These days, children are exposed to a variety of information sources and channels, which create more complex interactions than ever before. It is important, therefore, to develop and reinforce children's self-leadership. The present work is a narrative qualitative study focusing on the story of Lile, a 14-year-old Israeli girl who was assessed as…

Empathy and executive functions (EFs) are multimodal constructs that enable individuals to cope with their environment. Both abilities develop throughout childhood and are known to contribute to social behavior and academic performance in young adolescents. Notably, mentalizing and EF activate shared frontotemporal brain areas, which in previous…

While students tend to enjoy their science learning at a young age, as they mature, they tend to distance themselves from science, becoming less motivated to engage with science and holding negative attitudes towards science. In parallel, a career choice in science often begins to develop during early adolescence. To understand how the environment…

Identity formation is a key developmental task in adolescence. Although many adolescents in modern societies face issues of identity, there are substantial individual differences in identity exploration and commitment. Little is known about the origins of these individual differences. The current study investigated the genetic and environmental…

Associations between security within the family, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, true-self behavior, and knowledge of true self, as well as levels of adjustment, were explored in a sample of early adolescents and midadolescents in Israel (N = 302, mean age = 14.19 years). Both security within the family and needs satisfaction were found…

The phenomenon of adopting a religious lifestyle is growing worldwide in general and in Israel in particular. In the Israeli context, the transition from a secular lifestyle to a religious one is defined as "repentance". Sociologists define the repentant as someone who has changed his or her beliefs, opinions and behaviours in the…

This longitudinal study aimed to differentiate between acculturative and developmental processes by (a) comparing levels and change rates in victimization among ethnic German immigrants and native German adolescents in Germany and Russian Jewish immigrants in Israel, and (b) testing whether interindividual differences in victimization among…

This study investigated whether the associations between (a) the quality of the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance and (b) early adolescents' life satisfaction differed depending on the importance of family values in the respective culture. As part of the Value of Children Study, data from a subsample of N = 1,034 adolescents (58%…

Drawing on the importance of future orientation for adolescent development this analysis presents a model describing how future orientation is affected by high challenge (or resilience) in the face of political violence. The analysis consists of three parts. The first two present future orientation conceptualization and the psychological processes…

Peer relations are perceived to be more strongly related to family relationships for Israeli Arab and Druze adolescents than for Israeli Jewish adolescents growing up in a neighboring but socioculturally different society. However, when family relations are poor, Jewish adolescents draw greater support from peers than do Arab and Druze adolescents.

Investigated relationship between ego identity development and suicidal inclinations at adolescence. Results from suicidal (N=10) and normative (N=30) adolescents revealed that most of the ego identity factors examined differentiated between the two groups. Findings support hypothesis that ego identity formation at adolescence may serve as…

Proposes that difficulties in the formation of cohesive gender identity are related to the adolescent's motivation to attempt suicide. Uses Fast's (1984) distinction between "event-centered" and "self-centered" experiences to explore problems in formation of gender identity with reference to regression to earlier stages of…

Adolescents with varying combinations of pubertal delay and growth retardation were given the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire. Delay in sexual maturation by itself had no deleterious effect on self-image but growth retardation did. (Author/GK)

Study of Israeli adolescents participating in summer camps revealed that active exposure to and assumption of variegated roles in different settings on volunteer basis, while performing meaningful and quasi-responsible actions by means of trial-and-error behavior, enhanced role and interpersonal differentiation, and hence personal differentiation,…

Analyzes real-life moral dilemmas of Israeli city and kibbutz adolescents. Emphasizes contribution of Gilligan's theory to knowledge of adolescent moral development as originally conceived by Kohlberg. Suggests that Kohlberg's view of the adolescent as a moral philosopher limits the understanding of the moral development of female adolescents, who…