior (K. Levin). Crisis of three years. Causes, phenomenology, psychological significance and ways to resolve the crisis. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental features.

Before school age

General characteristics of the social situation of the development of a child of preschool age. Features of the development of forms of communication with adults (M.I. Lisina) and with peers. The formation of the children's team and its role in the development of the child's personality. The role of the family in the development of a preschool child.

Role-playing game as a leading activity of preschool age. The structure of the game. The value of the game for the mental development and formation of the child's personality. Development of perception in preschool age, its dependence on the activities of the child. The problem of sensory education, the conditions for its success. Mastery of socially developed sensory standards and the formation of perceptual actions.

The development of thinking in preschool age. The development of mediation and visual modeling as the basis for a qualitative transformation of the child's thinking. Interaction of types of thinking. Visual-figurative thinking as the main neoplasm of preschool age. Features of generalizations and judgments of a preschooler. Development of logical intelligence. Mastering the concept of "preservation" as an indicator of the child's transition to a concrete operational stage of intelligence development.

Development of speech functions. The problem of development of the regulatory function of speech. The phenomenon of speech "for oneself". The development of contextual speech. Memory development. The problem of the formation of arbitrarily and mediated memory. "Parallelogram" of memory development. The ratio of involuntary and arbitrary memory. The development of attention and its features.

Personality development in preschool age. Development of self-concept, features of self-esteem. Gender-role identification in preschool age. The development of needs and motives, the emergence of new social motives. Establishing a hierarchy of motives. The development of emotions. Features of the formation of moral (pride, shame, guilt), aesthetic feelings, cognitive interests. The development of empathy and the beginning of awareness of feelings and emotions. Development of the will and arbitrariness of behavior control. Stages of moral development (L. Kohlberg).

The problem of psychological readiness for schooling. The main indicators of the child's psychological readiness for school. The crisis of seven years, its causes and features of the course. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental features.

Junior school age

Characteristics of the social situation of development in primary school age. Learning activities as a leading activity. Structure and general patterns of formation of educational activity (D.B. Elkonin). The development of learning motives. The dynamics of changes in attitudes towards learning during primary school age. The problem of adaptation to school.

Social life of junior schoolchildren. Peculiarities of communication with peers. Friendship at primary school age, its age-psychological features, stages of development. Social status and relationships with peers.

Basic psychological neoplasms of primary school age: reflection, analysis, planning. Features of the development of perception and attention. Formation of observation. The memory of a junior schoolchild, ways to improve its effectiveness. Features of the development of imagination. The problem of intellectualization of mental processes, their awareness and arbitrariness.

The development of the personality of a younger student. Features of the development of self-concept. Initial forms of reflection, the formation of self-esteem in connection with the development of educational activities. Development of motivational-need and volitional sphere. Features of the assimilation of moral norms, the concept of justice and rules of conduct. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental characteristics.

Adolescence

The "crisis" of adolescence. Anatomical, physiological and psychological prerequisites for the transition to adolescence. The role of puberty. The role of heterochrony of organic, sexual and social development in the onset of adolescence. Socio-historical nature of adolescence. The role of cultural institutions in the process of socialization of adolescents. The transition from socialization to individualization as the main characteristic of adolescence. Individual and gender differences in the pace and nature of the physical, mental and social development of adolescents.

Theories of adolescence (St. Hall, E. Spranger, S. Buhler, E. Erickson, J. Piaget). Psychological characteristics of adolescence in the works of L.S. Vygotsky. Development of interests (dominants) in adolescence. The problem of leading activity of a teenager. The role of communication with peers in the mental development of a teenager. The group of peers and interaction in it as a modeling of the relations of adult members of society. "Code of Association". Teenage friendships. The feeling of adulthood as the main psychological neoformation of adolescence, a specific form of self-consciousness (D.B. Elkonin). Types of adulthood, ways and conditions of its formation. The role of samples. Formation of a new type of relationship with adults.

