CROSS-CULTURAL-COMPARISON AS DOORKEEPER IN RESEARCH ON THE SOCIAL ANDEMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Cross-cultural comparison serves a crucial function as a final test of paradigms that emerge in intracultural studies of child and adolescen t adjustment and maladjustment. Beliefs about child and adolescent adj ustment are inextricably linked to cultural values regarding the place of the individual in society. Socialization practices and coping beha viors differ in adaptive significance according to the economic struct ure of a society and its value system. It is argued that the doorkeepe r function of cross-cultural research is performed most effectively wh en a wide range of cultures are sampled, for which core beliefs are me asured directly and not inferred from the general literature on each c ulture, and multiple sources of information are tapped.