Adolescents' application of the virtues across five cultural contexts.


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Type
Article
Change log
Authors
Walker, David I 
Chen, Yen-Hsin 
Frichand, Ana 
Moulin-Stożek, Daniel  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9975-2530
Abstract

Little is known about adolescent applications of the virtues such as honesty, responsibility and courage across different cultural contexts. Using the Adolescent Intermediate Concepts Measure we analyze samples of adolescents (ages 12 to 20; N = 9,112) from 5 contexts: North Macedonia, Mexico, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Across samples, adolescents provide evidence of developmental growth in the ability to apply virtue concepts as assessed by responses to dilemma-based situations. Within these trends, participants found it easier to identify action choices that reflect the virtue concepts as compared to justifications for possible actions. Additionally, participants were better able to identify appropriate applications of the virtues as compared to inappropriate ones. Gender differences favoring females were noted across samples. Overall, similarities across settings were more striking than differences suggesting that there is value in viewing the virtues as a normative component of character development across the adolescent years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Description
Keywords
Adolescent, Adolescent Development, Adult, Child, Culture, Female, Humans, Male, North America, Sex Factors, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Virtues, Young Adult
Journal Title
Dev Psychol
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0012-1649
1939-0599
Volume Title
55
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Rights
All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Templeton World Charity Foundation Grant Number 0157