Educational activities of adolescents. Development of cognitive motives. Selective attitude to academic subjects. Changing the nature of the relationship with the teacher. Other activities of a teenager and their significance for mental development. Mediation, awareness and arbitrariness as the main indicators of development cognitive processes. Development of formal-operational intelligence.

Personality formation in adolescence. The task of reconstructing the bodily image of I. The main patterns of the development of self-consciousness. Formation of self-esteem. Adolescent aspiration level. The emergence of ideals as the embodiment of the level of claims. Development of the affective-need sphere. Exacerbation of the need for personality-oriented communication, self-affirmation and social recognition. Will development. Formation of personality orientation. The development of moral judgments and moral convictions in adolescence. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental features.

adolescence

The place of adolescence in the periodization of the integral life cycle. The transitional nature of adolescence. The problem of leading activity of adolescence. Formation of a professional orientation and preliminary professional self-determination as a leading neoplasm of adolescence. Psychological features of the choice of profession.

Educational activities in adolescence. Transition to self-education and self-education. Development of abstract, divergent and hypothetical-deductive thinking.

Development of communication in adolescence. Group membership. Informal and formal youth associations and groups. The phenomenon of "youth subculture", its psychological significance. Love and friendship in adolescence. Building a new type of relationship with parents.

The development of self-consciousness as the achievement of personal identity (E. Erickson). Conditions for making a choice in the professional, ideological and sphere interpersonal relationships. The development of the image of I. Youthful diaries and their meaning. Development of motives for self-expression and self-realization on the basis of self-knowledge of the individual. Formation of the value-semantic sphere. The development of moral consciousness. Dreams and ideals in adolescence, their psychological role for personality development. Self-determination and building life plans in time perspective as the main neoformation of adolescence. Development of the will and ability to self-government. Ways of development of scientific outlook. Psychological counseling of parents, taking into account age-related developmental features.

Psychology of mature ages

Criteria of "mature adulthood". Correlation of chronological, biological, psychological and social age. Development tasks as a basis for identifying periods of maturity. Youth as the initial stage of maturity and entry into adulthood. Youth as a "time of travel" - the search for oneself and the transition to a stable lifestyle. Creating a "dream" and directed the formation of a stable structure of life. Development tasks: awareness of oneself in an adult status and acceptance of social responsibility, rights and obligations, mastering a profession and starting a professional activity, finding and choosing a friend and getting married, forming a paternal and maternal position, raising children, shaping an image and lifestyle and social circle .

The transition to middle maturity as a normative crisis (about 30 years), due to the discrepancy between the ideal model of the "dream" of the lifestyle and reality. Experiencing a sense of loss of life and the pressure of time. Ways out of the crisis: personal and semantic restructuring, correction of life plans and lifestyle. Medium maturity (midlife). heyday creative activity and professional activities. Formation of the need to transfer experience to others, mentoring. Increasing need for achievements and social recognition, special sensitivity to social assessments. Building a career.

The transition to maturity (about 40 years old) as a normative crisis in development, a “turn in life”. Awareness of the loss of youth and the reality of death. Changing the perception of time perspective. The beginning of a decrease in physical strength and capabilities. Change in personal attitude and semantic restructuring of consciousness, change in the hierarchy of motives. Increasing need for productive self-expression. Individualization and the formation of self-sufficiency and independence.

Maturity is the pinnacle of life. Collective productive activity as the leading activity of the given period. The main tasks of development: the preservation of marital relations, the upbringing of children, career achievements, the development of forms of leisure and hobbies, acceptance and adaptation to changes in the body, taking responsibility for aging parents. Features of social activity in adulthood. Loneliness in adulthood and its consequences.

The problem of the development of cognitive processes in adulthood. Factors affecting the development of intelligence in adulthood. Criticism of maturity theories as "mental fossils". Opportunities for learning in adulthood. Causes of the normative crisis of 50-55 years (changes in the social situation of development and age-related restructuring of the body).

