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Transcultural comparisons of self-image in German and United States adolescents

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Abstract

Based on the Offer Selfimage Questionnaire (OSIQ), the selfimage of German and United States adolescents was compared. The German study was based on OSIQ protocols from 365 adolescents in West Berlin while the American sample comprised adolescents drawn from seven cities in the United States. With respect to three scales, United States adolescents report better adjustment than do the German adolescents. These scales were Mastery of the External World, Vocational and Educational Goals, and Superior Adjustment. In general, these two Western societies share more similarities than differences in the selfimages of their adolescents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Adolescence, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, USA

    Daniel Offer (Director, Professor of Psychiatry)

  2. Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, USA

    Daniel Offer (Director, Professor of Psychiatry)

  3. Forensic Psychology, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, USA

    Eric Ostrov (Director)

  4. Northwestern University, USA

    Kenneth I. Howard (Professor of Psychology)

Authors
  1. Hans -Cristoph Steinhausen
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  2. Daniel Offer
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  3. Eric Ostrov
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  4. Kenneth I. Howard
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Additional information

Received M.D. and Ph.D in Psychology from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Research interests are high-risk studies, child psychiatric epidemiology, and adolescence.

Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Major interests are concepts of mental health and the developmental psychology of adolescence.

Received J. D. from the University of Chicago School of Law; received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. Research interests are adolescence and delinquency.

Received Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Chicago. Major interests are psychotherapy research and adolescence.

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Steinhausen, H.C., Offer, D., Ostrov, E. et al. Transcultural comparisons of self-image in German and United States adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 17, 515–520 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537828

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537828

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