Seth J. Schwartz 
Identity Around the World 
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 138

Examine the structure and context of identity development in anumber of different countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Italy, China, and Japan.

While some identity development proceeds in much the sameway across national contexts, this issue suggests that there areimportant nuances in the ways in which identity unfolds in eachcountry. Macrocultural forces, such as permissiveness in Sweden, collective guilt in Germany, and filial piety in China, direct theidentity development process in important ways.

Expectations regarding obligations and ties to family alsodirect the identity development process differently in many of thecountries included in this volume–such as extendedco-residence with parents in Italy, lifelong obligations to followparents’ wishes in China, and democratic independence in Sweden.The various countries are compared and contrasted against the United States, where much of the early identity research wasconducted.

The volume also reviews specific identity challenges facingimmigrant and ethnic-minority individuals in countries that receivelarge numbers of immigrants–Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy–and suggests many future directionsfor identity research in various parts of the world.

This is the 138th volume in this series. Its missionis to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cuttingedge issues and concepts in child and adolescent development. Eachvolume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and isedited by experts on that topic.

Table of Content

1. Identity Around the World: An Overview 1
Seth J. Schwartz, Byron L. Zamboanga, Alan Meca, Rachel A.Ritchie
This chapter provides an overview of personal andethnic/cultural identity, important processes that are onlybeginning to be studied systematically in various nationalcontexts.

2. Personal Identity in Belgium and The Netherlands 19
Theo A. Klimstra, Koen Luyckx, Wim H. J. Meeus
Belgium and The Netherlands have been hotbeds of personalidentity research, and this research is situated within thecultural and historical contexts of these countries.

3. Identity Development in German Emerging Adults: Not an Easy Task 35
Inge Seiffge-Krenke, Marja-Lena Haid
German adolescents and emerging adults face a diffi cultchallenge in developing a sense of identity amid the backdrop of East-West reunification and collective guilt for the Holocaust.

4. Personal and Ethnic Identity in Swedish Adolescents and Emerging Adults 61
Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Kari Trost, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Shahram Mansoory
Sweden is characterized by democratic and somewhat permissiveparent-child relationships, and these family styles exertunique effects on identity development among Swedish adolescentsand emerging adults.

5. Personal Identity in Italy 87
Elisabetta Crocetti, Emanuela Rabaglietti, Luigia Simona Sica
In Italy, the transition to adulthood is often protracted, withyoung people remaining at home with their parents into their late20s and early 30s. This extended transition to adulthood shapes theways in which young Italians develop their identities.

6. Globalization and Identity Development: A Chinese Perspective103
Min Cheng, Steven L. Berman
Although China has traditionally been a heavily collectivistcountry, the effects of globalization are beginning to affect theways in which young Chinese people develop a sense of self.

7. Personal Identity in Japan 123
Kazumi Sugimura, Shinichi Mizokami
Japanese culture has changed considerably over the lastgeneration, and Japanese adolescents and emerging adults have beenembracing identities characterized by individualisticcollectivism.

INDEX 145

About the author

Seth J. Schwartz is the author of Identity Around the World: New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 138, published by Wiley.