A review of the 2009 career counseling and development literature indicates that the field remains vital, vibrant, valid, and viable precisely 100 years after its founding. Using the field's 4 fundamental traditions of person-environment fit, life-span development, social cognition, and constructivism-social constructionism as lenses for…

This paper synthesizes a variety of perspectives, with an emphasis on attachment theory, on the agency/communion polarity as first defined by David Bakan (1966). The question researchers sought to answer was whether or not agency/communion is best approached as a polarity--opposite and opposing forces, forces in the personality which have often…

Investigates the relationship between White racial identity development and the personality constructs Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. White college students (N=105) were administered the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and the New Racism Scale. Results indicate that…

Based on extensive research with children and young adults, this book examines adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns and shows how these patterns originate in people's self theories; their consequences for one's achievement, social relationships, and emotional well-being; their consequences for society; and the experiences that…

Drawing on a model of wisdom that includes components in three domains (personality, cognition, and conation) and across three levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal), highlights potential differences in the ways women and men attain and express wisdom; and examines interactive patterns across the components of wisdom. (BC)

Reviews research on changes in personality, social involvement, and roles which occur in the latter half of life, with a particular focus upon the differing and often divergent directions that men and women take. Considers the significance of these changes both to the individual and to marital harmony. (Author)

Reports on a study of the effect of eye contact on 73 male and female college students. Finds that as eye contact duration increased, the model was judged to have less state anxiety, less trait anxiety, and less test anxiety. Concludes that the study confirms that as eye contact increases, an individual is judged more positively. (CFR)

Presented are the theoretical characteristics of social identity in early adolescence (ages 10 to 15). It is suggested that no longer is identity thought to begin with adolescence, but may have its beginnings in the preteen years. The article draws heavily on Eriksonian concepts. (Editor/KC)

The concept of emotional competence entails resilience, self-efficacy, and acting in accord with one's sense of moral character. This suggests argues that emotional competence is demonstrated by the self-efficacy in emotion-eliciting encounters and identifies eight key emotional skills that support its acquisition in interpersonal contexts. The…

Overviews themes relating to humanistic psychology. Discusses the tendency of theorists to unconsciously externalize their own psyches. Examines the historical context of humanistic psychology. Discusses humanistic psychology's contribution to understanding the less healthy person. Provides instances of unrealistic thinking by humanistic…

A number of research disciplines have contributed to an emerging picture of creative individuals, processes, and achievements. Contributions to a science of creativity are reviewed, focusing on the psychometric approach, cognitive approaches, studies of personality and motivation, sociological and historiometric investigations, and neurobiological…

This article explores the inner and outer forces that energized the lives of Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf and influenced their talent development. Similarities in their lives, including adversity, autodidactism, practice of the writing craft, search for a mother figure, influence of place, loneliness, emotional support, and a philosophy of…

Constructivist and developmental metatheories offer foundations for prevention- and health-oriented counseling approaches that target the whole population. Proposes an assessment model in which the counselor is directed toward four specific dimensions of human construction and development: social context, life phase, constructive phase, and…

Personality theory stresses the importance of communion with self to personal development. Since writing is a form of communion with self, researchers have begun looking for measurable differences in the personality development of writers and nonwriters. Several experiments have tended to confirm that writing has the potential to effect positive…

The effect of sports participation on character development is discussed. Literature concerned with the differences between the formation of male athletes, female athletes, high-skill-level athletes, low-skill-level athletes, and nonathletes is reviewed, as well as research concerned with the differences in personality between participants in…