The period of aging and old age. Biological and social factors aging. Historical variability in the assessment of old age and aging. The role of psychological and personal factors in the process of aging. Age-related changes in perception, attention, memory, thinking during aging and the possibility of their compensation. Prevention of aging. Development Challenges: Acceptance

and the development of new social roles, adaptation to the loss of physical capabilities, summing up the results of life and its acceptance, the development of a personal position in relation to death, self-service activities as an opportunity to maintain independence and independence. Development of the need for the transfer of accumulated experience, respect and self-affirmation. Retirement. The problem of participation in labor activity in old age, its importance for maintaining normal life and longevity. The importance of public interests for the formation of active old age. Life wisdom as a personal neoplasm, the result of resolving the crisis between personal integration and decay and despair. The impact of life history on the aging process. Features of communication and interpersonal relationships in old age. Loneliness in old age. Compensatory mechanisms during aging.

Youth is the age with which the formation of personality is associated. During this period, the foundations of the worldview and self-awareness of a person are laid. Boys and girls form their moral ideals and civic position, and also learn to be independent and not depend on their parents. As a rule, this period of personality development takes 3-4 years: for girls - from 16 to 20 years old, for boys - from 17 to 21 years old. There is also the concept of early youth (15-18 years old) and late (18-23 years old).

The development of a person in youth implies not only the physical maturation of the body, but also social transformation. During this period, such events as obtaining a passport, the onset of criminal liability and awareness of it, obtaining the right to marry, etc. become key. Many young men and women start working at the age of 16-18, learn to earn money and face the important issue of choosing a profession. characteristic feature psychological development personality in adolescence is that young people begin to think about the future and plan their life path.

Puberty in adolescence and new social roles

Adolescence is the period of puberty. This is the age of onset of physiological maturity, when the growth of the body slows down, the formation of the cardiovascular system, tissues and other organs ends, an increase in muscle mass of the body is noted and, as a result, physical performance and endurance increase. All age stages of development can be determined depending on the age-related tasks that a person is able to solve in a specific period of his life:

• obtaining a complete picture of their appearance and body features, the formation of skills for their effective use in work, sports and other areas of activity;
• awareness of the gender role in society, the formation of a male or female internal position, the choice of a behavior model;
• the formation of mature social ties with peers - both male and female;
• upholding emotional independence from adults;
• determination of one's own inclinations to one or another type of professional activity (during this period, training at school or university is aimed at obtaining professional skills);
• awareness of the peculiarities of the institution of marriage, preparation for family life and the responsibility associated with partnership and the upbringing of children;
• formation of a civic position and a social model of behavior, strengthening one's own political, ideological, environmental and other views;
• building an internal scheme of ideals and values, which in the future will become the main guide for behavior in society.

Personal development in adolescence

At the end of school, the emerging personality has a crisis associated with the need to enter adulthood. This period falls on 15-17 years. Adolescence is a very important stage in a person's life, because it is then that professional self-determination takes place. Therefore, this age is distinguished by a selective attitude to academic disciplines. As a rule, boys and girls focus on those subjects and preparatory courses required for admission to the chosen university.

IN high school students form an idea of ​​their future professional activities and determine the desired role in society. The main indicators of psychological readiness for adulthood and career choice are:

• well-formed theoretical thinking, awareness of citizenship and one's role in society, developed self-awareness and reflection;
• developed system of needs (communication, career, cultural enrichment, etc.);
• formed individuality of character as a result of awareness of one's own interests and needs.

Adolescence is characterized by formal-logical and formal-operational types of thinking. This means that a person operates with abstract, theoretical, hypothetical and deductive knowledge that is not directly related to the current conditions in society. High school students begin to show more interest in certain disciplines, as there is an awareness that their further professional activity depends on the success of their studies. The importance of self-education is growing.

