Despite the value of sense of purpose during older adulthood, this construct often declines with age. With some older adults reconsidering the relevance of purpose later in life, the measurement of purpose may suffer from variance issues with age. The current study investigated whether sense of purpose functions similarly across ages and evaluated…

Firearm injury is a significant public health concern among youth living in the United States. Youth with exposure to violence (ETV) are more susceptible to carrying and using a firearm. Few researchers, however, have examined psychological mechanisms undergirding the association between ETV and firearm aggression. Retaliatory attitudes have been…

Ethnic identity formation is a central developmental task that can become challenging when adolescents face a salient stressor, such as ethnic discrimination. Although ethnic identity and experiences with ethnic discrimination are thought to be associated, the temporal order of these constructs is unclear. In the current study, we examined (a) the…

Infants exhibit visual preferences for gender-typed objects (e.g., dolls, toy vehicles) that parallel the gender-typed play preferences of preschool-aged children, but the developmental stability of individual differences in early emerging gender-typed preferences has not yet been characterized. In the present study, we examined the longitudinal…

Based on Marcia's theory, many researchers consider exploration and commitment as the main processes in identity development. Although some identity theorists have hypothesized that emotional experience may also be an important part of the mechanisms of identity development, empirical research to investigate this claim has been lagging behind. In…

The present study examines the association between various facets of generativity, that is, cultural demand for generativity, generative concern, and generative action, with the satisfaction of the needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy in samples of elderly from Cameroon, China (Hong Kong), the Czech Republic, and Germany. Participants…

Adolescent delinquency and identity formation have both been described in relation to the confusion, doubt, and need for individuation and autonomy faced by adolescents. While theoretical conceptualizations (e.g., Erikson, 1968; Moffitt, 1993) suggest that delinquency and identity formation might be developmentally intertwined across adolescence,…

In a hidden inequality context, resource allocators and resource recipients are unaware that an unknowingly advantaged recipient possesses resources. The present study presented children aged 3-13 years (N = 121) with a hidden inequality vignette involving an accidental transgression in which one resource claimant, who unknowingly possessed more…

Although research has shown the effects of empathy manipulations on prejudice, little is known about the long-term relation between empathy and prejudice development, the direction of effects, and the relative effects of cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. Moreover, research has not examined within-person processes; hence, its practical…

Lesbian and gay individuals have been reported to show more interest in other-sex, and/or less interest in same-sex, toys, playmates, and activities in childhood than heterosexual counterparts. Yet, most of the relevant evidence comes from retrospective studies or from prospective studies of clinically referred, extremely gender nonconforming…

To investigate children's inclusion of language-outgroup members, English-speaking children (8-9 years and 10-11 years of age, N = 57) made inclusion decisions while playing a simulated ball-tossing game, Cyberball, and while evaluating hypothetical scenarios involving language-outgroup members who wanted to play with their group. In the Cyberball…

In the present study, we examined changes in identity dynamics during adolescence using the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), focusing on social and cultural factors possibly affecting identity formation. Identity formation among adolescents outside Western countries is largely unexplored; therefore, we focused on adolescents in…

This study examined the unique relations between multiple sources (i.e., mothers, teachers, and siblings) of perceived daily autonomy support and psychological control and children's basic psychological needs and well-being. During 5 consecutive days, 2 children from 154 families (M[subscript age] youngest child = 8.54 years; SD = 0.89 and…

Although Erikson (1968) originally conceptualized identity development as a process of becoming at home in one's body, little work has been done linking identity development and research on the body. This study examines how trajectories of the development of body esteem over time are related to young people's sense of identity and psychological…

Research has only recently begun to examine how callous-unemotional (CU) traits interact with contextual factors to predict delinquent behavior. The current study attempts to explain the well-established link between CU traits and offending by testing the potential mediating and moderating roles of 2 critical contextual factors: peer delinquency…