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Self-Identification among Adolescent BoysAuthor(s): Evelyn DenoSource: Child Development, Vol. 24, No. 3/4 (Sep. - Dec., 1953), pp. 269-273Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Society for Research in Child DevelopmentStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1126253 .

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SELF-IDENTIFICATION AMONG ADOLESCENT BOYS

EVELYN DENOInstitute of Child Welfrre

University of Minnesota

Many psychologists maintain that the child allies himself more closelywith the physical aspects of his existence as represented by his body andits function than he does with the mental and emotional aspects becausethese latter are less accessible and tangible to him (6). Social relationshipsare carried out with the body, and as a social vehicle it becomes importantin the judgments that are made about the total self. From the time of Hall'sfirst writings, adolescent psychology texts have emphasized the upsurge ofconcern with the body and its adequacy at adolescence. Several investigatorshave pointed out that the strong, muscular type of physique is a social ad-vantage among adolescent boys. Cabot (2) found athletosomic boys moreascendant, extroverted, creative and less socially introverted than those hav-

ing leptosomic or pyknic physiques. He concludes that the physiqueregarded as good is a strong determinant in traits which are fundamen-tally social in their genesis and development. The California AdolescentGrowth Studies have indicated that the late maturing boy is likely to suffersome degree of social isolation because of his lag in physical development(4, 5). The immature body of the late-maturing girl does not seem to ostra-cize her to the same extent.

In these studies the adult investigators make the judgment of whethera physique is good or poor, it being assumed that the adolescent

boys'judgment proceeds from the same base-line used by the adult. Those whohave been interested in the body image, or picture of the body which theadolescent is forming in this preoccupation with his corporeal self, believethis image is sharpened by evaluation in terms of what their peers regardedas a good physique.

PROBLEM NDMETHOD

Itmight be expected that since the adolescent spends so much time look-ing at himself in the mirror he should recognize his likeness without diffi-

culty. In response to a challenge by the investigator forty adolescent, ninthgrade boys comprising one entire gym class in an urban junior high schoolagreed to test the contention of several vociferous members of their groupthat they could easily recognize photographs of their own physiques. Pho-tographs were accordingly taken of the nude subjects, rear view only,under standard lighting conditions from a standard distance. Each subject

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Vol. 24, Nos. 3 and 4 (Sept.-Dec., 1953)

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CHILD DEVELOPMENT

was presented all forty photographs aid out on a table in a predeterminedorder and asked to identify each photograph, one of which was his own.He was allowed as much time as he pleased to complete the identificationsand allowed to manipulate the pictures in any way he wished to makecomparisons. The photographs were presented irst with the heads coveredand then again with the head masks removed to allow total body configu-ration to be used in the identification. As each photograph was studiedthe subject rated the physique on a five point scale and stated briefly hisreason for the rating. Identification and rating completed he was askedto review the pictures and choose the best and poorest f the physiques.

Best and poorest were not defined, each subject being asked to usehis own subjective criteria for the rating. In addition to this peer grouprating, three adult judges rated the photographs according to the Bayley-Bayer scales (i) which take into account the factors of direction, degree,tempo, and amount of incongruity n the same organism in making thesexual differentiation.

A measure of each subject's ocial standing was obtained through a socio-metric technique employing the following questions: . With whom wouldyou like best to go to the movies? 2. With whom would you like least togo to the movies? 3. Whom would you like best to have for gym service?4. Whom would you like least to have for gym service? 5. Whom wouldyou like to have for your best friend? 6. Whom do you like the least inthis group?

All of the subjects had been together n the same gym class for at leasta year, thirty-five of them for three years, so they had had considerableopportunity o observe each other in a relatively unclothed state. The socio-economic evel of the neighborhood which this school taps is slightly above

average but is more heterogeneous han many of the areas in this city.Though all class levels are represented, he skilled working class predom-inates, with few of the parents falling below that class in occupation. Allsubjects were native-born, white. Chronological ges ranged from fourteenyears, wo months to sixteen years, seven months with a mean chronologicalage of fifteen years (SD 6.i mos.). IQs ranged from a low of 60 to a highof 135, mean 104.6 (SD 16.75) by Otis group test.

RESULTS

The three adult judges were able to reach satisfactory greement n ratingthe physiques according o the Bayley-Bayer cales. Two of the judges, whohad gone over the system and discussed it together before making theratings, found their judgments in exact agreement n all but three casesand in these three cases the differences were very slight. The third judge,who had had no discussion of the system and had to rely on merely readingthe directions before rating, reached 75 per cent agreement with both the

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EVELYN DENO

other raters, differences again never being greater than placement in anadjacent category.

In spite of the reputed body preoccupation nly 12 of the boys (30 percent), were able to correctly dentify themselves when the heads of thephotographs were covered. Adding the head to the pool of identificationcues raised the number of correct dentifications o 15, (or 37-5 per cent).No better than chance relationship xisted between the degree of convictionfelt in making the identification of any picture and the correctness f theresponse. They were as often wrong when they felt certain s when they

kind of guessed.

No significant difference in mental age appeared between those whocorrectly dentified themselves and those who did not, the mean MA forthe successful group being 190.5 months (SD 20.2) and the mean MAfor the unsuccessful group 190o.4 (SD 11.3). Chronological age likewisefailed to provide a significant actor n success or failure for the mean CAof 18o.9 months (SD 9.1) of the successful group turned out not to be sig-nificantly different from the mean CA of I80.3 (SD 6.5) in the group ofunsuccessful self-identifiers.

