Young Men
Rhesus monkeys are hierarchical status-seekers who bond in roaming, all-male packs post-puberty.
“If you knock a monkey down in status, its serotonin levels fall,” says Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. So being part of the group is part of our biological heritage. “It’s probably particularly relevant for young men between the ages of 16 and 26.”
In discussing the emotional urges of adolescence, Marc Lewis, professor of human development and applied psychology at U of T, refers to the “chemical fuel of the brain” — its neuromodulator systems. “Your goals and plans and urges get charged up,” says Lewis. “However, development of the prefrontal cortex, especially the more dorsal part, is not complete.”
What that means is that the “good sort of high-level thinking-ahead stuff” — planning, preparing, comparing different outcomes, adjusting strategies — doesn’t finish maturing until the individual reaches his early 20s. The delay in the maturation of boys puts them, “to the extent that we know,” says Lewis, about two years behind girls.
“Lost Boys,” by Jennifer Wells