Question

1. During adolescence egocentrism appears to manifest in several unique ways that teens have trouble distinguishing until later in life. What is the imaginary audience and how does it affect behavior? Please read the article by Bell & Bromnick (2003) within the Chapter 11 folder. After reading the article do you think the imaginary audience is real (as the text suggests) or an imagined/mental construct as suggested by Bell and Bromnick. What role do you think the imaginary audience plays in the explosion of adolescents writing blogs and social media activity?

Answer 1

• Imaginary audience and how does it affect behavior:-
• Imaginary audience can be defined as an egocentric psychological state in an adolescent, characterized by the belief that people around are eagerly watching or listening to him/her. The reason for specifically mentioning adolescents is because, this psychological state is most evident during adolescence.
• The term was coined by American child psychologist David Elkind, in 1967. According to him, the people experiencing (not consciously) it felt as if their behavior or actions are the main focus of other people's attention. Other people could include anybody from family to strangers.
  
• Though a lot of people consider it to be a disorder, it can be correctly classified as a developmental stage of life. It is a natural process wherein an individual tries to develop a better understanding of his association with the world. Imaginary audience emerges from ego-centrism and has close ties with the concept of 'personal fable'.
• Personal fable simply refers to thinking of oneself as special and unique. Although it differs vastly from the concept of imaginary audience, it can be called one of its subsidiaries. An imaginary audience can influence an individual in two ways; it can either make him feel unique and special (personal fable), or it can also make him paranoid. In some cases, both.
• Teens or adolescents would repeatedly change their clothes in an attempt to look presentable to everyone around them. They may also follow different ongoing fads and trends that may help them fit into society. For instance, if wearing checkered shirts, jeans, and Converse is the current fad, they would dress up like that just to make a good impression on their imaginary audience.
• Teens also worry about the slightest mistakes they make in social settings; a pimple or a blackhead could make an adolescent worry all day due to the belief that he/she is being watched and judged. In reality, there's only a small percentage of people who are actually interested in how somebody looks or behaves.
• The mood of the audience varies with the adolescent's mood. When the tween or teen is feeling self-critical, she thinks that others will be highly judgmental of her behavior and appearance. When she is in a self-adoring mood, she thinks that others will be equally wrapped up in her beauty, grace and magnetic personality.
• As an individual's perception of the world matures, the effects of imaginary audiences gradually reduce. However, this condition can very well extend to one's adulthood in certain cases where maturation delays.
• Due to time limit,remaining questions can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation