Reckless behavior in adolescence: A developmental perspective

A developmental theory of reckless behavior among adolescents is presented, in which sensation seeking and adolescent egocentrism are especially prominent factors. Findings from studies of automobile driving, sex without contraception, illegal drug use, and minor criminal activity are presented in evidence of this. The influence of peers is then discussed and reinterpreted in the light of sensation seeking and adolescent egocentrism. Socialization influences are considered in interaction with sensation seeking and adolescent egocentrism, and the terms narrow and broad socialization are introduced. Factors that may be respon-sible for the decline of reckless behavior with age are discussed. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc. I would that there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing, fighting... William Shakespeare, "The Winter's Tale, " Act [II, Scene 3 Adolescence bears a heightened potential for recklessness compared to other developmental periods in every culture and in every time. The forms that this proclivity takes, and even whether it is allowed expression at all, depend on the characteristics of the particular culture and the particular time. "Wronging the ancientry " may not be a social problem in the late 20th century, but new forms of recklessness have arisen in our time—driving a car while under the influence of alcohol, for example. Other forms of recklessness appear and reappear across time: the delin-quency and sexual recklessness alluded to centuries ago in the above quote are characteristic of adolescence in our age as well. Contemporary theory and research on adolescence have emphasized that the storm and stress popularly thought to be characteristic of adolescence have been exaggerated and that adolescence is not necessarily a tumultuous period of development, but it remains true that adolescents are overrepresente