Conclusions based on U.S. college students may apply only to those who are WEIRD, which refers to

Upfront

May 2010, Vol 41, No. 5

Print version: page 11

2 min read

Comment:

The over-sampling of American college students may be skewing our understanding of human behavior, finds an analysis by researchers from the University of British Columbia. In a forthcoming issue of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, anthropologist Joe Henrich, PhD, and psychologists Steven Heine, PhD, and Ara Norenzayan, PhD, review the available database of comparative social and behavioral science studies. They found that people from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies — who represent as much as 80 percent of study participants, but only 12 percent of the world’s population — are not only unrepresentative of humans as a species, but on many measures they’re outliers.

In one illustrative study from the 1966 book “The Influence of Culture on Visual Perception,” researchers found that U.S. college students perceive some visual illusions to a much greater degree than people from many other cultures, including the San foragers of the Kalahari. In fact, people from some cultures were completely unaffected by certain illusions. If such seemingly basic processes as visual perception can differ across cultures, says Henrich, it makes sense that others do, too.

He and his colleagues use many examples to demonstrate that studies that rely on a narrow swath of the world’s population need to be careful in assuming, as many do, that their results are universally applicable to the human species.

 “We hope that researchers will come to realize just how precarious a position we’re in when we’re trying to construct universal theories from a narrow, and unusual, slice of the population,” says Heine.

To address the problem, Heine and his colleagues suggest that journal editors and funding agencies encourage researchers to discuss the limitations of their samples and seek more representative study participants.

Not all researchers agree with Heine. In a commentary that will accompany the article, University of Tennessee at Knoxville psychologist Lowell Gaertner, PhD, and his colleagues argue that simply looking at surface differences among cultures — what they call the phenotype — does little to advance the understanding of universal human behavior or genotype.

— B. Azar

Comment:

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The period of life between the ages of 18 and 25. Emerging adulthood is now widely thought of as a separate distinct stage.

emerging adulthood

Biologically, the years from ages _____ to _____ are prime time for hard physical work and safe reproduction.

18, 25

Emerging adulthood as a stage of human development, a time for _______________, _______________, and _______________.

questions, exploration, experimentation

Some scholars consider emerging adulthood neither beneficial nor universal. Instead, this new stage may be a cultural phenomenon for _______________ _______________ who can afford to postpone work and family commitments.

privileged youth

The term emerging adulthood was coined by _______________ _______________, a college professor in Missouri who listened to his own students and realized they were neither adolescents nor adults.

Jeffery Arnett

When Danish 20- to 30-year-olds were asked what signified adulthood, they chose _______________, _______________, _______________, _______________, and _______________ _______________. Relatively few of those under age 25 thought that they themselves were adults.

marriage, parenthood, financial self-sufficiency, independence from parents

Conclusions based on American college students may apply only to those who are WEIRD—from W__________, E__________, I__________, R__________, D__________.

western, educated, industrialized, rich, democracies

Arnett himself contended that too much of developmental science focuses on only _____ percent of humanity

5

One study of personality development among youth in 62 nations found that this transition time was evident everywhere but also that the age when adulthood began was strongly affected by having a __________ __________. When work began early (Asian Pakistan, Malaysia, and Zimbabwe), personality maturation was __________; when work began late (as in the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States), emerging adulthood lasted __________ __________.

steady job, rapid, many years

Emerging adulthood is now evident _______________.

worldwide

Perhaps those who do not acknowledge a time between adolescence and adulthood are stuck in the past, when _______________ _______________ meant everyone had to become an adult by age _____.

economic pressure, 18

__________ from ages 18 to 25 is one aspect of development that has not changed, except maybe to __________.

health, improve

As has been true for thousands of years, every body system—including the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, and sexual-reproductive systems—functions optimally at the __________ of adolescence.

end

The extra capacity built into each organ, such as the heart and lungs, that allows a person to cope with extraordinary demands and to withstand organ strain.

organ reserve

Organ reserve __________ each year of adulthood.

shrinks

In the _______________ of adulthood, however, organ reserve allows speedy recovery from physical demands. Emerging adults sometimes exercise too long, stay awake all night, or drink too much alcohol. Usually they recover quickly, unlike older adults who might be affected for days.