Theboys

who were able tocorrectly dentify themselves were signifi-cantly better in their ability to identify others. This group of successful

self-identifiers made a mean number of 31.6 correct dentifications SD 3.I)out of the total number of 80 possibilities, s compared with a mean rate of24-3 (SD 1.8) for the group as a whole, a difference which is significantat the I per cent level of confidence. This group who correctly dentifiedthemselves were also more often correctly dentified by others at a meanrate of 31.I times out of 80 tries (SD 5.2), a difference again significantat the I per cent level.

Though the group of successful self-identifiers onstituted 37-5 per centof the total group they received only 25 per cent of all social mentions. Theydid, however, receive 53-7 per cent of the designations as best and poor-est physiques. It would seem possible, then, that the higher rate of identi-fication of themselves and identification by others might be due to physicalcharacteristics which made them conspicuous. This interpretation ails toaccount for their greater efficiency n identifying others unless one specu-lates that their physical deviation from the average caused them to be more

body conscious both with respect o themselves and with respect o others.No correlation appeared between the number of times the individualreceived ocial mention, either positive or negative, and the number of timeshe was correctly dentified n the group as a whole (Pearson r of .oo), butthe correlation between amount of favorable mention and rate of beingcorrectly dentified was significantly positive at the 5 per cent level (Pearsonr .43+.15). Correlation f degree of social rejection and rate of identificationwas insignificant but in a negative direction (r --15--.18). There may bea tendency or boys to be more aware of the total person, ncluding the body

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as part of that total, in the peers they view with favor socially whereas theboys who are socially rejected are so largely on the basis of certain antag-onizing personality haracteristics. t least, if physical repulsion s any partof the social rejection picture the image s not sufficiently mpressive ofacilitate identification.

In their choice of best build the boys appeared to be seeking bothmasculinity, as measured by the Bayley-Bayer atings, and symmetry. Twoof the four most frequently chosen best builds received hyper-masculineBayley-Bayer atings; one of these tied for first place while the otherstrailed at fourth because, as the comments indicated, his shoulders were

too narrow and too sloping. The other two best builds receivedmasculine ratings on the B-B scale but the one which tied for first place,though merely masculine, was lauded frequently for its swell propor-tions. Comments about preferred physiques overwhelmingly paid tributeto muscle development, with good muscles, strong back and musculararms and legs being most frequently mentioned. The diatribe hurled atthe scorned igure was in almost every case too skinny, with these figuresall receiving ow masculinity or asexual ratings on the Bayley-Bayer cales.That the

boys' conceptof what constitutes an ideal masculine

physiqueclosely approximates he adult standard s confirmed by the fact that threeadult, male judges also chose as best he two winning physiques chosenby the adolescent boys.

Though some support s given the contention hat the boy with the betterphysique s socially avored n that the four boys receiving he highest num-ber of favorable ocial mentions were all rated above average n physique bytheir peers, the evidence is not as strong as one might anticipate rom thegeneralization to that effect which is frequently made. The four boyssuffering the greatest amount of social rejection were all rated average bythe group. The general trend of evidence in this investigation gives butfeeble support to the good physique wins social favor generalizationwhen it is made without regard for the composition of the group in whichthe social acceptance and rejection s taking place.1 Jones and Bayley (5)report no consistent or marked differences between early and late maturingboys in prestige and social effects on the group when the group is all boys,but do find prestige differences n favor of the early maturing in mixedgroups, especially n later years. In view of their findings, the absence ofstriking relationship n this group may be due to the homogeneity of the

1 A case history, follow-up comment may be made anent the later careers of the sub-jects showing high physical visibility. Three years after completion of the study the twoboys who had tied for best build had both dropped out of high school after the tenthgrade while the subject voted poorest build by a wide margin was graduated valedic-torian of his class and showed good social adjustment. The two having best build fitneatly into the findings of the Gluecks concerning the predominance of mesomorphicsomatype among delinquents (3).

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EVELYN DENO

group with respect o sex and the fact that at ninth-grade evel the groupof boys finds themselves till so transitional with respect o sexual maturitythat relative immaturity does not yet make for great conspicuousness,either in appearance or in physical performance.

SUMMARY

Forty adolescent boys attempted dentification of their own and class-mates nude, rear view photographs. Only 37-5 per cent of the subjects wereable to correctly dentify themselves. Those who were successful in self-

identification were also more successful in identifying others and weremore frequently identified by others. The study lends but slight supportto the generalization hat the boy with the admired physique tends to besocially avored. Homogeneity with respect o sex and the age of the groupmay account for this finding. The most admired physique was that com-bining strong muscle definition with V-shape symmetry-the stereotypeof the strongly masculine physique.

REFERENCES

I. BAYLEY, N. and BAYER, L. The assessment of somatic androgyny.Amer. J. Phys. Anthrop., i946, 4, 433-461.

2. CABOT, . S. DEQ. The relationship between characteristics of person-ality and physique n adolescence. Genet. Psychol. Monog., 1938,20, 3-120.

3. GLUECK, S. and GLUECK, E. Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency. Com-

monwealth Fund, 1950.4. JONEs, . E. Physical ability as a factor in social adjustment n ado-

lescence. J. educ. Res., 1946, 40, 287-301.

5. JoNEs, M. C. and BAYLEY, N. Physical maturing among boys as re-lated to behavior. J. educ. Psychol., 1950, 41, 129-148.

6. ZACHRY, C. B. and LIGHTY, M. Emotion and Conduct n Adolescence,1940, D. Appleton-Century, New York.

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