Chapter 1: Intentional-Self Regulation and Identity Processes in Adolescence: Perspectives on Research and Application

Adolescence is a period of major change in both the individual and his/her social context. Indeed, adolescence may be the major period of change in the life span; in this regard, it may surpass even infancy, in that adolescents (individuals in the second decade of life; Lerner & Steinberg, 2009) have the cognitive and behavioral skills to contribute intentionally to the course of their physical, psychological, and social changes (Lerner, Freund, DeStefanis, & Habermas, 2001). Therefore, in the context of determining for himself or herself what the changes he/she is experiencing means for who he/she is (in other words, engaging in the self-definitional processes integral to identity development; Côté, 2009)—the adolescent can use self-determined goals (aims, aspirations, hopes, or purposes) to navigate through these changes, and he or she can therefore be an active agent in his/her own development (Lerner, 1982; Lerner & Busch-Rossnagel, 1981; Lerner et al., 2001; Lerner & Walls, 1999).