Character development in adolescence is of growing interest among psychology researchers and educators, yet there is little consensus about how character should be defined and studied among developmental scientists. In particular, there is no fully developed framework for investigating the developmental relationships among different character strengths. This study examines the developmental relations between purpose and three other key character strengths that emerge during early adolescence: gratitude, compassion, and grit. We analyzed survey (n = 1005, 50.1% female, 24.1% Caucasian, 43.6% African American, 18.9% Hispanic, 11.9% Asian American) and interview (n = 98) data from a longitudinal study of character development among middle school students from the United States. Data were collected over the course of 2 years, with surveys conducted four times at 6-month intervals and interviews conducted twice at 12-month intervals. Data analyses showed small but significant correlations between purpose and each of the other three character strengths under investigation. Interview data revealed patterns in ways that adolescents acted on their purposeful aspirations; and interview analyses identified qualitative differences in expressions of gratitude and compassion between adolescents who were fully purposeful and those who were not. The findings suggest that character development can be better understood by investigating the multidirectional developmental relationships among different character strengths.

This study investigated the effects of internal and demographic variables on civic development in late adolescence using the construct civic purpose. We conducted surveys on civic engagement with 480 high school seniors, and surveyed them again two years later. Using multivariate regression and linear mixed models, we tested the main effects of civic purpose dimensions (beyond-the-self motivation, future civic intention), ethnicity, and education on civic development from Time 1 to Time 2. Results showed that while there is an overall decrease in civic engagement in the transition out of high school, both internal and social factors protected participants from steep civic decline. Interaction effects varied. Ethnicity and education interacted in different ways with the dimensions of civic purpose to predict change in traditional and expressive political engagement, and community service engagement.Key Words: Civic Development; Adolescence; Purpose; Political Development This article may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record. The final version of the formation publication will be available at the Developmental Psychology webpage.Malin, H., Han, H., & Liauw, I. (in press). Civic purpose in late adolescence: Factors that prevent decline in civic engagement after high school. Developmental Psychology. Civic Development in Late Adolescence 2The depressed state of civic engagement in the United States is well-established (for example, see National Conference on Citizenship, 2009;Putnam, 2000). The question of how people become committed civic actors has been a concern of developmental psychologists for some time, especially among those who study adolescent civic development (e.g., Flanagan & Levine, 2010;Hart, Donnelly, Youniss, & Atkins, 2007;Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997).Adulthood civic commitment is generally precipitated by participation in civic activity during adolescence (e.g. Hart et al., 2007;McFarland & Thomas, 2006; Nasir & Kirshner, 2003;Youniss & Yates, 1999), however, the connection between high school civic engagement and patterns of civic commitment among adults in the United States is not clear. Although community service requirements in high school get adolescents engaged in civic life and correlate with later participation in both political and community activity (Hart et al., 2007), there is significant decline in civic engagement from high school into early adulthood (e.g., Kirby, Kawashima-Ginsberg, & Godsay, 2011). This transition is a vulnerable time for civic development, when many young people lose the path to civic commitment that they had started on in the structured environment of high school.Civic educators need to better understand why some adolescents sustain their civic engagement into adulthood, and under what circumstances, so that the supports and opportunities that promote sustained civic commitment can be offered accordingly. In this article, we examine the factors that influence the trajectory of ci...

This study explored gender differences in moral motivations and civic engagement among adolescents to add to existing explanations for the gender gap in political engagement in the US. We examined moral motivations for civic engagement in a sample of 1578 high school seniors, using a mixed-methods analysis of survey and interview data. Multiple regression confirmed that girls were more civically involved and expressed greater future civic intention. However, analysis of motivations suggested that differences in moral motivations might impact ongoing political development, as girls were more likely to take political action out of desire to help, while boys were more often motivated to act on values. Case studies of two interviewees-one male and one female-were analyzed to examine how civic commitment emerges in the interaction of desire to help, to act on civic values and another moral motivation that emerged in the qualitative analysis-to empower others.Dramatic gender shifts in recent decades have led to an increasingly balanced society, where women are graduating from college at higher rates than men and have attained record numbers in the US workforce. As a result of their increased presence in the public sphere, women have become more civically engaged. However, while the historical impact is significant in terms of getting women out of the house and into civic life, the more contemporary impact is discouraging; women are still not engaging in politics at the same rate as men. Although women are far more likely than men to engage in community service, they are persistently Heather Malin,

We examined change over time in the relationship between moral identity and presence of meaning during early adulthood. Moral identity refers to a sense of morality and moral values that are central to one's identity. Presence of meaning refers to the belief that one's existence has meaning, purpose, and value. Participants responded to questions on moral identity and presence of meaning in their senior year of high school and two years after. Mixed effects model analyses were used to examine how moral identity and presence of meaning interacted during this two- The transitional period between adolescence and adulthood has long been associated with identity formation (Erikson, 1968), but only more recently have scholars given attention to meaning in life within this segment of the lifespan. Taken together, these domains describe the process of forming a sense of self and constructing meaning in life. Thus, positive youth development scholars may have reason to be interested in how identity and meaning in life develop over time and to what extent they may be interrelated or mutually reinforcing. At the heart of this growing body of research is a concern for how youths develop a sense of purposeful agency that is not only good for their own development but also for society . Meaning in Life

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