Subjective Experiences of Social Change in East and West Germany: Analyses of the Perceptions of Adolescents and Their Parents

In: American behavioral scientist: ABS, Band 44, Heft 11, S. 1798-1817

Abstract

The major objective of the present study was to elucidate factors influencing experiences of the societal situation and its changes as reported by adolescents and their parents. Earlier analyses involving an instrument developed to capture perceptions of macrosocial conditions suggested that family members' perceptions do reflect actual processes on the societal level but cannot be interpreted as a mirror-image of these processes. In the present study, experiences of social change were treated as dependent variables to identify variations as a function of individual and family characteristics. Family income, aspects of individual psychosocial adjustment, the quality of family relations, and satisfaction with the political system were examined as possible antecedents of adolescent and parental perceptions of their societal context. Analyses based on longitudinal data from about 150 East and West German adolescents and their parents confirmed the expected effects of income and political satisfaction on perceived change.