Michael W. Pratt

Life's little (and big) lessons : Identity statuses and meaning-making in the turning point narratives of emerging adults

A longitudinal study examined relations between 2 approaches to identity development: the identity status model and the narrative life story model. Turning point narratives were collected from emerging adults at age 23 years. Identity statuses were collected at several points across adolescence and emerging adulthood, as were measures of generativity and optimism. Narratives were coded for the sophistication of meaning-making reported, the event type in the narrative, and the emotional tone of the narrative. Meaning-making was defined as connecting the turning point to some aspect of or understanding of oneself. Results showed that less sophisticated meaning was associated particularly with the less advanced diffusion and foreclosure statuses, and that more sophisticated meaning was associated with an overall identity maturity index. Meaning was also positively associated with generativity and optimism at age 23, with stories focused on mortality experiences, and with a redemptive story sequence. Meaning was negatively associated with achievement stories. Results are discussed in terms of the similarities and differences in the 2 approaches to identity development and the elaboration of meaning-making as an important component of narrative identity.

Social Support Relations to Coping and Adjustment During the Transition to University in the People’s Republic of China

Life transitions, such as university attendance, entail the reconstruction of relations between the individual and the environment. This study aimed to explore how perceptions of social support changed across time during the first semester of university, and how social support, coping strategies, and adjustment were interrelated among 390 first-year students in Beijing, China. Results indicated that overall levels of social support among students did not change significantly across the first term, but that support from different sources (parents, peers, teachers, siblings) showed distinctive patterns of change. Support was positively related to adjustment and to coping skills in a dynamic way, and an integrative structural equations model showed that the role of social support operated both directly in relation to adjustment and indirectly through its relations to coping styles. These findings were related both to previous research on the transition to university in the West and to unique factors within the Chinese context.

Cognitive Complexity of Expectations and Adjustment to University in the First Year

Expectations about university and subsequent adjustment in the first year were examined in a longitudinal study of the transition to university. Two hundred and twenty-six students (158 females and 68 males) completed a preuniversity questionnaire in the summer prior to beginning university, and another questionnaire in February of their first year. The preuniversity questionnaire contained measures that assessed perceived stress and the amount and sources of information students had about university, as well as open-ended questions concerning their expectations about university. Responses to the open-ended questions were coded for integrative complexity of thought. The February questionnaire contained measures of adjustment to university. Results indicated that students with more complex expectations about university tended to adjust better to stressful circumstances than did students who had simpler expectations. The stress-buffering properties of complex expectations are discussed, as are some of the factors that may contribute to more complex thinking about university.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Personal Values Socialization: Correlates of a Moral Self‐ Ideal in Late Adolescence

There has been considerable study of the development of moral reasoning in adolescence within the cognitive–developmental paradigm, but less empirical attention to the development of moral valuing and motivation. In a two-year longitudinal study, we examined the correlates of high-school students’ endorsement of explicitly moral values as ideals for the self. Those who reported being involved in community helping activities at age 17 were subsequently more likely to increase their relative emphasis on the importance of prosocial moral values for themselves. As predicted, an authoritative family parenting style was associated with more parent–adolescent value agreement in general (regarding both moral and non-moral values). Particularly for males, reports of greater parent monitoring and strictness were associated with more emphasis on moral values for the self. This relation between parental strictness and males’ self-ideals was mediated over time by perceived stronger emphases on moral values by both parents and friends. These findings suggest the potential utility of studying moral motivation to help understand prosocial development in adolescence.

Generativity and moral development as predictors of value-socialization narratives for young persons across the adult life span: from lessons learned to stories shared.

Little research so far has examined storytelling as a channel of value socialization. In the present study, 129 adults from 3 age groups (18-26, 28-50, 60-75) were asked to tell stories for adolescents about 2 of their past value-learning experiences. Generative concern (D. P. McAdams & E. de St. Aubin, 1992) and moral reasoning stage level were also assessed. Stronger generative concern was predictive of a greater sense of having learned important lessons from these past events, of stronger adult value socialization investment, and of more engaging narratives for adolescents as judged by a panel of uninstructed raters. Higher levels of moral reasoning were positively related to generative concern and to a stronger sense of past lessons learned. Generativity appears important to the project of value socialization across the adult life span.

