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lecture notes Wild Years? Researching Youth in Different Cultures
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Adolescence Across CulturesWhat is adolescence
“Adolescence can be a time of both disorientation and discovery. The transitional period can raise
questions of independence and identity; as adolescents cultivate their sense of self, they may face
dif cult choices about academics, friendship, sexuality, gender identity, drugs, and alcohol.
”Most teens have a relatively egocentric perspective on life; a state of mind that usually abates with
age. They often focus on themselves and believe that everyone else—from a best friend to a distant
crush—is focused on them too. They may grapple with insecurities and feelings of being judged.
Relationships with family members often take a backseat to peer groups, romantic interests, and
appearance, which teens perceive as increasingly important during this time.
• Transition from childhood into adulthood
• Intermediate period of moratorium
• Peer groups are important
• Independent adult roles emerge (e.g., choosing one’s sexual partners)
• MIND YOU: these de nitions were developed in western contexts
Across parts of the worl
Adolescence seems to be recognized as a distinct life phase across cultures
• Can be de ned by a word or expressed through visual signs (e.g., dress)
• Usually starts with puberty (i.e., reproductive maturation)
• Sudden transition from childhood to new roles and responsibilities
• Courtship (almost always ends with marriage? -> most literature reviewed is from 1991)
• Peer groups are particularly importan
What do adolescents and young adults have in common across cultural/social contexts?
• Some examples:
• A system of social status and methods of indicating it
• Courtship practices
• Psychoses and neuroses
• Homicide and suicide
• Dancing
• Social sanctions for deviations from social norms are perceived as appropriate (e.g., by -
confrontation, social ostracism and gossip
What are differences between adolescents and young adults across cultures
Dasen (2000) describes controversy about whether adolescence as distinct social phase exists across
cultures
• Time for moratorium to try out different roles and identities only in contexts with extended
schooling and wealth – groups that can afford not to have young people take on adult roles fast (à
too western de nition of adolescence?)
• Distinct stage or progression in roles and responsibilities?
• ‘Question of semantics’: quite academic debate; mostly about how one de nes adolescenc
Adolescence as period of con ict; of “storm and stress”
• Not in majority of 186 nonindustrial societies
• Problems may mostly arise in western societies
• Long period of adolescence + “youth”
• Absence of clear rituals
• Little involvement in adult duties + responsibilities
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,But even in western societies: less turbulent than stereotypes suggest
“And compared to adolescence in the Western world, observations from many societies indicate that
adolescents are useful to their families and communities.
Adolescence as period of preparation for independence from parents
• Only in societies where adulthood implies being independent from parents
• In non-industrial societies (Schlegel & Barry, 1991)
• No need because married couples also live close to their families
• Family unit provides nancial / social support, livelihood, and status
• Similar for more family-oriented cultures
• (Necessity to become independent from parents also implies stronger necessity to rebel against
parents -> adolescence as period of con ict
Time with peers
• In HRAF, it seemed that adolescents in most societies rather spent most of their time with adults
of the same gender.
• Only quite limited time spent with peers.
• Different through schooling
Gender differences in time spent with peers
• Male adolescents: more time with peer groups than female adolescents
• Peer groups of females usually smaller; and less signi cant than for their male counterparts
(Schlegel & Barry, 1991)
• But isn’t that a cross-cultural similarity?
-> depending on how you de ne the cultural / social context
• Boys and girls are socialized differently – the ideas (norms, beliefs, values) that they are steered
by are differen
Cultural differences in sanctions for deviations from social norms
• Whether physical confrontation, social ostracism, or gossip are perceived as more appropriate as
sanctions for deviations from social norms varie
Emerging adulthoo
• Late teen years to mid twenties
• Characterized by (at least in the US):
• identity explorations (relevant choices in love/partnership and work)
• instability (changes of jobs, romantic partners, living arrangements)
• self-focus (few outside obligations; much space for independent decisionmaking)
• feeling in-between (not adolescent anymore, but not really “adult” yet)
• felt possibilities (optimistic outlook on life as adult
• Has mostly developed in the last decades, with …
• widespread education and training beyond secondary school
• relatively late entry into marriage and parenthood (in late 20s or beyond)
• Is characteristic of more developed countries, but not developing countries
• less education
• earlier entry into work force
• earlier marriage and parenthoo
• Possibly based on speci c cultural ideas:
• being personally independent and self-suf cient before taking on adult commitments
• marriage needs to be based on romantic love
• choice of work is based on personal identity
• between late adolescence and mid-20s, life should be devoted to enjoyment and leisur
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, Why Is Too Much WEIRDness in the Social Sciences a Problem
Between 2003 and 2007 …
• 68% of participants in studies in selection of in uential journals in psychology were from the
United States
• 96% from Western industrialized countries
• 99% of authors at universities in Western countries
• These studies are then about (and mostly conducted by) only 12% of the world’s population
• 67% of the American samples; 80% of samples from other countries -> undergraduate students
-> relatively wealthy, educated, young, often politically liberal peopl
WEIRD
• Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democrati
Why can it be a problem if most participants in research are from WEIRD cultures?
Theoretical Implications:
• Lack of generalizability: ndings may be different in different cultural contexts
• Wrong conclusions if we assume that all “people” are like participants in our researc
Practical Implications:
• Interventions may not work or even be counterproductive (“iatrogenic effects”), if we try to apply
them in cultural contexts where they have not been tested
• e.g., design, organizations, therap
• Scienti c and medical norms from WEIRD contexts are imposed on other contexts (“scienti c
colonialism”)
• We may incorrectly categorize / diagnose people based on standards derived from WEIRD
cultures -> other ways of being or acting are pathologized
• stigma
Why is it a problem if most researchers are from WEIRD cultures?
• Our cultural background in uences what we nd, how we interpret our ndings and what we
conclude
• Scienti c colonialis
• Social and personal values, beliefs, norms determine what we research and how we research it
• Which research do we fund? Which research do we de ne as relevant to examine?
• Which outcome variables do we examine?
• What do we de ne as desirable outcome?
• How do we measure abstract concepts?
• Possibly incomplete theorizing and empirical ndings if we study social scienti c phenomena
from one cultural perspective onl
Positionality and re exivity
• Positionality = all the characteristics making up who you are and how you view the world; e.g.,
sociodemographic characteristics, beliefs, values, experiences, etc.
• Re exivity = the in uence of one’s positionality on the research process and interpretations of
research outcomes;
• on choice of topics
• on what is considered a desirable outcome
• on interpretation of study result
ex. How do my personal experiences and personal history in uence my research
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