Psychology

Introduction to the special section: Reflections on expanding the cultural scope of adolescent and emerging adult research

Document Type

Editorial

Abstract

This article is an introduction to the special section in the issue Journal of Adolescent Research, which has a focus on adolescent and emerging adulthood research. It is argued that the focus in developmental psychology was on young children, because it was presumed that everything important in development happened in the early years of life. Although there is certainly more attention to cultural issues in psychology that is not saying much, as we started from a baseline of almost nothing. Nevertheless, there are encouraging signs. Cultural psychology is by now a recognized field within psychology. Journals may be predominantly American, but are growing more culturally open. For those of who favor the cultural approach to development in adolescence and emerging adulthood, the pace of growth in awareness of the importance of cultural context may be frustratingly slow. It may help to remind ourselves just how young psychology is, and how much younger still is research on adolescence and emerging adulthood. The special section still at the beginning of a long-term enterprise of seeking to understand human development, and still have time to get it right and continue to be a leader in the pursuit of the goal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Publication Title

Journal of Adolescent Research

Publication Date

2015

Volume

30

Issue

6

First Page

655

Last Page

660

ISSN

0743-5584

DOI

10.1177/0743558415602556

Keywords

cultural scope, adolescent, adult research

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