Self Regulation and Adolescent Choices - Essay Example

Self-Regulation and Choice Introduction: The age that reflects mixed attitudes towards socio- economic, physical and mental development as well as reactions to emotions to upheavals has been rightly designated as adolescence, the onset of which, begins in early teenage and extends up to the early twenties. It is during this phase that the individual undergoes significant transformation in character and development of cognition that remain till death. It is this period of formation that is crucial enough in pre- determining the nature and characteristic of the individual in the coming years. An attribute to self regulation is self efficacy, which plays a dominant role in the choice that the adolescent makes. Hence, Self efficacy and Choice is the topic that deserves to be analyzed and substantiated for. Background: Recent studies on self regulation have provided an insight into how students effectively respond to influences from the outside and then integrate them with their personal experiences. In the opinion of Michael Blocher, who has analyzed individual behavior, “Self- regulation has been recently studied to provide understanding for attributes of how traditional classroom students use their cognition, meta cognition and motivation to provide a successful learning experience. Locus of self- control, learning style, self regulation skills form a part of the wholesome development of the individual as a student, a researcher and as a learned scholar” (Blocher). This fact is crucial enough to provide proof to the fact that self regulation skills are essential to the formation of attitudes, behavior styles as well as response to external environment. Evidences: Further, linkages between self regulatory processes and achievement are noted to be co existent factors. In a certain assessment for 3 years, among 732 children, who were identified as possessing lower grades, it was deduced that lower achieving students were not given initiation into self regulatory methods. This draws insight into the fact that early efforts to promote self efficacy in children, self regulatory skills would enhance further academic performance, promote self belief and enhance achievement, particularly in literacy. (Liew, p.515-526). Role of self regulatory methods: Academic performance depends largely on the ability of the student to integrate scholastic knowledge with personal experience. The ability to synthesize knowledge with experience is the chief faculty of adolescents. “They posses increasingly higher levels of abstract thinking, engage in more sophisticated and elaborate information and their processing strategies reflect on their ability to solve complicated problems.” (Early Adolescents’ Development Across the Middle School Years: Implications for School Counselors). “Their ability to organize and reflect on the information that they have allows them to engage more readily in the higher order thinking process.” (Early Adolescents’ Development Across the Middle School Years: Implications for School Counselors). Yet another important feature is the “remarkable reasoning skills and decision making ability but they are likely to engage in risky behavior than are young adults. Hence they exhibit mixed cognitive development.” (Early Adolescents’ Development Across the Middle School Years: Implications for School Counselors). Owing to these factors it has become mandatory that the understanding and measurement of motivated behavior from the self determination framework is the pre requisite to the understanding and enhancement of self regulatory methods. Motivation has had profound effects on adolescent learning. One type of cognitive factor is “self efficacy defined as one’s perceived capabilities for learning or performing actions at designated levels.” (Schunk and Meece, p. 71-96). Qualities of self efficacy: Self efficacy does not give room to stagnation and self -doubt but promotes high self esteem, appropriate social behavior and is influenced by personal values and social and contextual variables. According to the social cognitive theory, “self efficacy is grounded in the fact that it results from interactions from personal factors of cognitions, emotions, behaviors and environmental conditions.” (Schunk and Meece, p. 71-96). This factor affects individual behavior and the environment. It also influences group interaction and societal issues. The task, choice, effort, persistence and achievement of the individual are obviously the hallmark of the person who feels self – efficacious about learning or performing a task competently. Such a person participates more readily and works harder, whatever obstacles are to overcome. Success is sure. Lower the self efficacy, greater the impact of defeat. Therefore, self efficacy develops an optimistic attitude to problems. Acquisition of self efficacy: To acquire self efficacy, social comparisons can be made. Persuasive information as well as verbal encouragement can enhance positive thinking. Physical factors, heart rate, feelings, anxiety do influence self efficacy. The perception of one’s abilities, appraisal at success and the perception of the difficulty of a task are the true signs of a person possessed with self efficacy. Hence it is obvious that such a person comments on his own strengths and weaknesses and looks inward into the knowledge and skills that he possesses, which would serve as the breaking ground for creativity and imagination. It is also critical that such a person anticipates consequences of expected outcomes or beliefs. Moral values, society, cultural and social norms are cherished by the individual. Factors that influence self-efficacy: There are innumerable factors that affect self efficacy. Family first contributes to enhancing a rich environment, a healthy relationship to develop right attitudes and create positive developmental signs. A close knit family would instruct, persuade and instill confidence to