ADOLESCENTS BETWEEN CULTURES - VALUES AND AUTONOMY EXPECTATIONS IN ANINTERNATIONAL SCHOOL SETTING

More information is needed about the effect of culturally atypical env ironments on values and behavior in youth. We investigated the value p riorities and autonomy expectations of 226 Asian and Western teenagers from an international school. Asian teenagers in this setting retaine d traditional values while adopting many 'Western' values; however, th eir autonomy expectations remained later than for Western teenagers. T hese findings support Kagitcibasi's (1996) model of social change in t raditional cultures, where despite emphases on the values of independe nce in function outside the family, interdependence within the family persists. In addition they provide a context to understand cross-cultu ral peer relationships in adolescents in an international setting.