Title: Cultural and Societal Influences on Adolescent Development
Headings: Cultural and Societal Influences on Adolescent Development
Cultural and Societal Influences on Adolescent Development
The influence of parental and peer relationships, as well as the broader culture, shapes many aspects of adolescent development.
Learning Objective
Key Points
Terms
Full Text
Parental Relationships
The parent-child relationship
Peer Relationships
Community, Society, and Culture
Culture
Physical Development in Adulthood

Content: Culture is learned and socially shared, and it affects all aspects of an individual's life. Social responsibilities, sexual expression, and belief-system development, for instance, are all likely to vary based on culture. Furthermore, many distinguishing characteristics of an individual (such as dress, employment, recreation, and language) are all products of culture. Culture
Culture is learned and socially shared, and it affects all aspects of an individual's life. Social responsibilities, sexual expression, and belief-system development, for instance, are all things that are likely to vary by culture. Many factors that shape adolescent development vary by culture. For instance, the degree to which adolescents are perceived as autonomous, or independent, beings varies widely in different cultures, as do the behaviors that represent this emerging autonomy. The lifestyle of an adolescent in a given culture is also profoundly shaped by the roles and responsibilities he or she is expected to assume. The extent to which an adolescent is expected to share family responsibilities, for example, is one large determining factor in normative adolescent behavior: adolescents in certain cultures are expected to contribute significantly to household chores and responsibilities, while others are given more freedom or come from families with more privilege where responsibilities are fewer.