Adolescence is characterized by an increase in memory capacity. A person begins to choose the most rational methods of assimilation educational material. The development of thought processes allows a person to apply complex operations of analysis, synthesis, abstraction, argumentation and theoretical generalization. In adolescence, a person learns to think critically, check facts and look for sound evidence for their theories. As a rule, in adolescence, special abilities (mathematical, linguistic, etc.) are actively developed. With the awareness of the ability to internally analyze one's own feelings, thoughts and actions, an individual can correct contradictions in his behavior, form the desired family model, social and moral ideals.

Boys and girls of this age tend to formulate broad philosophical generalizations, put forward their own hypotheses in a particular area. As a rule, they strongly influence the self-determination of the individual and the construction of life plans, however, the behavior model can be successfully adjusted at a more mature age.

Psychology of adolescence and youthful "I"

The psychology of adolescence is a system of guidelines and attitudes that determine the readiness of an individual for self-determination. Among those:

• formed psychological structures (the foundations of the worldview, self-awareness, theoretical thinking, developed reflection);
• developed needs that form the basis of the personality (internal position, desire for communication, knowledge, social and professional realization, moral and value attitudes, etc.);
• formed character traits (awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, a critical attitude towards them).

The "I" concept of the individual is a key issue in psychology, to which a huge amount of research has been devoted. Especially dangerous in adolescence is the negative "I"-concept. It is distinguished by:

• low self-esteem;
• weak self-confidence;
• lowered bar of aspirations.

All this has the most negative impact on the individual, leads to social passivity, cultural and moral degradation, and also causes aggressive behavior. Such people are prone to loneliness and often begin to lead a criminal lifestyle.

In-depth introspection is the basis for setting the right life guidelines and self-improvement of a person. In adolescence, value orientations are developed, an idea is formed about the world around, society and one's role in it. Adolescence is characterized by the active development of the emotional sphere. As a rule, young people are optimistic and are in high vitality. At this age, a person is characterized by empathy and high internal susceptibility.

Communication with peers is a vital necessity for boys and girls. This period of psychological formation is characterized by an increased need to expand the circle of friends and acquaintances, to build personal relationships. At the same time, friendships become deeper and more selective. Difficulties in relationships are a common occurrence in adolescence, since people of this age category are characterized by increased demands, uncompromisingness and criticality towards others, based on egocentrism.

youth crisis

The reason for the crisis of 17-18 years is the acquisition of a new social status, the burden of responsibility for choosing a life path and the incompatibility of opportunities with one's own desires. In especially acute cases, various fears and worries lead to the appearance of persistent stress, which leads to a deterioration in well-being and such neurotic reactions (such as dizziness, fever, etc.). In such situations, it is important for young people to be aware of the support from their parents and loved ones. The formation of motives for self-realization and self-identification in society ends at the age of 22-23 years.

Career guidance during youth

The choice of a future profession is, first of all, the projection of a certain social role onto oneself. This is not just a desire to acquire professional skills and abilities, but a continuous process of understanding the tasks and goals of the chosen activity. Thus, professional self-determination is a chain of choices that determine the further development of a boy or girl in the desired professional field.

Many researchers who have dealt with the issue of professional self-determination believe that this process is very long in time, since it has many stages and stages. To decide on the desired profession, a person needs to analyze the current tasks of society, form the desired lifestyle, an integral part of which will be professional activity. The main thing for an individual is to understand that the choice made does not narrow the further possibilities of his own realization, but gives invaluable experience for future self-determination.

With the onset of adolescence, the need for career guidance becomes more and more relevant. In fact, a person returns to the choice of a future profession several times during the entire period of his growing up. This psychological process has the following stages:

• fantastic choice (up to 11 years old) - the child imagines the desired future, without analyzing the existing goals and means;
• primary choice (12-15 years old) - the child has undifferentiated ideas about various professions and makes his choice regardless of his own inclinations;
• trial choice (16-19 years old) - the desired profession is determined on the basis of real conditions, however, as a rule, boys and girls at this age are not yet confident in their own abilities and can quickly change priorities; gradually, the most acceptable ones are selected from a variety of options;
• realistic choice (after 19 years old) - analysis of one's own abilities and opportunities for acquiring professional skills, seeking the opportunity to consult with authority figures.

