Adolescence and Old Age in Twelve Communities

Abstract

Disputes the theory of universal stages of development (often called the epigenetic principle) asserted by E. H. Erikson (1963, 1982, 1997) and later developed by B. M. Newman and P. R. Newman (1987). This article particularly disputes that there are clear stages of adolescence (12-18 yrs), late adolescence (18-22 yrs), old age (60-75 yrs), and very old age (75+ yr). Ss from 12 communities in India, Romania, New Zealand, and the US were administered an instrument that designed to access basic information about typical social expectations related to age groupings within a given society/community. Data suggest that the concept of adolescence is socially constructed in each local setting, and that the concept of late adolescence is totally absent in some communities. Further, the stage of old age (60-75 yrs) is much shorter in some communities, and the stage of very old age (75+ yrs) is not found at all in some communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)