Changing the world and changing yourself: Associations between traits, skills, and civic engagement during adolescence and emerging adulthood

Youths’ civic engagement is critical for healthy democracies and can be a powerful force for social change. However, there is little integration across the literature regarding the personality traits and social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills that are critical for youth’s civic engagement. In addition, there is a gap in understanding how engaging in a variety of civic and political activities may engender change in traits and SEB skills. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how adolescents’ and emerging adults’ personality traits and SEB skills can inform and can be cultivated by their engagement in civic and political activities. This question was explored through a theoretical review and integration of the literature (Study 1), a quasi-experimental study (Study 2), and an intensive longitudinal study (Study 3). Findings from this dissertation suggest that the full spectrum of personality traits and SEB skills are important for understanding youth civic engagement. In addition, findings indicate that simply engaging in civic and political activities doesn’t necessitate positive trait or skill development and the context of these experiences may be especially important for understanding subsequent trait and skill change. These findings have implications for both future developmental research, applied programs, and interventions.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Sewell, Madison N.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Napolitano, Chris M
• Roberts, Brent W
• Ratner, Kaylin
• Marchand, Aixa D

• Civic Engagement
• Adolescence
• Emerging Adulthood
• Personality Traits
• Socioemotional Skills
• Individual Differences

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Madison N. Sewell

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124172

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124172