How Teens Choose Their Role Models

Sometimes a choice of role model is obvious: Your teen loves theater and wants to be on Broadway, so Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda is a logical person to look up to. But it’s not just fame and fortune. Teens also choose role models because of their character: how a person treats others or the environment around them. It may surprise you, but teens often choose someone they know personally. Pssst—that includes parents and other family members. Teens identify with their parents as role models even more than teachers, friends, athletes, or musicians. So be someone they want to be like. 

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