Social Decision-Making Strategies Among Finnish and Estonian Adolescents

Abstract

Justifications for aggression and withdrawal were compared between Finnish and Estonian adolescents. The former had grown up in a pluralistic Western culture; the latter, in a communist Soviet culture. After receiving a questionnaire with descriptions of 2 everyday social problems, teasing and backbiting, and a list of problem-solving strategies, the participants were asked how they would justify the use of each strategy. The Estonian participants more frequently chose instrumental justifications for aggression, whereas the Finnish participants tended to report that aggressive behavior was “fun.” Aggression may be perceived as more deviant in Finland than in Estonia. Among the Finnish participants, withdrawal was motivated by a desire to avoid harm; among the Estonian participants, withdrawal reflected helplessness. The Estonian participants experienced cognitive dissonance between official education and the informal information learned in families; there was also dissonance between inner speech (banned history) and the official history taught in the schools.