boasts the self efficacy of the individual. They provide richer experiences which contribute to the development of the individual. The next sphere is schooling, where teachers and instructional aids come to the rescue to provide structured patterns of behavior. It is seen that a rigid structure pattern would create frustration and cause performance inhibition. Performance feedback of the students could be detrimental to a student who has faced more failures than successes, while a slight fall in performance rate would not affect the performance of a repeated success oriented student. Teacher assistance in emotional matters provides stability and security but assistance leading to over indulgence causes negative self efficacy. The last and more prominent is peer group influence which would remain an unfading insignia in the development of the adolescent into a mature youth. The more flexible, friendly, intelligent, challenging, forceful the interaction among peers, the greater would be the range of self efficacy. Self-efficacy assessment: There are certain parameters that help to gauge self efficacy. Assessment of self efficacy provides a clue to the understanding of the nature of the individual and the qualities he possesses. Self efficacy is largely dependent on intelligence and abilities. Multiple intelligence and varied abilities are significant in creating the atmosphere of right thinking and right perception to arrive at concrete decisions and concrete planning. It inculcates positive responses to solving problems correctly, based on fair judgment. It is largely influenced by contextual factors, like environmental changes and personal factors. Problem solving requires measured abilities for cognitive abstractions and coordinating conflicting information and expectations provide stability. Stable and integrated views of the capabilities, response to values and attributes serve to foster a favorable environment. Considering cultural expectation and standards of behavior provide measures to announce self efficacy. It is noted that Afro American adolescents have lower math self efficacy than do their white peers. (Pajares and Kranzter 1998) Similarly Hispanic high school students report lower writing self efficacy than do non Hispanic students. (Schunk and Meece, p.71-96). This accounts for the fact that motivation is an essential ingredient and one must understand and measure motivation in terms of adult behavior which is rather difficult enough, but during adolescence the developmental process through which growth evolves, compounds this complexity. (Baldwin and Caldwell). Signs of self efficacy: This assessment reveals the fact that society and situation do not entirely control self efficacy. The genes of a person and his heredity are also crucial factors to determine his interest and disinterest. In order to stimulate self efficacy the influences around the individual – parents, peer group, society, play a role that is unparallel to any other. It helps in decision making and taking control of any desperate situation. Once the goal is set, with the help of parents or individually, the target should be framed and the self evaluation chart should be periodically examined. A self efficacious person is one who works under a choice of his own guided by self regulation. Therefore the choice he makes depends entirely on the decisions he takes guided by society and his own intuition. Most significant in this area is the capacity of the person to overcome negative pressures or tendencies around him. It is through motivation, right guidance, proper planning, and a successful learning experience taken together that regulate the individual informing himself. Character formation is equally important and largely depends on self regulation. Conclusion: As a thought of conclusion I would like to throw light on the fact that the learning atmosphere fosters developmental attitudes to create a sustainable environment to promote individual and life skills. While individual skills are the result of continuous exercise and a pre ordained will, life skills is an area that requires the coming together of the skills acquired through environment, formation and rich experiences. To develop individuals, who are emotionally stable and possesses sound life skill it is necessary that their positive energies are canalized so that the desired effects can be brought out. Such a step would promote and enhance the decision making skill in individuals. It would also retard the tendency to dependence and create independent thinking and multi faceted opportunities for one’s self. To be able to direct one’s thoughts to oneself in the aim to secure a position in life would demand interpersonal skills as well as a thoroughly disciplined mind. Just as a new compound is formed by the fusion of reactants at a definite proportion, with entirely new properties the birth of an individual should depend on the controlling factors in the right proportion. The new compound formed would retain its own identity forever and would possess physical and chemical properties unique to it; the individual that arises out of self regulation is a complete individual who possesses the faculty to make the right choice. Works Cited Baldwin, Cheryl. K., and Caldwell, Linda L. Development of the Free Time Motivation Scale for Adolescents. 2003. 06 Dec. 2008. . Blocher, Michael. Self Regulated Learners and Computer Mediated Communication: EMC 703 Seminar in Advanced Telecommunications. 06 Dec. 2008. . Early Adolescents’ Development Across the Middle School Years: Implications for School Counselors. The Free Library. 2008. 06 Dec. 2008. . Liew, Jeffrey., et al. Adaptive and Effortful Control and Academic Self Efficiency Beliefs on Achievement: Abstract. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 22.4. 2008. 06 Dec. 2008. . Schunk, Dale H., and Meece, Judith. L. Self Efficiency Development in Adolescences. Self Efficavy Beliefs of Adolescents. 2005. 06 Dec. 2008. . Read More