Exploring the adolescent-self through written and visual diaries
Section snippets
Adolescence and identity development
A person’s sense of identity is what gives an individual the feeling of self-sameness and continuity (Erikson, 1970). According to Blasi and Milton (1991), a person’s sense of self emerges in adolescence through changes in three fundamental areas. First, the adolescent reorganizes their needs and identification with their parents. Second, the adolescent identifies new social roles and relationships embedded in their respective culture and society. Third, the adolescent explores independence and
Methodology
For the present research, I used an auto-hermeneutic methodology to understand the relationship between the lived experiences, emotions, and thoughts found in my own adolescent diaries, and my currently perceived self-identity. Using auto-hermeneutics enabled me to utilize my own diaries as a tool to explore the ontological phenomenon of memory and the perceived self. Thus, I investigated whether returning to my adolescent diaries could help enhance my currently constructed sense of self,
Data analysis
As discussed above, the data consisted of diary entries and artworks found in four diaries. These diaries, which were kept regularly between June 2001 and September 2006, consisted of 168 diary entries and eight images. In all, I coded183 items (statements or sentences), all in my native language, Turkish.
The data analysis had three components. First, using an IPA approach, I attempted to see how the world was constructed through my adolescent-self’s eyes (Smith et al., 2009). While doing so, I
Findings
As described in detail above, the phenomenon under investigation in this auto-hermeneutic study was memory and changes in sense of self. Therefore, throughout the data analysis phase, I consistently kept notes on the meaning units and why I chose each one. This notetaking was not a linear process; rather, it was iterative, and I revisited it often throughout the analysis and the write-up periods. The notes provided me a mechanism to articulate my thoughts and perspectives, and they allowed me
Discussion
The coding process took place between July 2020 and September 2020. During this time, I consistently updated my notebook to reflect on the thoughts and emotions that arose in reaction to what I was reading. This process allowed me to clarify why some entries had a more powerful effect on me as an adult than others. As a result of this analysis, I explored three key aspects about myself that would not have been clear to me had I not conducted this investigation.
Firstly, some of the recurring
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dr. Girija Kaimal for her guidance while I refined this manuscript.
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