Progress is something that we as people hope to develop in our lifetime; however, whether or not we actually develop and grow is a matter of different factors and circumstances that come together to mold and shape character during the adolescent stage. The strongest characteristic within development takes shape in the form of identity. As people, who we see ourselves as plays more of a role in our development than any other factor. It is with this notion in mind that the effect of role models and positive and negative influences take flight. For instance, for a child to be associated with a dominant identity that is skewed more towards the negative end of the spectrum entails possible adverse behavior patterns consistent with the identity of dominant associations.
In short, people can best be categorized at a glance as representing who they choose to associate with in their day to day interactions. Just as it is near impossible to see to unlike things grouped together, the same can be said for people with characteristics that unlike each other. Hence, aspiring to be extremely wealthy entails actually associating with people who have actual wealth and not merely a semblance of wealth. The same argument can be made for children who may be named after a father. The pendulum tends to swing in both directions. On the positive end of the spectrum, a son named after a father who diligently gets up daily and goes to work, setting a positive example for his son lays the foundation for his son to engage in like characteristics. The idea being that the son feels an even greater connection with his father and the positive attributes displayed by his father, given the fact that he is named after his father. In dramatic contrast, naming a son after an absentee father has a negative effect on adolescent psyche.
The adolescent psyche processes the ways and pattern of the absentee father and begins to diagnose him with being endless tied to the man who took part in bringing him or her into the world.