Youth's Conception of Life-Cycle Stages: The Israeli Case

Conceptions held by contemporary adolescents about the four major life stages were examined among a sample of 347 Israeli adolescents. Subjects were asked to characterize in one sentence the terms “adult,” “youth,” “child,” and “old person.” A content analysis of the data, based on structural categories developed by the authors (biological aspects, roles, and personal resources), showed that youth conceive of all the stages predominantly in terms of personal resources, i.e., assets and characteristics utilized in social behavior. In addition, a strong positive attitude toward youth, a strong negative attitude toward old age, and ambivalence toward childhood and adulthood were discerned. The findings are explained in terms of major social characteristics of youth's transitional life stage (marginality and moratorium) within Israeli society. This sociological perspective is suggested as a useful addition to the more common psychological one in explaining youth's conception of the life cycle.