Human Growth and Development / Unit 9 HGD 1241 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Adolescent Egocentrism
The idea
David Elkind described adolescent egocentrism in two parts. The imaginary audience is the belief that others are as focused on one's appearance and behaviour as one is oneself. The personal fable is the belief that one is unique and special, so that others cannot understand one's feelings. The invincibility fable, a later label for part of the personal fable, is the belief that nothing can cause one harm. Elkind tied the imaginary audience to the self-consciousness of early adolescence.
In practice
A thirteen-year-old refusing to go to school over a small stain on her shirt, sure that everyone will notice.
Where people slip
Exam items describe the belief and ask for the term: being watched is the imaginary audience; being uniquely misunderstood is the personal fable. Whether invincibility explains teen risk taking is contested, as this unit's final segment explains.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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