Youth Voices on Contribution: A Study of Iranian Youth

This study explores how Iranian adolescent girls conceptualize and practice contribution, a core component of the Positive Youth Development (PYD), within this politically restrictive, collectivist context. Semi-structured interviews with 13 girls (ages 14 to 17) were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: cultural values shaping contribution, contribution beyond formal structures, contribution as resistance, and drivers and barriers to contribution. Participants described contribution as everyday moral and relational practices rooted in empathy, shared struggle, and responsibility toward others. Findings challenge Western-centric PYD frameworks and highlight the need for a culturally grounded understanding of contribution that accounts for structural conditions and sociopolitical agency.