Introduction/ Review of Literature.
Psychosocial competence is the ability of an individual to effectively deal with everyday life
challenges, it is
... [Show More] demonstrated by a person’s ability to sustain a state of mental wellbeing. Indian
journal of psychiatry (2011) writes that when people maintain positive behavior and are able to
integrate themselves into society, it demonstrates that they have maintained an appreciable level
of psychosocial competence. As adolescent growth can not be properly completed under social
isolation, the psychosocial competence of adolescents has now become an important aspect of
their development. It is necessary that as adolescents are being supported into adulthood, adult
supervision is required and the need for them to achieve a mental balance and interact with peers
and the environment should be given priority attention.
Other psychosocial issues associated with adolescence during puberty include anxiety disorder,
depression, substance abuse, improper sexual behavior, and violence. Most prevalent in this
category is the issue of social phobia. Exploring Your Mind (2016) writes that a lot of teenagers
are tense when they want to meet strangers or visit a place where there are a large number of
people.
Erikson in his theory of human psychosocial development also concurs with the above in a
number of ways. He believed that human personality develops in a predetermined order through
eight stages of psychological development, this runs from infancy to adulthood. During these
stages, the body and brain undergo a lot of changes, some of which are accompanied by
psychological crises which may have positive or negative influence on their personality
1
development (McLeod, 2018). These crises are of psychological nature as they involve the
psychological needs of the individual conflicting with the needs of the society (Erikson, 1958,
1963, as cited by McLeod, 2018 para 2).
Even though these changes affect human development throughout their life, adolescents are the
worst affected group as the changes are accompanied with massive reorganization in their brain
system which consequently alter their behavior pattern significantly and in a way that is largely
negative, unless they are properly guided.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine some of the most common behaviors
adolescents display in open social environments. The study was carried out in four different
countries, Cairo in Egypt, Accra in Ghana, Los Angeles in California-US and in the UK. All the
data were collected between 11
th and 12th December 2021, in some specific shopping malls in
these regions between 12:00 to 8:30 PM.
The research question and the hypotheses for the study will be:
Research question: To what extent do the adolescents show antisocial behavior in open social
environments.
Null Hypothesis :The adolescents show anti-social behavior in open social environments.
Alternative Hypothesis : The adolescents do not show antisocial behavior in an open social
environment. [Show Less]