Toward a Psychology of Positive Youth Development

This article analyzes the development of initiative as an exemplar of one of many learning experiences that should be studied as part of positive youth development. The capacity for initiative is essential for adults in our society and will become more important in the 21st century, yet adolescents...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 2000-01, Vol.55 (1), p.170-183
Main Author: Larson, Reed W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Development
Adult
Attention
Child
Child development
Factors
Human
Human development
Humans
Individuality
Initiative
Initiatives
Language Development
Motivation
Personality Development
Psychology
Psychology, Adolescent
Psychosocial Development
Social Environment
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Summary:This article analyzes the development of initiative as an exemplar of one of many learning experiences that should be studied as part of positive youth development. The capacity for initiative is essential for adults in our society and will become more important in the 21st century, yet adolescents have few opportunities to learn it. Their typical experiences during schoolwork and unstructured leisure do not reflect conditions for learning initiative. The context best suited to the development of initiative appears to be that of structured voluntary activities, such as sports, arts, and participation in organizations, in which youths experience the rare combination of intrinsic motivation in combination with deep attention. An incomplete body of outcome research suggests that such activities are associated with positive development, but the developmental processes involved are only beginning to be understood. One promising approach has recorded language use and has found that adolescents participating in effective organizations acquire a new operating language that appears to correspond to the development of initiative.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.170