Educational identity has been studied increasingly in the past decades since school is a structured context that shapes adolescent identity formation. Across the academic years, adolescents learn to position themselves in terms of their education and schooling, perceiving these entities as more or less relevant for their self-formation. In this…

This study aimed to examine the relations between educational and interpersonal identity trajectories and psychosocial functioning based on a three-factor identity process model. A total of 968 Japanese adolescents including 13- and 16-years-olds (49.7% female) participated in a four-wave longitudinal study. Latent class growth analysis extracted…

Some researchers indicate that the transition to high school deflects adolescent developmental trajectories. Others assert that it provides a new possibility for the promotion of adolescents' socioemotional well-being. One critical view missing in such claims is that individual variabilities interact with environmental influences. We employed the…

In the present study, we examined changes in identity dynamics during adolescence using the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), focusing on social and cultural factors possibly affecting identity formation. Identity formation among adolescents outside Western countries is largely unexplored; therefore, we focused on adolescents in…

This study tested cross cultural measurement equivalence of three identity constructs by testing the factor invariance among participants from four nations. Data from measures of identity exploration, commitment, and distress were collected from university students in Mainland China (n = 85), Taiwan (n = 117), Japan (n = 117), and the United…

This article examines the precarious transition from school to work, considers its relation to young people's identity formation in late modern Japan, and rethinks the theory of identity formation in late modernity. Although Japan's transition system had been efficient and stable over many years, since the late 1990s this has been replaced by an…

Identity development in the learning sphere is an important identity-defining issue for Japanese adolescents during the transition from high school to university. The present study reports a preliminary feasibility evaluation of an intervention program designed to facilitate identity formation in the learning sphere. 179 Japanese university…

This study examined the ways in which Japanese adolescents handle disagreements with parents, and the extent to which the cultural values of emotional bonds within the family predict adolescents' reported handling of disagreements. Adolescents (N = 1029), aged 12 to 25 years, reported their projected actions in response to six hypothetical…

Since the 1980s, school bullying--"Ijime"--has been a major concern of educational policy in Japan. In Japanese schools, homeroom teachers provide guidance for students' psychological and social development, in addition to academic development. Homeroom teachers spend significant time counseling students, visiting their families, and…

Filling a significant gap in the literature, this book examines the impact of culture on the social behaviors, emotions, and relationships of children around the world. It also explores cultural differences in what is seen as adaptive or maladaptive development. Eminent scholars discuss major theoretical perspectives on culture and development and…

Compared peer relations, developmental expectations, perceived competence, and well-being in Dutch and Japanese adolescents, investigating cultural influences. Survey data indicated that Dutch adolescents were more satisfied with their peer relationships, expected to achieve developmental tasks at earlier ages, felt more competent about their…

Identity formation from a relational viewpoint is a process of internalizing the expectations, needs, and opinions of significant others while recognizing and expressing one's own needs and interests. To achieve this, adolescents must resolve disagreement between their own and others' points of view through mutual regulation between self and…

Explores reasons why adolescents lose interest in art by focusing on the internal and external disruptions in their artistic development. Discusses the influence of manga, or comics, on the artistic development of children in Japan and relates the characteristics of manga. Addresses the use of manga within the Japanese art curriculum. (CMK)

Off-campus training called "gasshuku" in Japanese middle and high schools is described. The training, which embodies Japanese cultural themes and values in the three-part curriculum of academic subjects, moral lessons, and special activities, functions as a rite of passage into adulthood in Japan's industrial society. (MMU)

A study examined the influences that family, community, and work exert on the youth-to-adulthood transition as well as the dynamics of their interaction. Similarities and differences among the youth-to-adulthood transition as it occurs in the United States, Japan, and West Germany were identified. It was concluded that the links among family,…