Daniel K. Lapsley

Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups

Using the Revised Youth Purpose Survey (Bundick et al., 2006), the Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), the present study examined the relationship among purpose, hope, and life satisfaction among 153 adolescents, 237 emerging adults, and 416 adults (N = 806). Results of this cross-sectional study revealed that having identified a purpose in life was associated with greater life satisfaction at these three stages of life. However, searching for a purpose was only associated with increased life satisfaction during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Additionally, aspects of hope mediated the relationship between purpose and life satisfaction at all three stages of life. Implications of these results for effectively fostering purpose are discussed.

Separation-Individuation, Family Cohesion, and Adjustment to College: Measurement Validation and Test of a Theoretical Model.

We examined the relation between adolescent separation-individuation, family cohesion, and college adjustment. A large sample of college students was split into two groups. One group was used to determine whether several measures of separation-individuation were measuring different dimensions of individuation. Two related factors, labeled Positive Separation Feelings and Independence From Parents, emerged from an exploratory factor analysis of the measures. A theoretical model, derived from psychodynamic and family systems perspectives of separationindividuation, was tested on the second group of subjects. The model specified that college adjustment would be predicted by family cohesion, positive separation feelings, and independence from parents. The results indicated that the Positive Separation Feelings factor was a better predictor of college adjustment than Independence From Parents or Family Cohesion.

Prototypic Moral Character

Four studies tested whether moral character is organized as a cognitive prototype. Study 1 involved a free listing of features of virtuous persons. Study 2 required participants to rate each trait on its centrality to good character. Astandard recognition memory paradigm was used in Studies 3 and 4 to test whether participants reported more false recognition of trait attributes that they have not seen but are consistent (virtue central) with the prototype. In both studies, participants reported significant false recognition of novel virtue-central traits than they did virtue-peripheral traits, supporting the claim that a conception of good character is schematically organized around a prototype. Prototype activation had weak and inconsistent effects on recall memory. Implications for understanding moral cognition and identity are discussed.

Character psychology and character education

Fittingly, there is much wisdom about character development to be found in the foundational texts of virtue theory*/studying Aristotle and Plato is as good an introduction as any to that complex whole known as character. No wonder, then, that many character development practices found in the military (such as in basic training and the service academies, or which underpin operational activities) take Aristotelian or Platonic notions of character as axiomatic. So long as those presuppositions are true, there is no harm and much good that comes from this. But insofar as they are tendentious, our institutions may not be as effective at enabling the development of good martial*/and human*/character as they could. Lapsley and Power have edited an excellent volume on the upshot of findings in the psychology of character for character development practice. On the whole, the ‘science of character’ is largely supportive of Aristotelian notions of moral ontogeny; even so, we would do well to rethink some of our military character development practices in light of findings contained in these essays. A diverse group, the authors in the volume all agree that the psychological sciences will be important for helping us better hone character development practice (though Augusto Blasi thinks we should do a better job of challenging some of the presuppositions of psychology, and Robert Nash’s commitment to postmodernism makes the very existence of a science all but impossible for him); a good theory*/one tutored by our best extant natural sciences*/will be eminently practical. Appropriately, however, there is some dispute about what exactly the sciences are telling us currently; those seeking certain knowledge, known for certain, will not be satisfied with this volume. Interestingly, though, there is little discussion of the recent and vociferous debates about the effect of social psychology’s ‘fundamental attribution error’ on our conceptions of character (this is the discovery that environmental influences have an effect on what action we take in a given circumstance as much as internal psychological causes do). This is not a flaw, as there are other books that focus on that interaction in some depth, and several of the essays in this collection drive home what is the reasonable upshot of the fundamental attribution error for character development: that we should focus not just on developing individuals but also upon building community and fashioning an environment which supports the exercise of authentic

Adolescent egocentrism-sociocentrism and self-consciousness

A standardized and objectively scored scale of adolescent egocentrism-sociocentrism (AES) and a self-consciousness scale were given to 44 subjects each in the sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades and college. The AES assesses three components of egocentrism including the personal fable, the imaginary audience, and general self-focuses, as well as sociocentrism and nonsocial subscales. As predicted, the personal fable and imaginary audience declined with age. The self-focus subscale showed a curvilinear relationship with age, while, again as predicted, sociocentrism increased and nonsocial focuses declined. Adolescent egocentrism, as expected, correlated positively with self-consciousness even with age controlled. Implications for the theories of egocentrism and sociocentrism in the adolescent years are discussed.

