Conferenza del Prof. Troy Beckert

14.07.2014

Lunedì 14 Luglio alle ore 11.00 presso l’auletta seminari 1 del DPSS

Conferenza dal titolo: “Adolescent Psychosocial Development and Mobile Electronic Messaging: Finding Application for Seminal Theory in Modern Adolescent Life” tenuta dal Prof. Troy Beckert della Utah State University

Abstract
There is some debate about the utility and applicability of using seminal developmental theories to explain and predict adolescent behavior in a modern world. Indeed, many feel that most classic developmental theories, conceived generations ago, are archaic and impractical for use in the technologically driven world of today’s youth. At the same time, those from older generations often express concern over the apparent excessive dependence by adolescents on technology for socialization, fearing that it limits young people’s development. Adolescents, on the other hand, see technology as a tool to facilitate socialization, rather than a restricting agent of development. The purpose of this talk is to highlight the application and expediency of classical developmental theories related to psychosocial development within a context of adolescent technology. In this talk, I will focus mainly on the relationship of psychosocial outcomes, specifically autonomy and identity, to adolescent use of mobile electronic messaging. I will attempt to provide a lens, grounded in seminal theories, from which to view the phenomenon of electronic messaging by sharing results from my cross-cultural work with cognitive autonomy and our preliminary findings within the context of mobile electronic messaging. Finally, I will highlight the direction of our current cross-cultural project addressing the relationship between the amount of electronic messaging and psychosocial development in adolescence.