Page 240 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 240
positive youth development in contexts
7). For example, in Chapter 1, a study with adolescents in Norway indicat-
ed that internal and external assets were connected to thriving indicators.
Being committed to learning, having positive values, as well as experienc-
ing empowerment and spending time in organized activities were par-
ticularly important to thriving in this study which is situated in the wider
youth development context of Norway (e.g., adolescents growing up amidst
socio-cultural values that emphasize individual accomplishment, equality,
rights of youth, care for others and the environment; see Chapter 1). These
empirical examples from different regions of Europe are also complement-
ed by commentaries and reviews that are highly relevant to the contempo-
rary European context of youth development as a whole (see Chapters 5, 8,
and 9).
What Does It Mean to Thrive?
This book is about the positive potentials of young people in Europe,
but what does it really mean to thrive for today’s young person living in
Slovenia, Kosovo, Spain, or Norway, or in other parts of Europe? From the
standpoint of psychology as a discipline, for humans of all ages, thriving
is considered to involve individuals accomplishing developmental and/or
socio-cultural tasks (i.e., these can be considered as indicators of perfor-
mance), as well as experiences of subjective states that could include feeling
good about oneself or happiness about one’s life (Brown, Arnold, Fletcher,
& Standage, 2017). Thus, thriving represents a state of being as well as pro-
cess of change; and that both accomplishment/performance and positive
subjective feelings/experiences are present when people thrive (Brown et
al., 2017). Thriving can occur across time and within interconnected con-
texts of development, such as at home, school, in one’s neighbourhood and
culture. Further, that thriving can be experienced across several domains
of one’s life or can be limited to a particular life domain(s), and can be ex-
perienced at any time and is not tied necessarily to adverse events (Brown
et al., 2017).
This conceptualization implies that how thriving presents itself across
individuals can differ and is closely tied to and has meaning within the
context of one’s life. The findings of several of the chapters in book are con-
sistent with the heterogeneity of PYD when it is studied across contexts, in
varied parts of the world (e.g., Wiium & Dimitrova, 2019). There are com-
monalities (e.g., consider findings in Chapters 1 and 3, on the importance of
commitment to learning and positive values), but there is also likely to be
240
7). For example, in Chapter 1, a study with adolescents in Norway indicat-
ed that internal and external assets were connected to thriving indicators.
Being committed to learning, having positive values, as well as experienc-
ing empowerment and spending time in organized activities were par-
ticularly important to thriving in this study which is situated in the wider
youth development context of Norway (e.g., adolescents growing up amidst
socio-cultural values that emphasize individual accomplishment, equality,
rights of youth, care for others and the environment; see Chapter 1). These
empirical examples from different regions of Europe are also complement-
ed by commentaries and reviews that are highly relevant to the contempo-
rary European context of youth development as a whole (see Chapters 5, 8,
and 9).
What Does It Mean to Thrive?
This book is about the positive potentials of young people in Europe,
but what does it really mean to thrive for today’s young person living in
Slovenia, Kosovo, Spain, or Norway, or in other parts of Europe? From the
standpoint of psychology as a discipline, for humans of all ages, thriving
is considered to involve individuals accomplishing developmental and/or
socio-cultural tasks (i.e., these can be considered as indicators of perfor-
mance), as well as experiences of subjective states that could include feeling
good about oneself or happiness about one’s life (Brown, Arnold, Fletcher,
& Standage, 2017). Thus, thriving represents a state of being as well as pro-
cess of change; and that both accomplishment/performance and positive
subjective feelings/experiences are present when people thrive (Brown et
al., 2017). Thriving can occur across time and within interconnected con-
texts of development, such as at home, school, in one’s neighbourhood and
culture. Further, that thriving can be experienced across several domains
of one’s life or can be limited to a particular life domain(s), and can be ex-
perienced at any time and is not tied necessarily to adverse events (Brown
et al., 2017).
This conceptualization implies that how thriving presents itself across
individuals can differ and is closely tied to and has meaning within the
context of one’s life. The findings of several of the chapters in book are con-
sistent with the heterogeneity of PYD when it is studied across contexts, in
varied parts of the world (e.g., Wiium & Dimitrova, 2019). There are com-
monalities (e.g., consider findings in Chapters 1 and 3, on the importance of
commitment to learning and positive values), but there is also likely to be
240
