Extending the study of autobiographical narratives to entire life narratives, we tested the emergence of globally coherent life narratives in adolescence, as hypothesized by McAdams (1985). Participants were 102 children and young adults (ages 8, 12, 16, and 20 years) who narrated their lives twice. Between narrations, half of each age group…

Adolescents' developing sense of competence is based on two domains, ability and intelligence. Intelligence testing generally presumes a conception of ability as current capacity that limits the extent to which effort can improve performance. Conceptions of intelligence, and other skills, involve implications about the nature of different forms of…

Confirms hypotheses correlating adolescent competence (comprised of dependability, intelligence, and self-confidence) with personal stability, career, and marital satisfaction. Uses data from a longitudinal cohort studied over 50 years and from recent interviews with 60 of the original group members. Concludes that early socialization largely…