Influence of the cross-cultural environment on the perception of aging and adult development in the developing world: A study of Bahrain, Brazil and Indonesia Frank Eyetsemitan McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, USA James T. Gire Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, USA Omar Khaleefa University of Bahrain, Bahrain Monty P. Satiardama Tarumanagara University, Jakarta, Indonesia The present study examined the perceived characteristics associated with the different stages of adulthood in developing societies. Respondents from three societies, Bahrain, Brazil and Indonesia, identified those characteristics that are typical of the early, middle and late adulthood stages in their respective societies. Although developing nations, these societies differed in their levels of modernization or on the UN human development index score and respondents identified characteristics that were both common and different. On the whole, the characteristics identified reflected the influence of a cross-cultural environment (which included the global, developed and developing dimensions) on the perception of aging and adult development in developing societies. Key words: adult development, aging, cross-cultural environment, developing world, perception. Introduction The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the perception of the start ages of the different adulthood stages and the roles associated with them are influenced by different environmental dimensions in developing societies. Also, irrespective of their levels of development, developing nations still share certain characteristics. Asian Journal of Social Psychology (2003) 6: 51–60 © Blackwell Publishing Ltd with the Asian Association of Social Psychology and the Japanese Group Dynamics Association 2003 Correspondence: Frank Eyetsemitan, Professor of Psychology, McKendree College, 701 College Road, Lebanon, Illinois, USA. Email: feyetsemitan@mckendree.edu