Reexamining the concept of adolescence: differences between adolescent boys and girls in the context of their families

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Abstract
As part of a larger study on family functioning, a questionnaire on individual attitudes toward family values was administered to 158 Japanese-American and Caucasian families. Differences between the generations on questions of authority and responsibility were predictable; few differences were found between ethnic groups. Differences were striking between adolescent boys and girls, regardless of ethnicity. Girls valued family affiliation, closeness and emotional expression significantly more highly than did boys. The need for families to value girls'' needs for closeness and emotional expression as highly as boys'' needs for independence and self-differentiation was emphasized. Evidently, the concept of separation-individuation as the major goal of adolescence be reexamined.

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