fei75766_ch07_206-241.indd 232  02/06/20 11:52 AM
Part II    Psychodynamic Theories232
levels ofconsuming thisbiased anddistorted presentation ofother people’s liveson
social media canleadtonegative consequences ifscreen timeisnotcurtailed. For
instance, aconsistent finding shows thatthemore timeteens spend ontheirscreens, 
themore likely theyaretosuffer depression andanxiety bothinadolescence andlater
inadulthood (Grøntved etal.,2015; Kirmayer, Raikhel, &Rahimi, 2013). Thefeel-
ingsofanxiety anddepression appear tostem from thefactthatpeople postonlythe
positive aspects oftheirliveonsocial media. Ifweconstantly seeallofthewonderful 
things people aredoing, bycomparisons wefeelisolated, alone, andnotsopositive 
about ourownlives, andlesspositive relationships withothers (Kirmayer etal.,2013; 
Sanders etal.,2000).
Thenegative impact ofhighsocial media usemayaffect teenagers more than
adults because theyhavemore trouble thanadults realizing thatthese “Facebook 
lives” arenotthewhole story andpresent onlyonesideofother people’s lives. 
Similarly, Israelashvili, Kim, andBukobza (2012) explored thequestion ofhowdif-
ferent degrees ofInternet useaffect self-clarity andself-consciousness in2787th,
8th,and9thgraders. They found thatself-clarity wasnegatively related tohowmuch 
adolescents usedtheInternet. They argue, however, thatthenegative consequences 
aremost likely inthose deemed “addicted” users; theeffect wassmaller for“over-
users” and“heavy” users. Over-users andheavy-users stillusetheInternet forage-
related purposes, whereas addicted users haveadysfunctional preoccupation withthe
Internet, thatis,itinterferes withandnegatively impacts theirschool performance 
andrelationships.
Insum, ouronline andsocial media groups areincreasingly powerful and
important ways wecommunicate, share, andexpress ourselves. Social media connect 
ustofamily, friends, andincreasingly awiderange ofpeople wemayormaynotknow 
inperson. Likemost technology, there arebothpositive andnegative consequences 
oftheiruseandwesimply need tobeaware ofbothanduseaccordingly.
The Development of Gender Identity
Given thetimeperiods oftheirwritings, onething bothErikson andMarcia leftout
waswithwhich gender aperson identifies. Inthe21stcentury, thisquestion hastaken 
onheightened importance, andhence itisworth examining theliterature onhowgen-
deridentity develops especially during adolescence andearly adulthood. Onecould 
argue thatErikson andMarcia would haveincluded gender identity intheirwritings 
since theyargued thetwomain criteria forthepresence ofidentity formation are
exploration/crisis andcommitment. Exploration involves theextent towhich aper-
sonrethinks, examines, andtriesonroles andlifeplans. Commitment istheextent to
which theperson isinvested inaroleorlifeplan(Kroger &Marcia, 2011). Gender 
identify meets these twocriteria because itisopen toexploration andisanidentity to
which most people become committed.
Most people identify withtheirgender atbirthbutnoteveryone does. A2015 
PewResearch Center survey reported that3%ofU.S.teens identify astransgender (that
is,theyidentify withthegender opposite oftheoneassigned atbirth; Lenhart, Smith, 
&Anderson, 2015). Foradults, thefigure isabout 0.5%or1in200(Conron, Scott, 
Stowell, &Landers, 2012). Evidence oftheexploratory nature ofgender identity canFinal PDF to printer