How Music Builds Identity in Teenagers: What Every Punjabi Parent Should Know

Your teenager is playing Punjabi hip-hop at full volume in their room. Or maybe they're wearing merch from their favorite artist. Or they're learning dhol on YouTube. Don't dismiss it as a phase — developmental psychology shows it's one of the most important things they're doing.

Music and Identity Formation

Psychologist Erik Erikson identified adolescence as the critical period of identity formation — when teenagers answer the fundamental question: "Who am I?" Research by David Hargreaves and Adrian North at the University of Leicester has shown that music is the single most important cultural resource teenagers use to navigate this process.

Their landmark study, published in Social Psychology of Music, found that teenagers use music to:

• Signal their identity to peers
• Process complex emotions they can't yet articulate
• Find communities of like-minded people
• Differentiate themselves from parents (while secretly maintaining cultural connections)

The Punjabi Diaspora Teenager

For Punjabi teenagers in the diaspora, music serves a double identity function. They use Western music to fit in with their broader peer group, and Punjabi music to connect with their heritage. This bicultural identity navigation — described by psychologist Jean Phinney in her ethnic identity development model — is healthy and normal. A teenager who listens to both Drake and Sidhu Moose Wala is integrating their multiple identities successfully.

What Parents Can Do

Instead of dismissing your teenager's music preferences:

• Listen with them — ask what they like about a song
• Share your music — introduce them to the artists you grew up with
• Attend live shows together — shared musical experiences create lasting bonds
• Understand the function — their music is helping them become who they are

Music bridges generations. Explore together on ApnaMusic.