A Study Concerning the Generalization Effects of Perspective Differences among Adolescent Middle School Students

Abstract

Conflicts arising from divergent perspectives are common in adolescence, a stage marked by the ongoing formation of beliefs. This study surveyed 103 adolescents to investigate the generalization effects of perspective differences. The findings show that value-based differences among middle school students mainly appear in attitudes toward financial issues and emotional factors, while differences in understanding objective facts are concentrated in beliefs about the malleability of intelligence and the importance of effort. Variations in personal preferences are reflected in favored sports teams and the choice of celebrating birthdays by the lunar or solar calendar. Gender did not produce significant differences across values, factual understanding, or preferences, whereas age differences were evident: high school students exhibited greater conceptual divergence than middle school students across all dimensions. Perspective consistency among middle school students produced a moderate positive generalization effect, where agreement on values, preferences, and factual understanding corresponded to higher levels of relational harmony, personal and regional idealization, and familial idealization. In contrast, perspective divergences elicited a moderate negative generalization effect. Only differences in preferences and factual understanding were associated with relational conflict, personal criticism, regional bias, and familial bias, while value discrepancies did not trigger negative effects. Based on these results, the study provides recommendations to help middle school students manage conceptual differences more effectively in future interactions.