beginning

Closely related to organ reserve is _______________ —a balance between various body reactions that keeps every physical function in sync with every other.

homeostasis

The adjustment of all the body's systems to keep physiological functions in equilibrium, moment by moment.

homeostasis

Homeostasis is _______________ in early adult- hood, partly because all the organs have power in reserve for sudden demands.

quickest

Even middle-aged adults are __________ protected from temperature changes—or any other stress on the body—than emerging adults

less

Related to homeostasis is _______________, a dynamic body adjustment that gradually changes overall physiology.

allostasis

A dynamic body adjustment to long-term biological conditions of a person's life.

allostasis

The main difference between homeostasis and allostasis is __________: Homeostasis requires an _______________ response from body systems, whereas allostasis refers to _______________ adjustment.

time, immediate, long-term

Allostasis depends on the biological circumstances of every earlier time of life, beginning at conception. The process continues, with early adulthood conditions affecting later life, as evident in a measure called _______________ _______________.

allostatic load

The stresses of basic body systems that burden overall functioning, such as hypertension.

allostatic load

Although __________ __________ usually protects emerging adults, the effects accumulate because some of that reserve is spent to maintain health, gradually adding to the burden on overall health. Because of the protective effects of _______________ and _______________, few emerging adults reach the threshold that results in serious illness. However, already by early adulthood, childhood health affects metabolism, weight, lung capacity, and cholesterol. As _______________ __________ builds, the risk of chronic disease later in life _______________.

organ reserve, homeostasis, allostasis, allostatic load, increases

Consider sleep. One night's poor sleep makes a person tired the next day—that is _______________, the body's way to maintain equilibrium. But if poor sleep quality is typical every day in youth, then appetite, mood, and activity adjust (more, down, less) to achieve homeostasis, while allostatic load __________. By mid- and late adulthood, years of inadequate sleep load down overall health.

homeostasis, rises

Ongoing homeostasis _______________ allostatic load.

increases

Organ reserve = _______________
Homeostatis ~ _______________
Allostasis --> _______________

homeostasis, allostasis, allostatic load

Sexual- reproductive system is at its _______________ during emerging adulthood: Orgasms are frequent, the sex drive is powerful, erotic responses are joyful, fertility is optimal, miscarriage less common, serious birth complications unusual.

strongest

Historically, most people married before age _____, had their first child within two years, and often a second and third before age _____.

20, 25

The world's 2010 birth rate for 15- to 25-year-olds is __________ of what it was in 1960

half

When unmarried women today become pregnant, if they continue the pregnancy, less than _____ percent of those in the United States marry before the birth.

10

In the United States as of 2015, except for religious colleges, only _____ all-male and about _____ all-female colleges continue to exist. The thousands of new colleges opening in other nations are virtually all co-ed.

3, 30

The rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is rising. __________ __________ and medical treatment almost always prevent death in emerging adulthood, but __________ cause infertility and later adult deaths that seem unrelated, such as from cancer and tuberculosis.

organ reserve, STIs

Now, with _______________, an STI caught in one place quickly spreads. __________ _______________ adds to the problem: Women and girls from one nation who are sent to another sometimes bring infections and sometimes catch diseases they never would have contracted at home.

globalization, sex trafficking

This proliferation is particularly tragic with _______________, which may have existed occasionally and locally for a hundred years. However, within _____ years, primarily because of travel and the sexual activities of young adults, HIV has become a worldwide epidemic, with more __________ than __________ victims.

HIV/AIDS, 30, female, male

Young adults are the prime STI __________ (those who spread disease) as well as the most common new __________. Genetic research finds that the subtypes and recombinations of HIV—once quite localized—are now present in many regions.

vectors, victims

Tracing HIV shows that it originally was __________ to one city, Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Then it spread following the route of the _______________ built as part of colonial modernization: Carriers took the disease to __________ __________ __________ __________, and later to other _______________, where it had not been.

confined, railroads, nations of Africa, continents

__________ expands the mind and develops cultural understanding, but it also spreads diseases.

Travel

Each age group has its own __________ and __________, characteristics that can be an __________ or a __________. This is apparent with __________ __________.

gains, losses, asset, liability, risk taking

Some emerging adults bravely, or foolishly, take risks—a behavior that is __________- and __________ -related, as well as __________ and __________. Those who are genetically impulsive and male and emerging adults are most likely to be brave and foolish.

gender, age genetic, hormonal

Risky items were rated __________ favorably (closer to a good idea) every year from age 10 to 20 and then __________ favorably (closer to a bad idea) every year from age 20 to 30.

more, less

Experience increased (the average 15- to 17-year-old had done four of the items; the average 20- to 25-year-old had done seven), but that did not affect how good or bad each item was thought to be. _______________, not _______________, affected the assessment of risk.

