This article reports on a study that examined the subset of qualitative cases in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education where students experienced substantial self-authorship shifts over the first three college years (N = 30 students, 90 narratives). Engagement in experiences and roles demanding more sophisticated, internal meaning…

Presents an overview of the evolving conception of the nature of individual personality, showing how self-images emerge out of style-and-value commitments. Considers interactive relations between individual and society and the possible images of humankind that stem from societal style and value commitments. (JN)

The authors offer a new, integrative conceptualization of the relational self based on a synthesis of recent approaches to the self and significant others. This conceptualization provides a sharper and fuller definition of the relational self than does any existing approach alone and a common framework to interpret findings from separate…

The success or failure of black children in school has been attributed to positive or negative self-concept, but the construct of self-concept has been misused and misrepresented by educators and researchers. The traditional definition of self-concept as a highly interrelated perception of the self has been defined in perceptual rather than…

Investigated the integration of social selves during late adolescence. Findings indicated that the social selves of fourth-year college students were more related conceptually and were more differentiated than the social selves of first-year students. Difference suggested that hierarchical classification procedures could be used to address…

The relation of moral reasoning to moral behavior has been the subject of a substantial number of empirical studies; it may be more productive to employ a configuration of characteristics to predict moral behavior. To investigate the relation of moral reasoning and personality variables to moral behavior, 74 undergraduates, 30 males and 44…

Identity is the complex way a person identifies with, and is identified by, his environment. Multiple identities result from the many ways a person has been successfully identified. Identities coexist; sometimes the dominance of one over others becomes evident, and a vertical structure of identities arises. (CS)

This study drew on two approaches to identity formation, each postulating differing but complementary exploration components, in an effort to better understand the identity exploration process. Overall patterns of results revealed by hierarchical regression analyses were consistent with a process model of exploration and with the view that…

A Kantian model of moral development already tested on adolescents was further tested on normal and delinquent Korean adults. The model, based on the philosophy of Kant, starts its causality from the self, moves from the self to parental images, advances from parental images to duty and legality, and moves from duty and legality to a moral…

The Self-Identity Development Model of Oppressed People (SIDMOP) is a synthesis of several areas of psychology, including developmental, cross cultural, and spiritual literatures. SIDMOP provides an all-inclusive model of identity development for oppressed minorities in the United States, regardless of ethnicity. The model was formulated from the…

Discusses a study of psychological development in 37 Soviet ninth and tenth grade students. Applies cluster analysis in categorizing types of self-determination in terms of subjects' estimation of their past, present, and future selves. Finds the most common pattern, a critical attitude toward childhood accompanied by moderately high…

Defining coping as the cognitive and behavioral strategies used to deal with the demands of everyday living, this book explores the research on how young people manage a range of life problems. Following an introduction discussing the particular aspects of adolescent coping behavior, motivation, and attitudes, the book is divided into eleven…