Poster #128 - How Youth Engagement with Moral Exemplars Builds Self Reflection and Guides Behavior

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

Character development programs that focus on helping youth identify and reflect on inspiring individuals and their own positive values, help youth transform those values into meaningful action. Inspiring Purpose (IP) is a school-based character development program that aims to translate inspiration into transformative and enduring aspiration. IP has been developed and refined over the past decade and has been implemented in over 45 countries. Directed by their teachers, youth engage in self-reflection, research, and writing activities that culminate with the completion of a poster that synthesizes students’ values and aspirations with their inspiring figure (Figure 1).

The inspirational figures youth research can influence their values and aspirations for the future. While researching an inspirational figure can help youth identify qualities developed by remarkable individuals, it can be difficult to try to emulate the values of luminary figures. These individuals’ lives can seem otherworldly; rather than motivating positive behavior, contemplating their accomplishments can bring up negative emotions for youth who see these figures as too extraordinary to match (Monin, 2007). When youth have more proximal, relevant, and attainable moral exemplars to aspire to, they can turn aspiration into a lived reality (Han et al., 2017).

We examine the intermediary steps that help turn adolescent's research on inspirational figures into positive developmental outcomes. We coded and analyzed 239 student posters from a study of Scottish S2 students (equivalent to US 7th graders) who participated in IP during the 2016-2017 school year. Poster analysis was combined with responses from 34 youth interviewees at three time points and connected to four waves of youth surveys (N=462). We analyzed whether youth made explicit connections between themselves and their inspiring figure when describing why they selected this figure in interviews and on their posters. We examined whether youth who picked more proximal inspirational figures, such as family and friends, had more favorable outcomes than those who selected more distal figures, like Winston Churchill.

Youth found inspiration from people in popular culture more than from historical figures. Celebrities were the most commonly selected figures (31%), followed by athletes (25%). Correlational analyses show positive relationships between students who chose athletes and indicated determination as a virtue they possessed (r=.173, p=.009). Mixed-method analysis of the survey, interview, and poster data revealed that youth who made a personal connection with their inspirational figure at wave 2 were more likely to score higher on confidence (r = .49, p = .01) and general self-concept (r = .53, p = .008) at wave 4. Moreover, youth who made a personal connection with their inspiring figure at wave 3 were more likely to score higher on goal articulation (r = .49, p = .02) and community involvement (r = .43, p = .04) at wave 4. This suggests that when youth see themselves in inspiring figures and articulate this connection, this can spur beneficial developmental outcomes. We argue that helping youth to form personal connections with inspiring figures can be an intermediary step to helping them move closer to turning inspiration into action.

Authors

• Johanna S. Quinn, Montclair State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• E. Danielle Roberts, Montclair State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rachael Doubledee, Montclair State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Urban, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Miriam Linver, Montclair State University
  Non-Presenting Author