Adolescents' Worlds

Culture Makes the Difference

Alsaker, Francoise D.
Flammer, Eds. August
Schmitt-Rodermund, Eva

FRANCOISE D. ALSAKER, Department of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
AUGUST FLAMMER, Institute of Psychology, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
EVA SCHMITT-RODERMUND, Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Jena, Am Steiger 3/1, D-07743, Jena, Germany. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].

PsycCRITIQUES 45(2):p 168-170, April 2000. | DOI: 10.1037/004712

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 2000, Vol 45(2), 168–170. Reviews The Adolescent Experience: European and American Adolescents in the 1990s (see record 1999-02081-000). The book presents an important contribution to questions that have long been neglected in psychological research: What are the contexts of adolescent development and how do they influence adolescent outcomes? At first sight, the book compares adolescents from 12 countries and leaves the reader with a great deal of (noncoherent) information. The reviewer asserts that in the case of this study, it is too bad that the authors did not look at structures rather than the mere differences between countries. Discussions about crosscultural research underline again and again that the similarity of a percentage or level does not imply sameness of the variables, not to speak of the processes behind it. Rather than taking the forementioned points as a mere criticism, the reviewer truly hopes that the EURONET group will feel encouraged for Volume 2. The Adolescent Experience is a great leap into the right direction and deserves not only to be read but also to be followed by another wave of research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)