Developmental systems theory and life span development describe the role of individual--context interactions in individual development but have not directly addressed how individuals pursue achievement goals in institutional contexts. We developed a theory informed by these perspectives that explains how institutional contexts affect emerging…

Future advances in identity research will depend on integration across major theoretical traditions. Developmental-contextualism has established essential criteria to guide this effort, including specifying the context of identity development, its timing over the life course, and its content. This article assesses 4 major traditions of identity…

Personality predicts how we interact with others, what partners we have, and how happy and lasting our romantic relationships are. At the same time, our experiences in these relationships may affect our personality. Who experiences specific major relationship events, and how do these events relate to personality development? We examined this issue…

Although Eriksonian theory suggests that adolescents' sense of fidelity is a key component of healthy development, research on this psychosocial construct has been limited. The current study developed an index of youth fidelity, examined the developmental course of this construct, explored the influence of contextual factors on different fidelity…

Analyzed the situational specificity of the differential development of inhibition in three social settings. Inhibition toward strangers was stable during the preschool and kindergarten years, even for an unselected sample of children. Inhibition toward peers showed a lower stability over the same age period, indicating differential and…

A biopsychosocial model of the development of adolescent chronic conduct problems is presented and supported through a review of empirical findings. The model posits that biological dispositions and sociocultural contexts place certain children at risk in early life but that life experiences with parents, peers, and social institutions increment…

Examined age differences in objectified body consciousness (OBC) based on cultural, developmental, and familial contexts of women's body experience in undergraduate women and their middle-aged mothers. Found that mothers scored lower on surveillance and body shame. Found no differences in appearance-control beliefs, body-esteem, or restricted…