THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 94 Friday, September 9, 1983 Israeli Psychological Study Looks at Maturing of Teens May the coming teenagers in the Western world. The escape into drugs, alcohol and cults is alarming evidence of this problem, say psychologists. In too many cases, they re- port, adolescents never do mature. Recently published re- sults of a three-year study of adolescents by an Israeli psychologist throw light on intimacy, a little- By MICHAEL HOFFMAN Israel Govt. Press Service TEL AVIV — Growing up emotionally has become in- creasingly difficult for year be filled with health and lanDn happiness for 7111Z illt13`2 to all our' friends all our family and relatives and friends HARRY, EVELYN, ILENE & JONI BERCH EVE & BERNIE MARKOFSKY nalt3 are,7 Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness MR. & MRS. HARRY EISENSHTADT SARAH LEVIN =13 aro:, understood factor which psychologists believe to be an important link between adolescence and adulthood. The research was con- ducted by child psychologist Sarah Levin, under the au- spices of Tel Aviv Univer- sity, on 185 high school pupils living in urban and rural areas of Israel. "The process of matur- ing in the Western world," explains the Jerusalem-born re- searcher, "is more com- plex than growing up physically. It has been neglected too long by parents and teachers, and with tragic results." Child psychologists know that successful maturing depends on Jimmy's or Jane's capacity to develop an identity separate from his or her parents. The kids call it "independence." But what determines whether a truly independent identity can develop? Says Levin, "We believe that intimacy between peers is a determining in- gredient." She explains, "To help es- tablish a strong identity separate from olie's parents, an adolescent normally searches for family substi- tutes with whom to share his or her world. When a boy or girl successfully estab- lishes intimate relations with a close friend, the battle for adulthood is all but won." Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness NATE & SARA FEINSTEIN rata njo, Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness HERMAN, BARBARA & JEFFREY GOLDSMITH A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family ROCHELLE & EDDIE CHINSKY 6200 Olivewood Circle, Lake Worth, Fla. A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family In short, peers are an es- sential help in the search for one's self, including one's sexual identity. Psychiatrists and psy- chologists have defined intimacy narrowly either as the responsibility shown by one person for another, the ability to ex- press good and bad feel- ings without fear of de- stroying a relationship, or two persons par- ticipating in experiences and goals. Psychologist Levin found in her study that intimacy comes in many more coats and colors. The extent to FRANK, BETTY & CHARLIE ELLIAS A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family FRANCES & HAL GREEN • .• s• • .g ,J1k ► 4 .4.• 4,4, :11, 111 t .1 • "4 t, •. c:'41,-11'Yf• which an adolescent is in- timate with friends of the same sex can be judged partly by his or her answers to the following questions: • How sensitive are you to a friend's feelings, and how familiar are you with your friend's behavior and areas of interest? • Can you take advice from your friend as well as give it? • Do you share and to what extent? • Do you listen closely to your friend? "Listening to your friend's experiences, to what bothers him or her, should be regarded as both an accepting and a giving experience," says Levin. "The listener 'accepts' his friends self and 'gives' em- pathy simultaneously." • Do you miss your friend when he or she is not with you? Is your dependency on your friend exclusive and unique? In male-female rela- tions, these salient fac- tors must be present for intimacy to thrive: • Romantic feelings: dreaming about one's boy or girl friend, wanting to be touched and excited by one's friend. • Exclusivity in candor: the ability to express freely both negative and positive feelings, and the capacity to keep each other's secrets. Some surprising findings emerged from the study: • Intimacy among city adolescents with a best friend of the same sex tends to be stronger than intimacy among adoles- cents living in a com- munal environment such as a kibutz. In the city, Ashkenazi and upper- middle-class adolescents concentrate on one friend while in the rural setting, teenagers are likely to spread the inten- sity of their relationship among several friends. Children growing up in a group environment have less privacy than do urban children and they often pre- fer being alone to being with a friend. Expressions of intimacy of male teenagers in all but lower-class society are less intense than those of girls of the same background. "We see a tendency among lower-class urban boys to be freer in express- ing their feelings than boys of upper-and-middle class and rural societies," says Levin. "On the whole, teen- age girls, except for those of the lower class; achieve greater degrees of intimacy with both sexes than do boys with both sexes." The reason, she be- lieves, is that girls are still expected by society to be sensitive, empathetic, warm and expressive of feelings. Boys are ex- pected to be assertive, competitive and tough, and therefore, says Le- vin, "their identities are not as well defined." Some males create macho images in their relations with colleagues. They pre- ' * S " 0 e tend that nothing can hurt them, that they can succeed if they only try. Power, money and fame became es- sential to their well-being. Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year MR. & MRS. PHIL KATZ - - Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness MR. MRS. MAX DREW & FAMILY IMO ;710, Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness ABE & PHYLLIS KOLNIERZ & FAMILY 71:110 ;7, Wishing all our family and friends a year of health and happiness A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family THE HARNICK FAMILY SAM, PEARL, BARRY, CAROLE, SHELDON. MICHAEL A Very Happy and Healthy . New Year to All Our Friends and Family MAURRY & SHIRLEY NEEMAN, MICHAEL & JODI _A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family NATHAN & MAXINE OSSEPOW A Very Happy and Healthy New Year to All Our Friends and Family BEN & SALLY PASMAN wk.- *4 ,p