To flourish means to grow luxuriantly, to thrive, to attain success, and to prosper. Both plants and humans flourish, and seminal thinkers have drawn connections between human and floral flourishing. Homer, Plato, and William James use floral imagery to describe their highest aspirations for human blossoming. In Aldous Huxley's dystopia,…

The acronym RICH stands for resources, intimacy, competence, and health. These characteristics are purported to define psychological health, which is assumed to be synonymous with happiness. The four characteristics encompass all possible reinforcers, are relatively obtainable by all individuals, are interrelated to the extent they incorporate…

While the assessment movement has spanned more than two decades, there is great variation in its degree of implementation among community colleges throughout the country. Building on literature in the field, this chapter discusses and gives examples of concepts and major areas involved in the assessment of student learning at the institutional…

This grounded theory study on developing a leadership identity revealed a 6-stage developmental process. The thirteen diverse students in this study described their leadership identity as moving from a leader-centric view to one that embraced leadership as a collaborative, relational process. Developing a leadership identity was connected to the…

Although the identity formation model is widely used to assess adolescent ethnic identity development, the model propositions have rarely been tested. The existence of the identity statuses (diffuse, foreclosed, moratorium, achieved), the proposed developmental trajectories, and whether youth in the achieved status report higher levels of…

The effects of trauma and violence may be better understood by taking a broader perspective that includes resilience and recovery as well as damage and symptomatology. Based on this broader view, this article describes three interrelated, cutting-edge trends in mental health research: (a) the positive psychology movement, (b) the recognition of…

U-shaped developmental functions, and their N-shaped cousins, have intrigued developmental psychologists for decades because they provide a compelling demonstration that development does not always entail a monotonic increase across age in a single underlying ability. Instead, the causes of development are much more complex. Indeed,…

In this article it is argued that due recognition of the cultural nature of schooled mathematics requires an analysis that locates these practices in their social-political context. That analysis will need to provide an account of the social valorisation of mathematical practices and its impact on learning. It is suggested that the link between…

This article applies Aron and Aron's (1986) self-expansion model to the service-learning context. The self-expansion model proposes a motivational framework for understanding why individuals are motivated to engage in service-learning opportunities that allow for meaningful social interaction. Using a survey design, this study confirms hypotheses…

Growth in US education abroad has been consistently strong for the past decade, surpassing 9 percent annually. Within the field of education abroad, this growth is both exciting and alarming. Education abroad helps students change learning structures, learn new paradigms and become more complex individuals. If a student's structures are not ready…

Training programs purporting to develop emotional intelligence (EI) are widely available, yet to date few empirical studies have appeared in the literature providing support that training results in demonstrable changes to EI, and more significantly whether these changes can then be traced to more positive individual or organizational outcomes.…

Based on Schaie's (1965) general developmental model, various data-driven and theory-based approaches to the exploration and disentangling of age, cohort, and time effects on human behavior have emerged. This paper presents and discusses an advancement of data-driven interpretations that stresses parsimony when interpreting the results of…

Clinicians involved in family therapy are increasingly concerned with the impact of parental alcoholism on individual development and family functioning. With more than 20 million adults raised within an alcoholic family, and with widespread problems associated with parental alcoholism, clinicians providing family treatment have a potentially…

Once considered virtually nonexistent, bipolar disorder in children has recently received a great deal of attention from mental health professionals and the general public. This paper provides a current review of literature pertaining to the psychosocial treatment of children with early-onset bipolar spectrum disorder (EOBPSD). Commencing with…

This article presents a theoretically grounded model of motivation and self-regulation that places personally valued future goals at its core. We attempt to integrate two lines of theorizing and research that have been relatively independent of one another: the social-cognitive perspective on self-regulation (e.g., Bandura, A., 1986) and theories…