Experiencing the moral emotions of gratitude and moral elevation are responses to witnessing virtuous deeds of others. Both emotions have been found to share similar features and behavioral consequences, including the stimulation of personal development. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions indicates that gratitude and elevation…

According to Blatt (2004; Blatt & Luyten, 2009) and others (e.g., Beck, Epstein, Harrison, & Emery, 1983), establishing positive self-definition and mature relatedness to others represent core lifespan developmental tasks. In a sample of emerging adults, this study examined the effects of the quality of one close friendship and changes in…

Chinese and American mothers' beliefs about children's learning and parents' role in it were examined using notions salient in Chinese culture. Mothers from Hong Kong ("n" = 66) and the United States ("n" = 69) indicated their endorsement of the ideas that children's learning reflects children's morality, and parents' support…

Planning for the future and developing a personalized identity are conceived of as important developmental tasks that adolescents and emerging adults are confronted with on the pathway to adulthood. The present study set out to examine whether both tasks develop in tandem by using a short-term longitudinal dataset consisting of 371 college…

The present study compares the relations of family SES and parents' educational expectations during early adolescence with students' self-concept of ability and academic achievement in mathematics and language in two western countries, Switzerland and USA Participants were drawn from two US longitudinal samples, The Michigan Study of Adolescent…