Maturation, experience

Emerging adult's willingness to take chances sometimes is _______________.

beneficial

However, risk taking is often _______________. Although their bodies are strong and their reactions quick, emerging adults nonetheless have __________ serious accidents than do people of any other age. The low rate of disease between ages 18 and 25 is counterbalanced by a high rate of violent death.

destructive, more

Risks that are more _______________ in emerging adulthood than any other time include unprotected sex with a new partner, driving without a seat belt, carrying a loaded gun, abusing drugs, and addictive gambling—all done partly for a rush of _______________.

common, adrenaline

In the United States, the peak age for serious crime is _____, for unintended pregnancy, _____-_____, for automobile driver death, _____.

19, 18-19, 21

Fatal accidents, homicide, and __________ result in more deaths in emerging adulthood than all other causes combined, even in nations with __________ rates of infectious diseases and malnutrition.

suicide, high

In the United States, of the 15- to 24-year-olds who died in 2013, about _____ percent came to a sudden, violent end.

71

The leading cause of disease-related deaths was cancer, at about 6 percent. _______________ alone caused 4,481 deaths of 10- to 24-year olds—with rates highest in the early 20s—more than double the rate of cancer mortality.

Homicide

Forms of recreation that include apparent risk of injury or death and are attractive and thrilling as a result.

extreme sports

Both promiscuity and drug use _______________ in emerging adulthood, which suggests that one might lead to the other.

increase

When a drug impairs the user's biological or psychological well-being.

drug abuse

Illegal drug use peaks at about age _____ and declines sharply with age.

20

Addiction to legal drugs (no arrest imminent) may continue in adulthood, but after age _____, most who drink and smoke to excess want to quit.

25

Drug abuse is more _______________ among college students than among emerging adults who are not in college, partly because groups of emerging adults urge each other on.

frequent

One study found that _____ percent of young college men consumed 10 or more drinks in a row at least once in the previous two weeks.

25

A nationwide study found that _____ percent of women aged 18-25 had binged on alcohol in the past month (for women a binge is defined as four or more drinks on one occasion). That emerging adult rate was higher than the rate for either younger or older women. Moreover, those 24 percent averaged four binge episodes per month and six drinks per occasion, both more than older female bingers. Rates rose with _______________.

24, income

The impulse to abuse alcohol arises from the same drive as extreme sports or other risks—with the same possible consequence: __________.

dealth

Piaget changed our understanding of cognitive development by recognizing that _______________ does not simply add _______________; it allows a leap forward at each stage, first from sensorimotor to pre-operational because of language (symbolic thought), and then with more advanced logical operations, from pre-operational to concrete to formal (analytic).

maturation, knowledge

Some developmentalists propose a _____th stage, called post-formal thought, a "type of logical, adaptive problem-solving that is a step more complex than scientific formal- level Piagetian tasks".

5

A proposed adult stage of cognitive development. Post-formal is more practical, flexible, and dialectical (i.e., more capable of combining contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole) than earlier cognition.

post-formal thought

Post-formal thinkers are less impulsive and reactive. They take a more flexible and comprehensive approach, with forethought, noting difficulties and anticipating problems, instead of denying, avoiding, or procrastinating. As a result, post-formal thinking is more _______________, _______________, and _______________ than thinking in previous cognitive stages. It is particularly useful in human _______________.

practical, creative, imaginative, relationships

If the definition of cognitive stage is to attain a new set of intellectual abilities (such as the symbolic use of language that distinguishes sensorimotor from pre-operational thought), then adulthood has _______________.

no stages

The prefrontal cortex is not fully mature until the early _____'s, and new dendrites connect throughout life. As more is understood about brain development after adolescence, it seems likely that __________ changes as the brain __________.

