Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol 8, No 11 (2015)

New instrument of adolescents’ peer interaction research

Katerina Nikolaevna Polivanova

Abstract


For decades, it has been well based on the fundamental theories, we know that peer interaction it is a key factor for identity formation in young people. However, does this mean that the content of adolescent interactions has stayed the same for the past half a century ago and today are the same? Studies of adolescent peer interaction often struggle to access the subjects’ own meaning-making. Without such informational background, developmental theory lacks the nuanced understanding of the subjective component of adolescent experiences across various cultural and socio-economic contexts. Teenagers sometimes struggle articulating what is important and unimportant within peer interactions, and what are the rules of the interactions are. Any method based on self-reporting to an adult researcher involves potential bias related to the social expectations of the surveyor or interviewer. The purpose of the research presented here is to develop a new  instrument, a projective method of indirect access to adolescent perceptions of peer culture on terms identified by adolescents themselves. In this study, a group of 14 teenagers aged 13 to 16 were presented a 1960-s film on adolescence. They were asked to select any scenes from the film and remake them in the contemporary context. The resulting script and videos show that the content of adolescent interactions revolves around the relational boundaries, with sex, violence, and interaction with adults serving as background. Conclusions from the the study  reflect sensitivity of the fundamental theories describing maturation, but at the same time the article describes the changes in the material through which adolescents development occurs.