An exploratory cross-cultural comparison investigation of psychosocial development in school-age children was conducted in the People's Republic of China and Australia. Erikson's epigenetic model has been tested with year 1 to year 12 children from a Chinese sample (n=360) and an Australian sample (n=150). Each research participant took part in an open-ended interview. The Content Analysis Scales of Psychosocial Maturity (CASPM) have been applied to the resulting verbalizations and the scales scores were analysed by country factor. A general pattern of similarity between the two samples was evident; no differences were found in their overall CASPM scores. However, the individual scale scores showed that the Australian sample scored higher on Affinity and Constraint while the Chinese sample scored higher on Trust, Identity, Generativity, Integrity, and at the same time higher on Inferiority, Identity Diffusion, Stagnation and Despair. Different combinations of these scores and their implications have been examined within Erikson's model, in the context of the societal and cultural differences between the two samples. Some methodological implications and limitations of this study also have been discussed.
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