20, thinking, matures

The thought that one's appearance or behavior might confirm another person's oversimplified, prejudiced attitudes, a thought that causes anxiety even when the stereotype is not held by other people.

stereotype threat

_______________ _______________, particularly the ability to change childhood assumptions, helps counter stereotypes. Young adults show many signs of such flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility

Many adults have both unconscious prejudice and rational tolerance—a combination that illustrates __________ _______________.

dual processing

_______________ reasoning allows rational thinking to overcome emotional reactions, with responses dependent on reality, not stereotypes.

Post-formal

Stereotype threat is more than a hypothesis. Hundreds of studies show that _______________ reduces achievement.

anxiety

Every nation has increased the number of college students. This is a phenomenon called _______________, based on the idea that college could benefit almost everyone (the masses).

massification

The _______________ was the first major nation to endorse massification, with state- funded universities in all 50 states, often more than one per state. That is why, among older adults, the United States leads in the percentage of college graduates. However, other nations have increased public funding for college while the United States has _______________ it. As a result, eleven other nations have a higher proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who are college graduates

United States, decreased

Data from 2013 find that only _____ percent of the students at private, for-profit colleges earn a degree; at public institutions, the six-year graduation rate is _____ percent; at private, nonprofit colleges, _____ percent.

34, 50, 58

When 18-year-old high school graduates of similar backgrounds and abilities are compared, those who enter the labor market rather than pursuing higher education eventually __________ less and are less __________ by middle age than those who earned a college degree

achieve, satisfied

William Perry described students' thinking through _____ levels of complexity over the four years that led to a bachelor's degree.

9

Perry found that freshmen arrived thinking in a __________ __________. Most tended to think in absolutes, believing that things were either right or wrong. Answers to questions were yes or no, the future led to success or failure, and the job of the professor (Authorities) was to distinguish between the two and then tell the students.

simplistic dualism

By the end of college, Perry's subjects believed strongly in _______________, recognizing that many perspectives might be valid and that almost nothing was totally right or wrong. But they were able to overcome that discouraging idea: They had become __________ __________, realizing that they needed to move forward in their lives by adopting one point of view, yet expecting to change their thinking if new challenges and experiences produced greater insight.

relativism, critical thinkers

Perry found that the __________ experience itself caused this progression: Peers, professors, books, and class discussion all stimulated new questions and thoughts. Other research confirmed Perry's conclusions. In general, the more years of higher education a person had, the deeper and more _______________ that person's reasoning became.

college, post-formal

A cross section of U.S. college students found that students' growth in critical thinking, analysis, and communication over the four years of college was only __________ as much as among college students two decades ago. This analysis of the first two years of college found that _____ percent of the students made no significant advances at all.

half, 45

A follow-up study of the same individuals after graduation found that those who spent most of their college time socializing rather than studying were likely to be unemployed or have low-income jobs. What they had gained from college was a sense that things would get better, but not the _______________ skills or the self- discipline that is needed for adult success. Other observers blame the exosystem for forcing colleges to follow a corporate model with students as customers who need to be satisfied rather than youth who need to be _______________.

critical-thinking, challenged

College courses that are offered solely online. Typically, thousands of students enroll.

massive open online courses (MOOCs)

Only _____ percent of the students in that first MOOC completed the course. Completion rates have risen in later courses, but almost always the dropout rate is over _____ percent.

4, 80

All four identity statuses (achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, diffusion) are evident in _______________ _______________, as the identity crisis continues .

emerging adulthood

Many young adults change their identity status in the years after age 25. A detailed, longitudinal study in Sweden found that some (41 percent) had achieved identity by age 25, and some (32 percent) had fore- closed. But many of those changed (most often from foreclosure to achievement) in the next few years. The group who changed most often were in moratorium at age 25. Almost all (94 percent) changed status by age _____, usually to achievement but sometimes to foreclosure.

