title: Theoretical and Empirical Bases of Character Development in Adolescence: A View of the Issues.
abstract: Traditional models of character development have conceptualized character as a set of psychological attributes that motivate or enable individuals to function as competent moral agents. In this special section, we present seven articles, including two commentaries, that seek to make innovative conceptual and methodological contributions to traditional understandings in the extant scholarship of character and character development in youth. In the introduction to this special section, we provide overviews of these contributions, and discuss the implications of these articles both to the current scholarship and to applications aimed at promoting character and positive youth development.
authors.affiliation: Boston University, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. seider@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7559-7695
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seider
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, 415 Greene Hall, P.O. Box 7778 Reynold Station, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA.
authors.forename: Eranda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jayawickreme
authors.affiliation: Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lerner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D002605:Character; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D035863:Moral Development; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent
keywords: Adolescence; Character; Character development; Character education