Seventy-six late adolescents and their peer partners participated in a study that focused on possible selves tied to anticipated career, marriage, and parenthood roles. Control theory and the concept of psychosocial moratorium were integrated to explain identity construction processes. Integration of theory with concept offers explanations for…

This study applied a social identity perspective to the study of adolescent self-concept and social development. British adolescents aged 14-15 years (N=114) completed a questionnaire which asked them to: (i) rate their degree of identification with a school-based friendship group; (ii) complete a measure of multi-dimensional self-concept; and…

Examined peer relations of young people from nuclear families, step families, and single-parent families. Findings suggest peer relations were affected by parental separation only to a minor extent as compared to, e.g. gender- or age-specific effects. A central aspect of friendship quality, however, namely admiration by friends, clearly suffered…

Growth curve modelling was used to examine developmental trajectories of sociometric and perceived popularity across eight years in adolescence, and the effects of gender, overt aggression, and relational aggression on these trajectories. Participants were 303 initially popular students (167 girls, 136 boys) for whom sociometric data were…

Using a socio-ecological perspective, examines the influences of adolescents' social networks, personal resources, and environmental risks on adolescents' behavior problems across three samples of youth (N=155). Findings show that social support can operate as a protective agent or as a risk factor, depending on other characteristics of subsystems…

Subjects in grades 4, 7, 10, college, and adulthood completed forgiveness interview assessing 6 stages of forgiveness development, Rest's Defining Issues Tests measure of justice development, and religiosity scale. Found strong age trends for forgiveness and justice. Second study replicated findings, supporting view that individuals' understanding…

Social identity theory (SIT) was used to investigate effects of social categorization on adolescents' intergroup behaviour. Participants displayed consistent ingroup-favouring behaviour in their ratings: the ingroup was associated to a greater extent than the outgroup with positively valued dimensions, and to a lesser extent with negatively valued…