Personality and Development in Childhood: A Person–Centered Approach

This Monograph addresses three questions: 1) How can we best describe childhood personality? 2) How is personality related to the child’s successes and failures? 3) What sort of factors are related to personality development? Based on longitudinal analyses of thousands of children from across the United States, this research demonstrates that three personality types best describe personality. These types are labeled the resilient, the over–controlled, and the under–controlled. Resilient children, capable of controlling their emotions and interacting effectively with others, have the fewest behavioral problems and benefit the most from early intervention programs and school. Over–controlled children are shy and prone to internalizing disorders. Finally, under–controlled children have difficulty modulating their emotions, are prone to behavior problems, and fall increasingly behind resilient and over–controlled children in school. Stress plays an important role in the development of personality. In particular, stresses characteristic of poverty are related to the transformation of resilient children into under–controlled children.

Spis treści:
Part I: Contents:.
1. Introduction.
2. Personality Types of 6–year–olds and their Associations with Academic Achievement and Behavior.
3. Replication with 5–year–olds and their Associations with Achievement and Behavior.
4. Personality Types and Academic Achievement.
5. Stability and Change in Personality Types.
6. Personality Types as a Moderator of the Association of Head Start Participation to Developmental Outcome.
7. Summary of Findings and General Discussion.
8. Appendix A: Correlations among Vectors of Factor Scores for Seven Random Samples of 6–year–olds.
9. Appendix B: Correlations among Vectors of Factor Scores for Seven Random Samples of 5–year–olds.
Par t II: Commentary:.
10. Setting an Agenda for a Person–Centered Approach to Personality Development: Richards W. Robins (University of California, Davis), Jessica L. Tracy (University of California, Davis)

Nota biograficzna:
Daniel Hart (Ed.D., Harvard University, 1982) is professor of psychology at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. His research and applied work focuses on personality and moral development in urban youth. With Robert Atkins, Hart directs a nonprofit organization that fosters youth development (the Camden STARR [Sports Teaching Adolescents Responsibility and Resilience] Program) and the Healthy Futures for Camden Youth initiative, which seeks to increase access to healthcare among urban youth.
Robert Atkins (M.S., Rutgers University, 1999) is a doctoral cadidate in the Department of Public Health and an assistant professor in the Department of Nursing at Temple University. His research interests include the intersection of poverty and urban development with healthy development in youth. In collaboration with Daniel Hart he cofounded and runs the Camden STARR Program (Sports Teaching Adolescents Responsibility and Resilience) a nonprofit, youth development program that strives to improve the life chances of youth in Camden, New Jersey.
Suzanne G. Fegley (Ph.D., Temple University, 1997) is the research manager of the Center for Health Achievement, Neighborhood Growth, and Ethnic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently exploring healthy youth development in the context of low income, urban minority schools and neighborhoods. Other research interests include identity, self, personality, socioemotional and social–cognitive development in children and adolescents.
Richard W. Robins (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1995) is an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on the nature and develop ment of personality and self–esteem, particularly during adolescence. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Jessica L. Tracy (BA, 1996, Amherst College) is a doctoral student at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on self–esteem development and the personality processes that underlie the experience and expression of self–conscious emotions such as pride and shame.

Okładka tylna:
This Monograph addresses three questions: 1) How can we best describe childhood personality? 2) How is personality related to the child’s successes and failures? 3) What sort of factors are related to personality development? Based on longitudinal analyses of thousands of children from across the United States, this research demonstrates that three personality types best describe personality. These types are labeled the resilient, the over–controlled, and the under–controlled. Resilient children, capable of controlling their emotions and interacting effectively with others, have the fewest behavioral problems and benefit the most from early intervention programs and school. Over–controlled children are shy and prone to internalizing disorders. Finally, under–controlled children have difficulty modulating their emotions, are prone to behavior problems, and fall increasingly behind resilient and over–controlled children in school. Stress plays an important role in the development of personality. In particular, stresses characteristic of poverty are related to the transformation of resilient children into under–controlled children.