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In this chapter Anna Freud points to the interest in the psychological changes in puberty and to the contradictions apparent in the mental life of adolescents. They are ‘excessively egoistic, regarding themselves as the centre of the universe … and yet at no time in later life are they capable of so much self-sacrifice and devotion’. They make ‘the most passionate love relations, only to break them off as abruptly as they began them’ (149, 137)1. They enter ‘enthusiastically into the life of the community’ but long for solitude. They can submit blindly to some leader, but defy authority. They are ‘selfish and materially minded and at the same time full of lofty idealism’ (150, 138). They are ascetic but can be instinctually self-indulgent. They may be inconsiderate, but at the same time can be touchy. They can be lightheartedly optimistic, but very pessimistic. They ‘work with indefatigable enthusiasm and at other times they are sluggish and apathetic’.
These phenomena can be seen as the result of physical changes or as being due to purely psychological factors, independent of physical processes. All agree, however, on the importance of puberty in development.