Adolescent World-Model Reconstruction: A Neurodevelopmental Basis for the Narrative Centrality of the Fourteen-Year-Old Protagonist

This work proposes a unified theoretical account of why early-to-mid adolescence—centered around approximately fourteen years of age—recurrently emerges as a focal point in narrative traditions across cultures and historical periods. Drawing on developmental neuroscience, predictive processing, and cognitive models of world‑building, the paper argues that adolescence constitutes a species‑typical period of large‑scale world‑model reconstruction. During this phase, affective and reward systems mature earlier than prefrontal regulatory networks, producing heightened emotional reactivity, increased sensitivity to social evaluation, and intensified identity exploration. These neurodevelopmental dynamics generate narrative structures that audiences consistently recognize and find compelling. The manuscript intentionally avoids citing specific literary or media examples in order to prevent framing and anchoring effects, preserve theoretical generality, and maintain the methodological independence necessary for future double‑blind empirical studies. Instead, it introduces abstract narrative categories that illustrate how adolescent protagonists naturally embody conflicts between inherited assumptions and emerging interpretations of self, others, and society. The paper further outlines how individual and cultural variation enrich narrative diversity without undermining the universality of the underlying developmental mechanisms. The appendices provide (A) a synthesis of neuroscientific findings relevant to adolescent reactivity and effective modes of engagement, (B) a methodological clarification that such principles serve as creative tools rather than prescriptive rules for storytellers, (C) a taxonomy of narrative archetypes emerging from adolescent neurodevelopment, and (D) a discussion of the cross‑cultural stability of adolescent narrative forms as a hypothesis grounded in shared human neurobiology rather than cultural convention. Overall, the work offers a mechanism‑based framework for understanding the narrative centrality of adolescent protagonists and establishes a foundation for future interdisciplinary research spanning neuroscience, psychology, narrative theory, and media studies.