Factors in adolescent rebellious feelings

Abstract

To verify the existence and determine some sources of 15- and 16-year-old youths' (midteens') antisocial feelings, 174 midteens (89 males and 85 females) from two small Tennessee towns were administered L. Srole's Anomia Scale and two author-devised tests, the Inventory of Midteen Rearing Theories and the Rebellion Scale. As their parents' levels of education rose, midteens' feelings of anomie and rebellion decreased significantly: fathers F (3, 160) = 4.77,p less than .01; mothers F (3, 163) = 2.77, p less than .05. Midteen feelings of anomie and rebellion correlated positively with midteen perception of parent-midteen disagreement about how the midteen should be reared: Anomia r (172) = .25, p less than .01; Rebellion r (172) = .37, p less than .01. Probable causes of extremely rebellious feelings in midteens include parent-midteen conflict over how the midteen should be reared and the midteen's rejection of attending school as a worthwhile occupation.