The identification of psychological strengths that foster healthy development in youth has become a major topic of exploration in the field of positive psychology. Gratitude is a trait-like characteristic with qualities indicative of a potential psychological strength that may serve as a protective factor for early adolescents in the face of…

Background and Aims: Peer relationships during adolescence play an important role in shaping academic outcomes. The present study examined friend influences on emotions towards math, as well as the role of temperament in these influences. Sample: The sample consisted of 350 Finnish students (mean age 13.29 years; 64% girls) who were involved in…

The passage to middle school has been identified as a confusing period for adolescents, involving a series of major transitions. A new variable that permeates these already lofty transitions is the firm entrenchment of Generation Alpha in the middle grades classroom, a cohort that includes anyone born from 2010 onward, making them the first…

This study examined the factorial and construct validity of a multi-dimensional measure of motives for writing with middle school students. The Writing Motivation Questionnaire included 28 items assessing seven motives for writing. Two motives assessed intrinsic reasons for writing (curiosity, involvement); three motives addressed extrinsic…

The study examined the relationship between implicit theories of intelligence and psychosocial competencies (measured as adaptability, general mood, intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, and stress management), the differences in these competencies between gifted students and nonidentified gifted students, and typologies of these variables…

Previous research has shown that there is a link between usage of strengths and various positive outcomes, such as finding meaning and happiness in life. In our present study, we aimed to find out how usage of strengths is connected to general happiness with school-related factors as mediating variables. 418 Finnish students aged 10-16 filled a…

Personality results from the complex interactions among multiple learning and memory systems. There is a need to examine the personality-learning association using a personality model that captures this complexity: Cloninger's psychobiological model. The study addresses this need using a person-centered approach. In total, 686 adolescents…

Bullying is a worrisome reality due to its harmful consequences. Although many constructs have been associated with bullying victimization and aggressive behavior, its relationship both with loneliness and personality has received little attention. The main objective of this study is to identify differences in bullying victimization and aggressive…

School well-being for adolescents is a condition that is expected to be one form of educational success. Many personal factors certainly play a role in producing the well-being include positive character of the student. This study aims to look at the role of optimism in mediating the influence of wisdom & knowledge virtues consisting of the…

The goals were to develop a valid version of the Multicultural Latin American Inventory of Anger Expression and Hostility (ML-STAXI) for middle school Mexican youth (ML-STAXI-MS) and to test a new Questionnaire about Anger Expression with Physical Aggression (QAEPA). Five hundred and four adolescents (258 males, 246 females); (M[subscript age] =…

Overexcitabilities and perfectionism are often discussed within the context of gifted education, given that both are observed among gifted individuals. The present research (a) explored the relationships between overexcitabilities and dimensions of healthy and unhealthy perfectionism and (b) determined the extent to which overexcitabilities are…

This study draws on self-determination theory to conceptualize a type of school climate that has consequences for the social, emotional, and cognitive well-being of students. We argue that a self-regulated climate emerges through a general pattern of interactions that students experience as supporting their psychological needs. For the empirical…

Psychology has recently increased attention to identifying psychological qualities in individuals that indicate positive mental health, such as hope. In an effort to understand further the origins of hope, we examined the relations among parental attachment, stressful life events, personality variables, and hope in a sample of 647 middle school…

The maladaptive personality and neuropsychological features of highly relationally aggressive females were examined in a group of 30 grade 6, 7, and 8 girls and group-matched controls. Employing a multistage cluster sampling procedure, a group of highly, yet almost exclusively, relationally aggressive females were identified and matched on a…

This article concerns how noncognitive constructs--personality and motivation--can be assessed and developed to increase students' readiness for college. We propose a general framework to account for personality and motivational differences between students. We review numerous studies showing that personality and motivational factors are related…