29

The main finding of that study, however, was not change in status but in __________; identity often became deeper, more reflective, and meaningful during the 20s, as life experiences require the various aspects of identity to come together.

depth

This determination to"have it all (family and vocation) is part of __________ achievement among many contemporary young adults.

identity

Research on almost 2,000 German emerging adults found that, for men as well as women, commitment to both work and family is the combination most likely to lead to _______________ satisfaction. However, in that study only _____ percent of emerging adults had reached firm identity achievement in both domains.

emotional, 18

Current emerging adults often quit one job and seek another. Between ages 18 and 25, the average U.S. worker changes jobs every __________, with the college-educated worker changing jobs __________ than those who are less educated.

year, more

Temperament, child- hood trauma, and emotional habits endure: If self-doubt, anxiety, depression, and so on are present in childhood and adolescence, they are often still __________ years later. Traits strongly present at age 5 or 15 do not _______________ by age 25.

evident, disappear

Personality is __________ static.

not

A study with almost a million adolescents and adults from 62 nations found that "during early adulthood, individuals from different cultures across the world tend to become more agreeable, more conscientious, and less neurotic" . One reason for this improvement is that emerging adults increasingly feel in __________ of their lives, able to make their own __________, which often includes enrolling in more education. This sense of control continued to increase after emerging adulthood if at least one of their parents had been to college.

control, decisions

Psychological research confirms both _______________ and _______________. For example, one longitudinal study found that 17-year-olds who saw life in positive terms maintained their outlook as time went on, while those who were negative often changed for the better.

continuity, improvement

A study of college students found a __________ in self-confidence over their freshman year and then gradual improvement, with a significant—but not large—rise in self-esteem from the beginning to the end of college.

dip

This __________ trend of increasing happiness has become more evident over recent decades. One reason may be the nature of emerging adulthood: Perhaps contemporary young adults are more likely to make their own life decisions and move past the role confusion at the beginning of the identity search

positive

The sixth of Erikson's eight stages of development. Adults seek someone with whom to share their lives in
an enduring and self-sacrificing commitment. Without such commitment, they risk profound loneliness and isolation.

intimacy versus isolation

_______________ today are more important to emerging adults than ever.

Parents

When the success, health, and well- being of each family member are connected to those of other members.

linked lives

The label used for parents who hover (like a helicopter) over their emerging adult children.

helicopter parent

Love flourishes better when choice is __________—even severely limited—but _______________ by the family, as in an arranged marriage.

limited, supported

About a __________ of all marriages in the United States are the result of online matches between people unknown to friends or parents.

third

Surprisingly, when online connections lead to face-to-face interactions and then to marriage, the likelihood of happy marriages is as __________ or __________ than when the first contact was made in person.

high, higher

A sexual encounter between two people who are not in a romantic relationship. Neither intimacy nor commitment is expected.

hookup

An arrangement in which a couple live together in a committed romantic relationship but are not married.

cohabitation

Those in romantic relationships tend to be _______________ and _______________ than their lonely peers.

happier, healthier

Cohabitation was relatively unusual 40 years ago: In the United States, less than _____ percent of all households were made up of a cohabiting man and woman. Now cohabitation is the norm.

1

__________ of all newly married couples in the United States lived with their partner before marriage, as did most newly married couples in Canada (especially Quebec), northern Europe, England, and Australia. Many couples in Sweden, France, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico live with a partner and plan to stay together, never marrying.

Two-thirds

Many emerging adults consider cohabitation to be a wise choice as a prelude to marriage, a way for people to make sure they are compatible before tying the knot and thus reducing the chance of divorce. However, research suggests the _______________.

opposite

Found that those who had lived together were __________ likely to divorce.

more

Particularly problematic is _______________, when couples live together, then break up, then get back together. Churning relationships have high rates of verbal and physical abuse. Cohabitation is fertile ground for churning because the partners are less committed to each other than if they were married, but they cannot slow down their relationship as easily as if they were not living together.

churning

All the research finds that cohabitation has one decided advantage and one decided disadvantage.The advantage is _______________: People save money by living together. The disadvantage occurs if _______________ _______________: Cohabiting partners are less committed to the long decades of child rearing, and their children are __________ likely to excel in school, graduate, and go to college.

financial, children are born, less

Children tend to repeat the family structure of their youth. That means young adults whose parents divorced tend to marry children of divorce and then to divorce themselves, and children whose parents cohabited do likewise.

...

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