Lectures Wild Years
Lecture 1 - Adolescence across cultures and too much WEIRD-ness in the social sciences..2
Lecture 2 - What is culture?....................................................................................................6
Lecture 3 - Generalizability...................................................................................................13
Lecture 4 - Emic and etic approaches to research & Family-adolescent relationships across
cultures, as often studied in a migration context...................................................................19
Lecture 5 - Culture-sensitive research, participatory research and co-creation....................22
Lecture 6 - Digital media among youth in different cultural contexts.....................................27
1
,Lecture 1 - Adolescence across cultures and too much WEIRD-ness in the social sciences
What is adolescence?
● Transition from childhood into adulthood
● Erikson (1980)
○ Intermediate period of moratorium
○ Peer groups are important
○ Independent adult roles emerge (e.g., choosing one’s sexual partners)
● Adolescence seems to be recognized as a distinct life phase across cultures
○ Can be defined 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 important
What do adolescents and young adults have in common across cultural/social contexts?
● Some examples from Fox (2004, pp.11-12):
○ A system of social status and methods of indicating it
○ Courtship practices
○ Psychoses and neuroses
○ Homicide and suicide
○ Dancing
○ Myths and legends
What do adolescents and young adults have in common across cultural/social contexts?
● Social sanctions for deviations from social norms are perceived as
appropriate (e.g., by confrontation, social ostracism and gossip; Eriksson et
al., 2021)
○ In 57 different countries
Different from Schlegel & Barry (1991): Dasen (2000)
● 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 definition of
adolescence?)
● Distinct stage or progression in roles and responsibilities?
● ‘Question of semantics’: quite academic debate; mostly about how one
defines adolescence
2
, Adolescence as period of conflict; of “storm and stress”
● Not in majority of 186 nonindustrial societies (Schlegel & Barry, 1991) (e.g.,
Samoa; Mead, 1928)
● Problems may mostly arise in western societies (Dasen, 2000)
● Long period of adolescence + “youth”
● Absence of clear rituals
● Little involvement in adult duties + responsibilities
But even in western societies: less turbulent than stereotypes suggest.
Dasen (2000)
“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 financial / 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
conflict)
Example: Financial independence (Arnett, 2015)
● becoming financially independent (emerging adults in American / European
OECD countries)
● becoming able to financially support one’s parents (emerging adults in
Asian OECD countries)
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 significant than for their
male counterparts (Schlegel & Barry, 1991)
● But isn’t that a cross-cultural similarity? àdepending on how you define the
cultural / social context
3
Lecture 1 - Adolescence across cultures and too much WEIRD-ness in the social sciences..2
Lecture 2 - What is culture?....................................................................................................6
Lecture 3 - Generalizability...................................................................................................13
Lecture 4 - Emic and etic approaches to research & Family-adolescent relationships across
cultures, as often studied in a migration context...................................................................19
Lecture 5 - Culture-sensitive research, participatory research and co-creation....................22
Lecture 6 - Digital media among youth in different cultural contexts.....................................27
1
,Lecture 1 - Adolescence across cultures and too much WEIRD-ness in the social sciences
What is adolescence?
● Transition from childhood into adulthood
● Erikson (1980)
○ Intermediate period of moratorium
○ Peer groups are important
○ Independent adult roles emerge (e.g., choosing one’s sexual partners)
● Adolescence seems to be recognized as a distinct life phase across cultures
○ Can be defined 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 important
What do adolescents and young adults have in common across cultural/social contexts?
● Some examples from Fox (2004, pp.11-12):
○ A system of social status and methods of indicating it
○ Courtship practices
○ Psychoses and neuroses
○ Homicide and suicide
○ Dancing
○ Myths and legends
What do adolescents and young adults have in common across cultural/social contexts?
● Social sanctions for deviations from social norms are perceived as
appropriate (e.g., by confrontation, social ostracism and gossip; Eriksson et
al., 2021)
○ In 57 different countries
Different from Schlegel & Barry (1991): Dasen (2000)
● 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 definition of
adolescence?)
● Distinct stage or progression in roles and responsibilities?
● ‘Question of semantics’: quite academic debate; mostly about how one
defines adolescence
2
, Adolescence as period of conflict; of “storm and stress”
● Not in majority of 186 nonindustrial societies (Schlegel & Barry, 1991) (e.g.,
Samoa; Mead, 1928)
● Problems may mostly arise in western societies (Dasen, 2000)
● Long period of adolescence + “youth”
● Absence of clear rituals
● Little involvement in adult duties + responsibilities
But even in western societies: less turbulent than stereotypes suggest.
Dasen (2000)
“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 financial / 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
conflict)
Example: Financial independence (Arnett, 2015)
● becoming financially independent (emerging adults in American / European
OECD countries)
● becoming able to financially support one’s parents (emerging adults in
Asian OECD countries)
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 significant than for their
male counterparts (Schlegel & Barry, 1991)
● But isn’t that a cross-cultural similarity? àdepending on how you define the
cultural / social context
3
