Past research has shown that hostile schemas and adverse experiences predict the hostile attributional bias. This research proposes that seemingly nonhostile beliefs (implicit theories about the malleability of personality) may also play a role in shaping it. Study 1 meta-analytically summarized 11 original tests of this hypothesis (N = 1,659),…

Grounded in person-environment fit theory, this study examined whether low-income mothers' preferences for education moderated the effects of employment- and education-focused welfare programs on children's positive and problem behaviors. The sample included 1,365 families with children between ages 3 and 5 years at study entry. Results 5 years…

Adolescents are often resistant to interventions that reduce aggression in children. At the same time, they are developing stronger beliefs in the fixed nature of personal characteristics, particularly aggression. The present intervention addressed these beliefs. A randomized field experiment with a diverse sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (ages…

The theoretical relations between regression and progression in developmental stage theories are discussed. A detailed analysis of stage transition in adolescent moral judgments is presented. (ST)

Drawing on cultural-ecological and person-environment fit perspectives, this study examined links among Mexican-American adolescents' time with peers and parents, parents' cultural orientations, and adolescents' psychosocial adjustment and cultural orientations. Participants were 492 Mexican-American adolescents (Ms=15.7 and 12.8 years for older…

Fourth through eleventh grade students evaluated single personality trait descriptions of hypothetical persons of their own sex. Results are discussed in terms of person-perception and social desirability theories of personality. (ST)

This longitudinal study investigated the validity of the Five Factor Model of personality with Swedish children ages 2 to 15 years. Findings of item analyses showed consistently reliable irritability, conscientiousness, and positive activity factors, while internal reliability of other factors increased over time. Found that irritability and…

Argues that, although research on conscience development in children has emphasized the contribution of parental socialization, the influence of children's temperament has been largely neglected. Proposes a new framework for the study of conscience development through a synthesis of the two approaches. (MDM)

Fourth and fifth graders viewed a slide show that depicted a boy displaying negative behaviors and that had a negative consistent or a positive inconsistent ending. Children who believed that personality is fixed, but not children who believed personality is malleable, did not differ in their ratings of the boy in the consistent- and…

Presents a critical appraisal of resilience, a construct connoting the maintenance of positive adaptation by individuals despite significant adversity. Addresses common criticisms, proposes solutions for those considered legitimate, and clarifies misunderstandings surrounding less valid criticisms. Concludes that work on resilience possesses…

Two studies examined sixth graders' personality theories on stereotype formation. Compared to those with malleable views, children with fixed views of personality made more extreme trait ratings of schools characterized positively or negatively, generalized judgments to an unknown student, perceived greater within-school similarity and…

Examined three theories for predicting risk for delinquency during adolescence with sixth- and seventh-grade students: an individual difference perspective, social interactional model, and social contextual approach. Found that lack of nurturant and involved parenting indirectly predicted delinquency by increasing antisocial behavior and deviant…