The development in adolescence of a craving for a certain area of ​​professional activity and the problem of professional self-determination are described in detail in the works of many psychologists. Following the theory of the content-procedural model, the basis of the professional self-determination of the personality is its moral attitudes, the desire for self-knowledge and the need for realization in society. When choosing a profession, young people go through the following psychological stages:

• awareness of the value of the chosen field of activity for society;
• analysis of the relevance of the profession in the context of the current social and economic situation in the country;
• search for opportunities to acquire the necessary professional skills and practical training;
• determination of professional aspirations, career prospects;
• the choice of other life goals (personal, family, etc.) and their coordination with professional ones;
• awareness of internal and external obstacles that will impede the path to the chosen goal.

realities modern world strongly influence the professional self-determination of a young man. As a rule, in their choice, young people are guided not by their own inclinations, but by the prestige and elitism of the profession, as well as by the size of the potential salary. Today, a successful person is considered to be a person who quickly made a career and at a young age achieved rapid success and wealth. Experts emphasize the danger of such aspirations, which are “fueled” by the media, publications on the Internet and public opinion. The desire to get rich quick and build a successful business undermines the foundation of professional self-determination, prevents young people from making the right personal choices and, as a rule, leads to professional collapse. Parents and other adults can help boys and girls with this problem. What is important here is a reasonable and non-manipulative adjustment of the choice of a future profession for a child, and not the issuance of ready-made recommendations and peremptory decisions. Thus, professional self-determination in adolescence will occur gradually and correctly, which will enable young people to form their desired life goals and, if necessary, correct them.

adolescence This is a significant and important period in the life of every person. It is a rather extensive time period and covers the period from 14-15 to 21-23 years. The period of adolescence is between adolescence (preceding) and youth (subsequent age period).

Conventionally, it is customary to divide the period of adolescence into senior school (early adolescence - from 14-15 to 17-18 years old) and youth itself (17-18 to 21-23 years old).

The age of 14-15 to 17-18 is biologically the period of completion of physical maturation. Most young men and women enter it post-performed, that is, they have reached biological maturity.

During adolescence, there is again an increase in the activity of the cerebral cortex, while in adolescence, subcortical activity was enhanced. The activity of an older student is conscious and programmable, voluntary actions predominate.

Leading Dr. early adolescence becomes an educational and professional activity, in which teaching becomes the main goal in mastering the basics of the sciences, especially those related to professional self-determination. Therefore, the social situation of development becomes tentative-professional activity and the choice of the future profession. What causes a senior student to be selective in relation to subjects. Educational activity at senior school age begins to be perceived as preparation for a future profession. Compared to teenagers, their attitude to grades changes, their dismissive attitude towards them disappears. Petrovsky believes that it is at this age that a conscious attitude to learning appears. The main achievement of age- The ability to learn independently. This causes the senior student to have a selective attitude towards the subjects studied and teachers.

The cognitive activity of the older student, which is closely connected with all mental processes, is fundamentally restructured, as the student is preparing not only to receive vocational education but also master the skills of self-education.

The senior student actively learns to plan his school, rationally allocate time for the implementation of these tasks. He consciously directs his attention. (appearance of post-voluntary attention). Volume, distribution, switchability of attention - like an ADULT.

The senior student actively and consciously uses rational methods of memorization.

Thinking becomes not only verbally-logical, but THEORETICAL. The main medium is the expanded INTERNAL SPEECH. In adolescence, not only a system of knowledge is accumulated, but an INDIVIDUAL STYLE of mental activity is formed.