Microgenetic Change in the Quantity and Quality of Preschoolers’ Private Speech

Forty preschool-aged children were videotaped while carrying out paper-folding and story-sequencing tasks, during a series of three experimental sessions. During the first session, participants worked on both easy and difficult items, and in the second and third sessions they worked on familiar items (the first session difficult items, presented repeatedly) and novel items, of each task type. Participants used more private speech on difficult/novel items than on easy/familiar items, during all three sessions. Private speech production declined across sessions when participants worked on the repeated items. A greater percentage of participants’ private speech preceded action when they worked on difficult/novel items, compared with easy/familiar items. On the paper-folding items, a cross-session increase occurred in the percentage of private speech that preceded action, supporting some of Vygotsky’s (1934/1987, 1978) claims about the emergence of verbal planning in private speech. The potential of microgenetic experimental methodology for research on private speech is emphasised.

Exploring similarities and differences between online and offline friendships: The role of attachment style

The present study merges the fields of attachment and friendships and compares these in online and offline environments. Although currently we know a great deal about the importance of friendships and attachments for healthy development, there is no research to guide our understanding of how attachment style and friendship characteristics are evidenced in online contexts. Participants completed surveys to assess attachment style, friendships (online and offline), as well as interactions with friends and friendship quality. The extent to which individuals sought out online friends did not differ as a function of attachment style. Friendship quality differed as function of attachment style, while differences among attachment styles for other friendship characteristics resulted only when context (online versus offline) was simultaneously considered.

Evaluations by Staff, Residents, and Community Seniors of Patronizing Speech in the Nursing Home: Impact of Passive, Assertive, or Humorous Responses

Two studies tested the impact of alternative communication in accommodation strategies. Nursing home staff and residents (and community-residing seniors in Study 2) rated nurse-resident conversational scenarios in which a resident responded passively, directly assertively, or humorously (indirectly assertively) to a patronizing nurse. The nurse then either maintained a patronizing manner or accommodated with a more respectful speech style. Even though all groups devalued the nurse who maintained a patronizing speech style, nursing home residents predictably showed the most acceptance. The directly assertive response by the resident elicited more devaluation of the nonaccommodating nurse than did either passive or humorous responses, but also the least favorable ratings of the resident. Ratings of the humorous response in Study 2 suggested that humor could be a good compromise response style for allowing the receiver of patronizing speech to express opposition to a request, yet still maintain an appearance of competence and politeness.

That's the way it was: Age differences in the structure and quality of adults' personal narratives

It has been suggested that late adulthood represents a period particularly specialized for the transmission of information to younger generations (Mergler, Faust, & Goldstein, 1985). The present research was designed to explore this idea cross‐sectionally by studying the structure and quality of personal narratives produced by adults of varying ages. Personal narratives were obtained from 20 participants in each of three age ranges: 18–25, 26–55, and 60–87. The WAIS‐R vocabulary and a sentence span task were also administered. These narratives were then rated for quality by an age‐diverse sample of 26 adults. The narratives were also categorized by the episodic structure system of Stein and Glenn (1978) and the high‐point system of Labov and Waletzsky (1967). Results showed that the narratives of the oldest group were judged by the raters to be of better quality than those of the youngest adults. Raters also preferred narratives from those with higher WAIS‐R vocabulary scores. Consistent relationships bet...

Who gains or who loses weight? Psychosocial factors among first-year university students.

Self-reported weight changes over 7 months and their relation to psychosocial characteristics (self-esteem, depression, social support, perceived stress and transition perception) and eating attitudes and behaviors (restrained eating and Eating Disorder Inventory subscales [EDI]) were assessed in first-year male and female students at six Canadian universities (N=2753). Results showed small but significant weight increases over time in males and females (M=1.5 kg). Males who lost weight versus those who gained reported greater negative well-being and more negative feelings about university transition. Females who either lost or gained weight had higher initial restraint and EDI scores than did weight maintainers. At 3 months, total EDI and body dissatisfaction increased in female weight gainers compared to weight losers, plus greater drive for thinness compared to weight maintainers. Thus, males distressed at the transition from high school to university appear more likely to lose weight while well-adjusted males are more likely to gain weight. For females, however, weight gain is associated with more negative well-being and preoccupations with weight and eating.