Adolescent egocentrism and formal operations: Tests of a theoretical assumption.

Abstract

The theoretical relation between adolescent egocentrism and formal operations was addressed in two studies. In the first study this relation was assessed with the Adolescent Egocentrism Scale (AES) and a battery of formal reasoning tasks devised by Lunzer, administered to a sample of 6th-, 8th-, 1 Oth-, and 12th-grade subjects. The results revealed only significant negative or nonsignificant correlations between the measures in early adolescence. There was also no evidence of significant developmental covariation from early to middle adolescence. The validation effort was extended in Study 2 to include the two extant measures of adolescent egocentrism (AES and the Imaginary Audience Scale, or IAS) and a second battery of formal operations problems (Test of Logical Thinking). These measures were administered to a sample of 7th-, 9th-, and 1 lth-grade students and to a sample of college undergraduates. There was once again no evidence of significant developmental covariation among the measures. The correlations between the AES and IAS were modest, reflecting differences in the nature and content of the measures. Little support exists in this study or in the literature for the crucial theoretical assumption of adolescent egocentrism. Suggestions for future research are outlined. We express our appreciation to Lynn Miller of the South Bend Public School Corporation and to Johnetta Hudson, James Knight, and their faculty and students at LaSalle High School and Clay Middle School, respectively, for their assistance in the conduct of this study. We are also grateful for the helpful comments and advice provided by Robert Enright, Ron Serlin, and two anonymous reviewers.

Egocentrism and Depressive Symptomatology in Young Adults

“…Both Piaget and Elkind have proposed that egocentrism in adolescence is associated with the emergence of formal thinking. Up to now, this hypothesis has not received strong support (e.g., Hudson & Gray, 1986;Lapsley, Milstead, Quintana, Flannery, & Buss, 1986;Lechner & Rosenthal, 1984;O'Connor & Nikolic, 1990;Riley, Adams, & Nielsen, 1984), although construct validation problems encountered when dealing with developmental data cannot be overlooked (Petersen, 1985;Waters & Tinsley, 1985). Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that egocentrism (and its components) may be influenced by social environmental factors (e.g., Mullis & Markstrom, 1986;Riley et al, 1984).…”

Body Image and Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents: The Relationship Between Gender and School Type

“…An alternative but not mutually exclusive possibility is that adolescents who perceive themselves as unattractive are more withdrawn and isolated, make less effort to interact with others, and receive less social reinforcement (Lerner, 1987). This experience, in turn, perpetuates their poor self-image and contributes to greater self-consciousness (Lapsley, Milstead, Quintana, Flannery, & Buss, 1986).…”

Judgments about Risk and Perceived Invulnerability in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Elkind's theory (1967Elkind's theory ( , 1978 is intuitively appealing, but it has not fared well in empirical tests. Egocentrism does not appear to be linked to young adolescents' transition into formal operations (Gray & Hudson, 1984;Jahnke & Blanchard-Fields, 1993;Lapsley, Milstead, Quintana, Flannery & Buss, 1986), nor is it limited to adolescence (Frankenberger, 2000). Research has also failed to find the expected positive relation between egocentrism and perceptions of invulnerability (Dolcini et al, 1989).…”