With millions of youth involved in sport in North America and across the world, the potential positive impact for good that sport coaches can play in the development of moral character in their players and teams is significant. Yet, there is limited empirical data on the effectiveness of the design and integration of youth sport coach character…

People desire to have positive self-esteem. Research by Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette (2003) has demonstrated that late adolescents buttress their sense of self-worth through at least seven different means. Focusing primarily on two such contingencies (seeking to support self-esteem through virtuous behavior and through competitive…

The overall purpose of this study was to examine parents' role in the development of character among young athletes, with a particular focus on life skills development across learning contexts (i.e., sport, family, school). Participants were 20 parents (13 mothers, 7 fathers, M[subscript age] = 46.8 years, SD = 4.6) and 24 children (14 girls, 10…

Coach education and training on character development can improve young people's sport experiences. However, less well understood is the prevalence of coaches trained on character-building strategies and whether those that participate in and value training on these topics have higher self-efficacy and success as a coach (e.g., defined by their…

In this study of first-year intercollegiate athletes (N = 2241), we examined predictors of the character-rich qualities of life purpose and integrity. Three dimensions of purpose were included--seeking purpose, found purpose, and purpose beyond-the-self. The predictor variables investigated included contesting orientations, fear of failure, goal…

In this article, we present a reconceptualization of sport as a series of collaborative contests with players on different teams scoring goals cooperatively: players on both sides lose or both sides win together depending on whether they can improve the scores they earn in overcoming limitations and obstacles by working with the other team. When…

As club sports become more prominent at the university and youth sport levels, it is important to investigate their effects on students' moral reasoning as this may further support the existence of these programs as going beyond simply building sport skills. Even though there have been numerous studies suggesting that individuals' moral reasoning…

Despite the established physical, social, and emotional benefits of participating in youth sport, such outcomes are not guaranteed. Indeed, purposeful efforts must be made to ensure that sport offerings are age-appropriate, promote engagement and enjoyment, and involve quality social relationships (e.g., Côté et al., 2020). The current article…

Sampling multiple sports in childhood is associated with continued participation in sport, but little is known about whether sport sampling may be associated with youth character development, another outcome of widespread interest in the field. Furthermore, even less is known about how sport participation influences development. For example, sport…

A substantive body of research demonstrates negative bias toward reporting characteristics of young people associated with bullying and cyberbullying in schools, as both victims and perpetrators. The current study proposes a different approach. A sample of 2,799 postprimary school pupils aged 12 to 19 years (M = 15.5, SD = 1.66), divided equally…

This study examined whether optimism is a unique predictor of fourth and fifth graders' academic performance. The few studies that have examined this relationship with students in middle childhood have ignored relevant covariates and have focused on higher socioeconomic White students. In the present study, we examined the relationship between…

The "What Works in Character Education" project (WWCE; Berkowitz & Bier, 2007) was a descriptive summary of significant findings in the empirical literature on character education for the period 1945 to 2004. It employed a broad definition of character education to include related positive youth development programs such as…

We examine whether story exchanges (where students take turns presenting a partner's story in the first person) increase empathic feelings and self-other overlap among adolescents. Students ages 13-16 years (n = 175) from a New York City public school completed measures (including self-report empathy and self-other overlap) before undergoing story…

This article presents a case study on parental discipline to describe a novel methodology for conducting rapid reviews using article-level metrics. A team of 3 researchers searched for studies that met predetermined thresholds of influence based on article-level metrics. These metrics included number of citations within the scientific literature…

Youth purpose has important implications for behavior and well-being, yet there is limited information about the types of purpose that young people pursue. The current study contributes insight into the content of purpose through a survey of 316 adolescents and young adults. Analyses of responses revealed that young people rated their purposes as…