Background: Language has been shown to play a critical role in social cognitive reasoning in preschool and school-aged children, but little research has been conducted with adolescents. During adolescence, the ability to understand figurative language becomes increasingly important for social relationships and may affect social adjustment. This…

Why do some adolescents respond to interpersonal conflicts vengefully, whereas others seek more positive solutions? Three studies investigated the role of implicit theories of personality in predicting violent or vengeful responses to peer conflicts among adolescents in Grades 9 and 10. They showed that a greater belief that traits are fixed (an…

This exploratory study assessed the associations of age, gender, and a school climate of solidarity and pride with adolescents' endorsements of democratic regime change. Middle- and high-school students (N = 273) in the United States responded to three vignettes concerning how a society should transition from dictatorship to democracy and…

Children from 5 to 19 years of age viewed videotaped segments of resolved, partially resolved, and unresolved conflicts. The negativity of children's responses corresponded to the degree that fights were unresolved. Numerous age and sex effects were found. (BC)

Compares justifications for aggression and withdrawal in Finnish and Estonian adolescents. Evaluates responses given in a questionnaire asking participants to justify problem-solving strategies for two social problems. Concludes aggression may be perceived as more deviant in Finland. Finnish motivation for withdrawal is escaping harm, while…

The study was designed to explore qualitatively developmental differences in disagreement negotiation and resolution skills between adolescent and young adult romantic partners. Twenty adolescent and 20 young adult couples participated in the study. The Knox inventory was used to measure the level of disagreement between partners on ten domains…

The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) is one of a growing number of grade K-12 violence prevention programs that teaches young people how to resolve conflict peacefully. It is a school-based program taught by regular classroom teachers. This report was designed to introduce criminal justice professionals to the basic concepts and…

Used vignettes and self-reports to examine adolescents' and mothers' reasoning about family conflicts. Found that mothers and adolescents differentially evaluated reasons for parental requests and adolescent noncompliance. They also differed in their judgments of the likelihood of particular justifications succeeding or leading to conflict. (BC)

Introduces school counselors to the idea of addressing adolescent conflict situations through use of a standardized Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (T-JTA) instrument. Concludes that the T-JTA can be an effective tool in helping adolescents begin to consider the impact their conflict resolution style has on others and on the escalation or…

One frequently used research protocol involves presenting several conflict scenarios to participants during a single session. However, in real-life situations multiple conflicts rarely occur within short periods of time, and the nature of presentation may change adolescents' reports of conflict behaviors. Trend analyses of responses suggest that…

Attempted to identify behavioral precursors of conflict outcomes and to isolate unique characteristics of important conflicts. Results suggest that conflict components were interrelated. Resolutions were associated with outcomes and affective intensity, and affective intensity was linked to lessons learned. Apparently, the salience of an…

Friendships of early adolescence are generally accepted as having special significance for psychological development. This study was conducted to examine the sources of conflict between friends during early adolescence; to assess the social-cognitive developmental level of early adolescents; and to explore the relationships among sources of…