Profiles of a Developmental Asset: Youth Purpose as a Context for Hope and Well-Being

While having a purpose in life has been theorized as a developmental asset, the extent to which adolescents cultivate a meaningful sense of direction is not well understood. In the present study, cluster analysis was used to classify adolescents by levels of purpose exploration and commitment. The sample (N = 318; 55% female) consisted of youth aged 14–18 and was predominantly White/non-Hispanic (76.3%). Results supported four meaningful yet distinguishable profiles of youth purpose that are largely consistent with theories on identity formation: Achieved, Foreclosed, Uncommitted, and Diffused. Hypothesized linkages with affect and hope were established across the profiles such that positive emotions and goal-directed thinking were most apparent among Achieved and Foreclosed youth and least apparent among Diffused and Uncommitted youth. Overall, findings demonstrate the inherent complexity in adolescents’ engagement with purpose and suggest a correspondence between stronger commitments to purpose and youths’ sense of personal agency and well-being.     

Moral structure and moral content: Their relationship to personality

The relationship between personality as embodied in the moral content of the Survey of Ethical Attitudes (SEA) and moral structure as measured by the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) was investigated using 99 male college students. No relationship was found between scores on the SEA and Moral Maturity Scores on the MJI, although this finding was qualified by the fact that the MJI Scores for most students were restricted to Kohlberg's conventional range of morality. However, SEA scores were significantly correlated with the Moral Orientation scores obtained from the MJI. In contrast to scores on the SEA, scores on the MJI were significantly related to age. The problem of confusing content and structure in moral development research was explored. The theoretical implications of a personality component being involved in choice of moral orientation were discussed as well.This research was partly supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-16899).Major interests are in the area of moral development and family theories of psychopathology.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Major interests are sociocognitive development of children and clinical child psychology.     

Corruption around the world: an analysis by partial least squares—structural equation modeling

Public Choice - This paper contributes to the empirical research on corruption in three ways. From a methodological viewpoint, it applies partial least squares–structural equation modeling to...     

Unusual Death of a Transvestite: Identification of Crime Weapon and Survival Time*

Abstract: The authors report a case of a transvestite found murdered near his automobile with several lacerated contused wounds to the face and cranial fractures. Autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a serious head trauma with subdural and subarachnoidal hemorrhages. In order to identify the crime weapon, a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used which revealed metallic residue on the skin fragments with the same molecular composition of the car paint. As for survival time, antibody anti‐beta‐amyloid precursor protein (APP) was applied to brain fragments and brainstem tissue, allowing for axonal varicosities (which form 2 to 3 h following death) to be observed under the optic microscope. So, by using SEM we understood that the fatal cranial‐encephalic lesions were the result of the victim’s head being repeatedly struck against the car door while anti‐betaAPP led to the understanding that the time elapsed between injury and death was less than 2 to 3 h.     

The Grassroots Are Greener: Democratic Participation and Environmental Policies in State Politics

American environmental legislation cannot be fully explained under traditional interest‐group theory, which emphasizes the success of well‐financed, organized interests. One alternative explanation holds that the American public accepts a new environmental ethos that is protective of the natural world and human health. This study examines 100 years of state‐level ballot questions on environmental policy and empirically establishes the emergence and persistence of this new environmental ethos as well as the changing nature of American support for environmental policy. This ethos emerges in 40 years, environmental policy making of this type has been increasingly citizen‐led, inclusive of a wider variety of environmental problems, while embracing a greater range of policy solutions including those premised on more radical notions of humanity?s relationship with the natural world.     

Three‐Dimensional Comparative Analysis of Bitemarks*

Abstract: Historically, the inability to accurately represent bitemarks and other wound patterns has limited their evidentiary value. The development of the ABFO #2 scale by Krauss and Hyzer enabled forensic odontologists to correct for most photographic plane distortions. The technique presented here uses the ABFO #2 scale in conjunction with the evolving technologies of laser scanners and comparative software commonly used by the automobile industry for three‐dimensional (3D) analysis. The 3D software comparison was performed in which measurements were analyzed of the normal distance for each point on the teeth relative to the bitemarks. It created a color‐mapped display of the bitemark model, with the color indicating the deviation at each point. There was a correlation between the bitemark and the original teeth.     

Some conditions maximizing eyewitness accuracy: A learning/memory analogy

Jurors continue to rely heavily on eyewitness testimony despite numerous demonstrations that it is often inaccurate. As part of the effort to provide jurors with good estimates of the accuracy of any specific testimony, a study was designed to test the proposal that eyewitness accuracy is governed by the same variables and in the same way as is retention of much simpler material in classical learning and memory paradigms. Prior exposure to the criminal (trials), arousal value of the incident (drive), and delay between prior exposure and incident, and between incident and test (inner-trial intervals) all affected eyewitness accuracy in the expected manner. Correct recognitions of the criminal in a line-up ranged from 14 percent to 86 percent, depending on the particular conditions under which the incident was observed.