The quality of experience in adolescents' daily lives: developmental perspectives.

Abstract

The authors analyzed the pattern of experience fluctuation in adolescents' daily activities. Italian high school students (N = 120; 16-20 years of age) were tested with the experience sampling method, a technique based on on-line sampling of daily life and experience. A total of 4,794 forms were gathered and analyzed by means of a model for the study of experience fluctuations. Among daily activities, studying at home, doing classwork, watching television, and having structured leisure were selected as the focus of analysis on the basis of their frequency and meaning in the adolescents' lives. Results showed that (a) daily activities have unique experiential profiles, (b) engagement may be used as an index of long-term commitment to a given activity, (c) studying at home and doing classwork share this basic component and can foster behavioral development, (d) structured leisure can play an edifying role at the short-term level for a socially integrated transition to adulthood, and (e) watching television is associated with lack of goals and engagement and is a source of apathy. The results (a) shed light on the role of daily life experience in shaping individual development and (b) provide suggestions for educational and psychosocial intervention in adolescence.