Separation-Individuation and the "New Look" at the Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable A Test of an Integrative Model

The relationship between the imaginary audience (IA) and the personalfable (PF), narcissism, and various dimensions of separation-individuation was examined. The subjects were 45 sixth-graders, 54 eighth-graders, 40 tenth-graders, and 30 twelfth-graders, drawn from one school district in a predominantly middle-class community. Newly developed measures of imaginary audience and the personal fable were used, as were the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence. The results were: (a) the IA and the PF were positively correlated with narcissism: (b) the [A was positively related to object relational concerns such as engulfment, symbiosis, succorance, enmeshment, and separation anxiety; (c) the PF was positively related to dependency denial and to self-centeredness, and was negatively related to separation anxiety and engulfment; (d) males reported higher scores on measures that reflect agentic concerns, such as narcissism, personal fable, omnipotence, invulnerability, and selfcenteredness, females reported higher scores on interpersonal dimensions, such as enmeshment, symbiosis, and separation anxiety. Cross-sectional findings and sex differences are reported. The results are seen to support an integrative model of adolescent ego development.

An Empirical Typology of Perfectionism in Gifted Adolescents

We document a typology of perfectionism in a sample of academically talented adolescents and directly examine its relationship to indices of psychiatric symptomatology, adjustment, self-esteem, and coping. Adolescents enrolled in a state-funded residential academy for academically gifted high school students (N = 141) responded to the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Mastery Coping and Superior Adjustment scales from the Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents, the Perception of Personal Security and Academic Competence scales from the Self-Esteem Index, and the Coping Inventory (COPE). A 2-step cluster analysis of perfectionism scores revealed four clusters: Mixed-Adaptive (n = 51), Mixed-Maladaptive (n = 20), Pervasive (n = 30), and Self-Assured Nonperfectionist (n = 39). The Pervasive and Mixed-Maladaptive clusters showed a uniformly poor profile of mental health, adjustment, and coping relative to Mixed-Adaptive and Nonperfectionists. The Mixed-Adaptive cluster reported greater academic competence and superior adjustment than did the Nonperfectionist cluster, although these cluster groups were statistically similar on other dimensions of mental health and adjustment. These results suggest that maladaptive perfectionism takes two forms: pervasive and mixed. Implications for intervention and directions for future research are discussed.

Another look at the theoretical assumptions of adolescent egocentrism

Abstract We attempt in this paper to reevaluate the theoretical assumptions of D. Elkinds theory of adolescent egocentrism Child Development, 38, 1025–1034). We argue that the construct is not well placed in the ontogenetic context of Piagetian logical development, and that the theory cannot account for stage transition or the appearance of the imaginary audience (IA) and personal fable (PF) components. We argue that the IA and PF constructions are better understood as problems in interpersonal understanding. These components are reinterpreted in terms of stage sequence that describes the ontogenesis of interpersonal understanding. The advantages of this model are highlighted.

On dual processing and heuristic approaches to moral cognition

We examine the implications of dual‐processing theories of cognition for the moral domain, with particular emphasis upon ‘System 1’ theories: the Social Intuitionist Model (Haidt), moral heuristics (Sunstein), fast‐and‐frugal moral heuristics (Gigerenzer), schema accessibility (Lapsley & Narvaez) and moral expertise (Narvaez). We argue that these theories differ from each other in important ways and should be carefully distinguished. We examine these theories in the light of the ‘Berkowitz Rule’ with respect to educational practice and conclude with some thoughts about the implications of this work for resetting the boundary between ethical theory and moral psychology.

Social Role-taking: A Review of the Constructs, Measures, and Measurement Properties

Social role-taking is examined psychometrically through a review of the constructs, measures developed to represent the constructs, and the reliability and validity of the measures. The construct is described in several different ways in the literature. Most measures show adequate interrater reliabilities, but there is less evidence regarding temporal stability or internal consistency of the scales. The validation efforts have primarily been on the age-stage relationship rather than on other aspects of the construct, although a more expanded focus has begun within the last few years. The review shows that Chandler’s cognitive, Selman’s sociomoral, and Flavell’s nickel-dime tasks possess the best psychometric properties. Recommendations for improving measurement in the social role-taking area are discussed.