Dramatic accounts of adolescent turmoil may confuse psychopathology with normal development if derived from the study of clinical populations. To compare the development of normal adolescents, 108 students aged 17-22 from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Western Samoa were studied. Results of three different personality measures showed that in these four countries the similarities among students outweighed the differences. Young adults were not disturbed, highly imaginative, or sexually obsessed; they were neither overly constricted nor fully mature. Their fantasies were a mixture of happy and unhappy without a great deal of parental conflict. Minor differences between cultures were found; Western Samoa showed the most cultural differences. The findings suggest that for the normative historical and age appropriate influences, these young adults from four countries are similar. (JAC)