General emotional state is more even compared to adolescence, although most young men are characterized by youthful maximalism (internal contradictions, the desire to oppose oneself to the environment, the unacceptability of something), the behavior is more restrained and reasoned. A special place is occupied by unconscious readiness for a feeling of falling in love and first love (idealization, striving for spiritual community, tenderness and worship). The need for same-sex friendship (fidelity, devotion, sincerity, trust and self-expression in one's environment). The desire to emphasize their difference from adults.

senior school age- a period of intensive formation of the orientation of the personality, worldview, beliefs, ideals, social needs and motives, value orientations, professional interests.

Central neoplasm- personal and professional self-determination. There is a formation of his internal position; by the end of the period adequate self-esteem The stability of the concentration of "I", the discovery of one's inner world, which is marked by the transition to the proper youthful age.

Actually youthful age ast - the beginning of adulthood - the period of growing up.

In biological development, this ageast characterized by the complete formation of the whole organism and systems, as well as the brain. The development of the cortex due to connections between brain cells, especially connections of the second signaling system - age is sensitive for the development of intellectual (logical) functions.

The most striking feature of adolescence is the flexibility of the National Assembly, susceptibility to everything new (it can easily master all innovations).

Because relevant for this age is the appearance of the first love => there is an increased interest and sensitivity to their appearance.

Youth- a period of professional and social self-determination, individualization of the subject of one's own life. The leading sphere of d-ti becomes special - professional education at the university; labor doctor.

The term “individualization” of youth was introduced by V.I. Slobodchikov and E.I. Isaev, they believe that the central problem of this age period “is to find an individual, truly one’s own attitude to social reality, to one’s culture and to one’s time. With the beginning of the stage of individualization, the reflection of all one's abilities as really one's abilities is connected.

After leaving school, the life of young people changes dramatically. They are to:

1. Decide on the real social reality;

2. Make right choice professions

3. Adapt to the new conditions of adult life.

On the transition to adolescence, a CRISIS of 17 YEARS arises, which is associated with the acquisition of the status of an adult, but also with a mass of negative experiences.

D. B. Elkonin considered. That the crisis of 17 years, associated with increased anxiety, fears and stress, even in comparison with adolescent crises, is the most difficult.

One of the leading features of adolescence itself is professional and personal self-determination. “Self-determination” is an active determination of a position regarding a socially developed system of values ​​and, on this basis, the identification of the meaning of one’s own life.

As for the self-determination of the individual, it is seen as "a conscious act of identifying and asserting one's own position in problem situations." Special forms of self-determination of the individual are self-determination of the individual in a group and professional self-determination.

Kulagin and Kolyutsky distinguish the following types of personality orientation:

1. Hedonistic (pleasure) path - does not imply professional and personal self-determination.

2. Selfish (selfish) - there is a system of values, but professional and personal self-determination is influenced by external conditions (money side, prestige of the profession)

3. Essential, spiritual and moral: the search for a vocation, the choice of a profession that meets inclinations.

E. Erickson in his theory of personality development identifies polar qualities that are formed under favorable and unfavorable conditions. Combining adolescence and adolescence 12-20 years old in one age period, the area of ​​social relations in which are groups of peers, under favorable conditions, the identity (integrity) of the individual arises, which subsequently leads to the formation of such qualities as self-determination, devotion and fidelity. Otherwise, there is a lack of recognition of oneself as a person.

Freud singled out the genital stage (12-18 years of development in a given age period). stage due to biological maturation during puberty and completing psychosexual development. There is a surge of sexual and aggressive urges, the Oedipus complex is reborn on a new level: there is an interest in another sexual object partner of the opposite sex. Normally, at this stage, there is a search for a place in society, the choice of a marriage partner, the creation of a family; liberation from the authority of parents, attachment to them. Genital x-r, according to Freud, is an ideal type of personality, level mature personality. Required quality genital x-ra - the ability to heterosexual love without guilt or conflict experiences.

J. Piaget, in his periodization of child development, singled out the stage of formal operations (from the age of 12 until the end of life), when the flexibility of thinking develops, operating with abstract concepts, the ability to find a solution various tasks evaluating each option.