Applied confirmatory factor analysis in a test of alternative factor models and measurement invariance across gender groups, using data from the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire focusing on shyness, high-intensity pleasure, activity level, attention, irritability, and fear. Found that factor models based on composite indicators showed…

Data for this study of 108 young adults from the New York Longitudinal Study include measures of temperament derived from two sources: interviews conducted with subjects' mothers when the children were 3 and 4 years of age and measures of Type A behavior derived from interviews with the subjects during young adulthood. (Author/NH)

Administered translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory to adults in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea. Found declines in neuroticism, extraversion and openness, and increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness age for both men and women. Results support hypothesis that age differences reflect universal maturational…

Although psychologists often disagree over the definition, underlying process, and methodology associated with the study of moral development, they agree that differences disappear among individuals possessing a similar type of reasoning. To study individual personality differences among people identified as moral by the theories of Kohlberg,…

Examination of self-descriptions of 1,623 undergraduates (collectedd in 1958-64, 1970-74, and 1977-82) failed to support the prevailing assumption that masculinity and femininity develop independently. Rather, a positive relation was found between the presence of masculine and feminine traits within the same individual even when gender and state…

A three-year longitudinal study was conducted to measure two aspects of adolescents' self-concept development: continuity/discontinuity and stability/instability. Results indicated that adolescent self-concept results from continuous growth based on social circumstances and cognitive skills and competencies. (Author/DB)

This paper explores the issue of sex bias in a contemporary major theory of moral development, cognitive moral theory. It explains critical reactions by Carol Gilligan and others questioning whether cognitive moral theory adequately accounts for female moral reasoning and behavior in its theory and research procedures. Several general…

College males and females were given measures of identity status, intimacy status, and self-esteem. Males were found to focus on intrapersonal aspects of identity, females on interpersonal aspects. The pursuit of various identity development pathways affected self-esteem differentially each sex. Sex differences in intimacy were also found.…

Evaluated gender differences in infant and maternal emotional expressivity and regulation with 6-month-old infants and their mothers, using Tronick's face-to-face still-face model. Found that maternal affect, matching, rate of change between matching and mismatching states, and synchrony in the play preceding the still face differentially mediated…

In an effort to determine if Indian and white adolescents differed in their choice of defense mechanisms, a random sampling of tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students from 22 Oklahoma public schools were given the Defense Mechanism Inventory. Scores for 170 Indian students and 197 white students assessed five categories of defenses: turning…

Romance novels have become increasingly popular and sexually explicit, in part because women may gain a sense of self through reading them and perhaps in reaction to the patriarchal structure of society. Women may seek escape and a sense of self-identity through the novels'"larger-than-life" characters and predictable endings. Readers of…

A person-centered approach was followed for the study of patterns in personality development in middle childhood through early adolescence. In a longitudinal study of 100 children, the "big five" personality factors--extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness--were assessed in person descriptions by…

An experiment was conducted to test the theory that young boys prefer the companionship of their fathers in play activities to that of their mothers, while young girls have no particular preference. It was hypothesized that a boy has this preference because he has been cared for primarily by his mother, and his discovery of sex-identity leaves him…