Theoretical Framework

CHAPTER 3

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Our research is focused on determining the difference between teenage males and teenage females in the degree of knowledge they have about sex. For this research paper, we decided to use four distinct theories. Each theory played a vital role in explaining the different aspects and parts of our research. One theory, namely Freud’s theory on the Latency Stage of Psychosexual Development gave a reason why we decided to focus our problem on teenagers. Another theory we selected from Armstrong and Sarafino’s book explained a few differences between males and females. Finally, the last two theories, Vygotsky’s social interaction theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory told us how social interaction and a person’s surroundings, can affect his or her views and opinions on different aspects of life. All these theories helped in building up our research.

Freud’s Theory on Development

This theory is all about the different stages in a person’s Psychosexual Development. There’s the Oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage and the genital stage. The oral, the phallic and the anal stage take place during childhood while the genital stage takes place after puberty. Latency stage is what teenagers experience. It is during the latency stage when a teenager starts to undergo puberty. This stage usually occurs among humans when they reach the age of six to puberty. During these years, a child begins to shape adult sexual attachments. It is also within this period when the child learns to explore his/her environment and eventually develop important and meaningful relationships with the people around him or her.

Armstrong and Sarafino’s Theory

This theory focuses on an example of gender difference at modern times. Girls and boys have a lot of differences. Armstrong and Sarafino's theory focused on determining the “difference of attitudes and reactions towards sex between male and female”. There was an evident difference in the way males and females thought about sexual intercourse. American girls believe that in sexual relation there has to be love. In the meantime, boys are rather more “permissive” towards sex. Armstrong and Sarafino stated the top five reactions of teenagers when they had their first sexual intercourse. The top five reactions of female teenagers were “afraid, guilty, worried, embarrassed and curious”. On the other hand, the top five reactions of teenage males were “excited, thrilled, satisfied, happy and joyful”.

Vygotsky and Bronfrenbrenner’s Theories

Vygostky and Bronfenbrenner’s theories both talk about how humans, specifically children and teenagers need others around them for them to develop. It is because of their surroundings that they become who they are. These influences greatly affect how they think and act.

Social interaction is important for the cognitive development of a child, that is what Vygostsky's theory stated. This theory declares that cognitive processes such as language, thought and reasoning develop through social interaction. Therefore, development is a product of culture. The theory simply states that a child needs people around him or her to develop his or her skills. The things that surround him or her greatly influence the person that he or she will soon be in the future. Few examples of social interaction include bonding with friends, conversations with parents, discussions of the teachers, exposure to media and contact with other people.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory somewhat has the same context with that of Vygotsky's theory. This theory explains how varied systems of the environment and the interrelationships among these systems affect a child's development. It believes that while the environment affects the child, a child affects the environment as well. The theory also states the different forms of systems in a society. In an environment, there is a distinction made between the microsystems, the mesosystems, the exosystems and the macrosystems. We think that both Microsystems and Exosystems are the ones that influence the child more among the four. Microsystems are categorized as the child’s immediate surroundings. Parents, school and neighborhood are examples of this. Exosystems are social institutions which indirectly affect the child. Examples of this are mass media and community resources. These systems all help the child in building his or her own ideals and beliefs which he or she will carry out throughout his or her entire life. The theory simply states that the environment has certain distinct systems, and these systems are important in shaping and developing a child.

Theoretical Framework:

Figure 1 in the following page shows our Theoretical Framework. In this diagram, we can see how Freud’s Theory on Development can explain factors which affect how a person thinks. In the meantime, Armstrong and Sarafino’s theory shows how certain things can separate boys and girls in their way of thinking. The diagram also illustrates how Vygotsky and Bronfrenbrenner’s Theory clarifies how other factors can shape the source and purpose of a person for learning about things. All these will have a consequence on a human’s degree of knowledge about certain principles in life.

Conceptual Framework:

Figure 2 below shows the Conceptual Framework of our research. As a child becomes a teenager, he or she starts to undergo the Latency Stage of Psychosexual Development. In this stage, he or she will start to bond with other people around him or her, resulting to more learnings in life. The people around him or her will dictate how much he or she learns about existence. It is only through “social interaction” that he or she discovers new things. Social interaction will play a vital role in how much he or she will know about things.

The child becomes more aware of the things surrounding him or her, and eventually, makes gradual realizations about them. One of the greatest realizations made in this stage of life- a clear distinction between boys and girls. The child will encounter many experiences where he or she will learn that males and females are two different types of people. The child will come to a learning that both genders differ in a lot of ways.

Gender and Social interaction will affect how much a child knows about certain things in life. These factors will play a role in developing a child’s cognitive thinking.

Operational Framework:

Why target teenagers? Freud’s theory says it all. We assume and believe that it is during Latency Period when a child will slowly attain and learn about sex. During childhood and the earlier stages of life, a child doesn’t find any sexual meaning in things and actions around them. As they reach puberty, they slowly experience new sensations in their bodies, resulting to them asking about these stuff. Along with these bodily changes comes their first grasp on the topic sex. For the first time, they hear about sex, and they crave for more information about it. Due to varying reasons, a child’s curiosity and eagerness to learn about sex starts to take over him or her. The beauty of conducting our research with teenagers undergoing this stage is that they’re still at the time when they are very curious about sex, yet they might still not be mature enough to no longer consider this topic a taboo. This assumption leads us to a conclusion that indeed, first year and second year teenage high school students will make the best respondents for our study.

For the difference between the two genders, we decided to use a theory from Armstrong and Sarafino’s book. This theory simply states that the two distinct genders have different reactions and attitudes towards sex. This theory is only one of the many which state differences among males and females. These differences basically make a distinction between the two genders. For our research, we are trying to see if these differences can actually affect how much a teenager knows about sex. These differences, where do teenagers get them?

Social Interaction is the answer to that. As explained by both Vygotsky and Bronfenbrenner, the surroundings are important in shaping a child. This is where the child gets his or her first ideologies and concepts about life. Thus, social interaction is the reason why differences sprout out between the two genders. Social interaction is also responsible for almost everything a person knows and believes: money, faith, love and sex.

Social interaction is responsible for the teenager’s knowledge about sex. Because of social contact, the young adult will have his or her first ideas about sex. It may either be from a friend, from a television show, from the internet, from school or from many other sources. The social interaction is responsible for the source of the teen’s knowledge about sex. From these sources, the adolescent gets a lot of information about sex. Now the reason why the teen wants to know about sex is another case. This can also be obtained through social interaction. Peer pressure and curiosity are just two examples of why a teen wants to know about sex.

It is basically because of social interaction why and how teenagers learn about sex. They first learn about it because of society. They learn more about it because of society and in the near future, they might even influence other people’s knowledge about sex in the society.