Development under stress

Growing up in a world driven by increasing economic competition, how do youth learn to compete and bond with others in the context of school? How is the process shaped by cultural beliefs of competition and institutional structures of education? My dissertation addresses these questions by studying the Chinese culture of academic competition from historical, sociological and psychological perspectives, tracing its ideological roots, unpacking its institutional driving forces, and examining its impact on Chinese adolescents' psychosocial experience in friendship. Based on thematic analysis of journal articles, I first explore the ideological roots of the culture of academic competition by analyzing how educational scholars and practitioners conceptualized competition and perceived its promotion in secondary education across the 20 years from 1988 to 2008. 1 then rely on original empirical evidence from Shanghai to demonstrate how individualistically oriented competition promoted in Chinese schools creates external conflicts and internal tension between adolescents. motivation to outperform others and their need to be socially engaged in friendships. My findings suggest that this cul