Longitudinal self-concept development in adolescence

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 18

Abstract

This longitudinal behavioral neuroimaging study tested two hypotheses concerning self-concept development in adolescence: domain-specific self-concept and similarity between own (direct) and perceived peers' (reflected) opinions of the self. Participants (N = 189; 10-24 years) evaluated their traits in academic, physical appearance and prosocial domains from direct and reflected perspectives in an functional magnetic resonance imaging session across three time points (TP1: n = 160; TP2: n = 151; TP3: n = 144). Behaviorally, we observed a mid-adolescent dip in self-concept positivity, which was strongest for the academic domain, showing domain differentiation in mid-adolescence. Self-evaluations were associated with activity in, e.g. medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and temporal-parietal junction (TPJ). mPFC showed an adolescent-emerging peak in activation, pronounced more for direct than reflected self-evaluations. TPJ activation was generally stronger for reflected self-evaluations, and activation linearly increased with age for both reflected and direct self-evaluations. Longitudinal prediction analyses showed that positivity of self-evaluations predicted increases in self-concept clarity and less fear of negative evaluation 1 and 2 years later, highlighting the developmental benefits of acquiring a positive self-concept. Together, we show that adolescent self-development is characterized by dissociable neural patterns underlying self-evaluations in different domains, and from reflected and direct perspectives, confirming adolescence as a formative phase for developing a coherent and positive self-concept.

Authors 5

1. Renske van der Cruijsen corresponding

   Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam , Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam 3062 PA, The Netherlands

2. Neeltje E. Blankenstein Aachen Department of Developmental Psychology Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Developmental Psychology, Leiden University , Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition , Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

3. Jochem Spaans

   Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam , Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam 3062 PA, The Netherlands

4. Sabine Peters Aachen Department of Developmental Psychology Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Developmental Psychology, Leiden University , Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition , Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

5. Eveline A. Crone Aachen Department of Developmental Psychology

   Leiden University · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Developmental Psychology, Leiden University , Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam , Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam 3062 PA, The Netherlands