So remember how last week I was telling you about you shouldn't try to grow up too fast so that you don't "peak early" and have a less than promising life after high school? How you should try to develop yourself as a person because there are far more important things in life than just being "cool" between the ages of 14 and 18. Well it turns out that a group of psychologists have been studying phenomenon for many years and their results are strikingly similar to what I have observed with some of my old classmates and many other 20 somethings that I know including myself.
The group of researchers from the University of Virginia followed 184 teens from the age of 13 to 23 documenting things such as engaging in what they call "pseudo-mature" behavior which is categorized as using drugs, drinking alcohol, or engaging in sexual activity in order be perceived as "cool" by their peers not only engaged in increasingly risky behavior as they aged but also experienced "difficulties in social functioning" as a young adult. The study also indicated that a large number of these teens who engaged in this "pseudo-mature" behavior also had a much higher likelihood of developing substance abuse issues and criminal behavior.
As someone who was not particularly popular in high school, I can't help but feel a bit of Schadenfreude when I read studies like this. But at the same time I feel incredibly frustrated that our culture glamorizes this kind of behavior with TV shows such as 16 and Pregnant, Gossip Girl, and a plethora of other shows I am not familiar with because I prefer to watch Dr. Who, Game of Thrones and The Daily Show in my spare time. And as much as I love the movie Mean Girls for the shear comedic genius of Tina Fey and epic one liners. I really hope you don't end up like the Plastics, who the nerds totally get revenge on in a truly epic Mathlete fashion.
Note: unfortunately the link only goes to the ScienceDaily summary of the original article published in the journal Child Development, as I have only limited access to full academic articles because money.
*** Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
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