Cultural Images and Adolescent Behavior Essay -- Essays Papers

Cultural Images and Adolescent Behavior Teenagers seek to define themselves through their clothing, jargon, experiences, hairstyles, and, most of all, group associations. In all, this experimentation suggests that the adolescent attempts to discover himself/herself through external—rather than intrinsic—stimuli. Accordingly, images from popular culture often provide the external basis from which teenagers will benchmark their thoughts, opinions and associations. Indeed, adolescents will forge their identities largely in conformance with these pop culture images. They perceive such images as the social norm and, thus, as a means to attain the social acceptance that is so vital to their personal maturation. Furthermore, such pop cultural figures as P. Diddy, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez create intangible brands that help establish these norms. Not only does each celebrity market tangible brands through their various products and clothing lines, but each also enjoys a social acceptance that extends well beyond the sales revenue of their name-emblazoned products. The celebrities themselves constitute, in fact, their own name brands. Indeed, they can sell magazines, capture massive audiences and have a strong fan following based solely upon their individual popularity. When people associate themselves with a particular brand or branded image, they immediately assume a new identity that is in some senses, confined to the societal viewpoints of that brand. Teenagers exemplify this phenomenon. When they wear an article of clothing that says GAP or listen to music by Eminem, they are creating a brand of themselves. But do brand images presented in popular culture really create social norms that affect how teenager... ... & Saltzman, J. & Leary, M. (2003, April). Social approval and trait self-esteem, 23-40. The Journal f Research in Psychology, 37, 2. Miller, L. (2003, August). The little book of social theories, 49 -50. Rushkoff, D. (1999). Coercion: why we listen to what they say. New York: Riverhead Books. Sewell, R. (2003, August). The pressure to be perfect. Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved October 1, 2003 from Lexis-Nexis database. Zgourides, G. & Zgourides, C (2000). Cliffsquickreview: sociology. Foster City: IDG Books Worldwide. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Members of a group where the leader personifies the ultimate goal and the members task is to journey up the pyramid of commitment and devotion in order to move closer to the idealized but unattainable goal (Rushkoff, D., 2000).