Adolescents between cultures - Values and autonomy expectations in an international school setting

More information is needed about the effect of culturally atypical environments on values and behavior in youth. We investigated the value priorities and autonomy expectations of 226 Asian and Western teenagers from an international school. Asian teenagers in this setting retained traditional values while adopting many 'Western' values; however, their autonomy expectations remained later than for Western teenagers. These findings support Kagitcibasi's (1996) model of social change in traditional cultures, where despite emphases on the values of independence in function outside the family, interdependence within the family persists. In addition they provide a context to understand cross-cultural peer relationships in adolescents in an international setting.