A Summary of the Struggles of Adolescent Altruism

Throughout a person’s primary education, lessons on being a kind, altruistic person are constantly reinforced. Whether it is the analogy of filling someone else’s bucket with one’s own bucket or treating others the way one wants to be treated, kindness is a fruitful message adolescents are provided starting at a young age. As the years move forward, though, these ideals sometimes slip away, and when compassion and generosity were originally cool, now they are not. While this may be seen as teen angst or rebellion, there are actual reasons behind this shift: a lack of development in the prefrontal and frontal cortices, an active emotional center, and external influences. By understanding this change more deeply, a societal reframing to support and assist these adolescents can occur, and the idea of altruism in adolescents can again be amplified in a positive light. 

Adolescence is a critical developmental period. More specifically, as the World Health Organization puts it, “Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood, from ages 10 to 19…and [it is] an important time for laying the foundations of good health” (“Adolescent health”). That good health the World Health Organization talks about is not only physical, but also mental. That means, during those years, building a strong mental foundation is as significant to one's overall health as preventing physical injuries. For everyone, this mental strengthening takes place during adolescence, which can lead to a rough few years. Several things occur during this growth, including the development of the prefrontal and frontal cortices.

Over the course of one’s human trajectory, the brain begins fine-tuning what is necessary and what is not; this process is called pruning. Similar to a gardener removing the inessential weeds and branches from a bush, the brain removes what it does not need, and most of it occurs during adolescence. This process “...begins in the back of the brain” and moves its way forward, meaning that the prefrontal and frontal cortices are the last segments to undergo such changes (“Brain development: pre-teens and teenagers”). Why is this significant to altruism and kindness, though? These regions manage a person’s perspective-taking, emotional regulation, and decision-making skills. This means that until the brain is fully developed in post-adolescence, these aspects of the brain are less mature, which can impact how one approaches kindness towards others. For instance, if an adolescent is put in a situation where the more compassionate decision is less comfortable and secure, the underdeveloped prefrontal and frontal cortices will struggle to make the right decision. In the end, this may lead the adolescent to make the more irrational decision due to a lack of cognitive capability. While not everyone experiences this, and there are factors including gender, such as “On average, females [are] ahead of males by at most 1 year...,” that differentiate a person’s experience, the growth of these regions is still incredibly impactful on all adolescents to a certain degree (Brouwer et al.).

Continuing on a similar note, the active emotional center that is the adolescent brain is also a major factor. Before the prefrontal and frontal cortices can develop, the amygdala—the “system [that] acts as the center of emotions, behavior, and memory” in the brain—must complete its growth (AbuHasan et al.). This can prove to be complex for adolescents because for a long period of time the emotionally charged region is more advanced than the logical region, meaning it can impact one’s ability to be kind. Mainly, this can cause outbursts of excessive emotion as adolescents have “heightened affective and social sensitivity” and a rise in self-motivated behaviors (Towner et al.). Both of these things, the emotional outbursts and selfish behaviors, can combine, too. If an adolescent misinterprets a glare from a friend or a conversation with a classmate, the emotional epicenter will overpower that person’s rationality. Following that could be a series of protective decisions, driven by the assumption that the action someone else did was an attack. In the end, this situation may lead to words or actions that would not normally occur if the emotionally driven region of the brain were not as developed and the decision-making region were further developed. 

Finally, as mentioned in the podcast and articles, external influences have a major role in adolescence. From peer groups to family dynamics, adolescents have to make certain decisions while an abundance of things are telling them otherwise. This persuasion impacts many aspects of an adolescent's life, including their ability to be kind and altruistic. At a young age, people tend to interact with everyone around them; distinct groups and partnerships are not formed until later on. The earliest signs of peer separations occur around four, with the Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development saying, “At least by age four, they will reliably identify best friends, peers they like and peers they dislike,” and these distinctions only continue to foster with age (Boivin and Provost). Eventually, this can lead to issues such as exclusion, and as Kelly Lynn Mulvey discovers in her study, repeatedly “allegiance to one's group” influences social exclusion in adolescent settings (Mulvey). Social exclusion is the opposite of kind actions; however, for many adolescents, it may be difficult to see this as the influences of peers outweigh rationality.

Parental guidance adds another layer to the way an adolescent interacts with others. One of the very first ways adolescents develop social skills is from their parents, as “kids learn critical social skills through their primary relationships” (Hall). This can be a positive and negative thing. If a parent tends to use harsh language when interacting with others or makes remarks towards staff at a restaurant, their child will most likely pick up on these behaviors. The same thing happens with kindness, so if a parent is not a naturally altruistic person, their child may also have a lack of priority for those skills. Similar to before, everything depends on how the adolescent responds to the external factors; however, because they play a major role in development, if the external factors are not as benevolent, the adolescent is also likely not to be.

Humans make mistakes. No one is a perfect person. That means that the mentality of being kind all the time is difficult for many to achieve. For adolescents, it is even harder to be the best person when many factors, including a lack of development in the prefrontal and frontal cortices, an active emotional center, and external influences, are going against them. At the end of the day, trying is the most crucial thing, even if it may lead to a few mishaps or questionable choices; if an adolescent continues to try to be a kind human, eventually a positive outcome will come about.