Jennifer Kerpelman

• PhD
• Head of Faculty at Auburn University

Some scholars have suggested that distressed populations may benefit more from couple and relationship education (CRE) than do their nondistressed counterparts. We examined this hypothesis using actor–partner interdependence models to explore the relationship between baseline relational instability and change for individuals and their partners (379...

Adolescent romantic relationships are known to have a significant impact on individual well-being and development. However, few teens experience formal education about the knowledge and skills necessary for building healthy romantic relationships. In response, a statewide relationship education initiative was developed at a large university in a So...

Transformative urban high school teachers utilize a transformative pedagogical style in their classrooms to augment students’ learning experiences and cultivate development in their students. Largely unexamined, however, is how the tools of transformative pedagogy used in secondary classrooms compare with those used in other contexts and with other...

Theories imply that transformative teaching influences positive identity development, but empirical studies of this relationship are sparse. It is clear that good teaching can positively influence youth; however, it is less clear how good teachers influence positive identity outcomes in youth, and in particular Black youth. We examined the identity...

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, an actor-partner interdependence model explored change in the frequency of disagreements and marital outcomes among 796 paired couples, early in marriage. Disagreements about money, time spent together, and the sexual relationship increased over 5 years. Money disagreements predicted d...

Shared leisure activities with close friends and dating partners offer early adolescents a context to develop satisfying relationships. Participants in the current study were 1,696 early adolescents, aged 11-15. Using the Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning as the conceptual framework, results indicated that supportive communicatio...

Shared leisure activities with close friends and dating partners offer early adolescents a context to develop satisfying relationships. Participants in the current study were 1,696 early adolescents, aged 11-15. Using the Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning as the conceptual framework, results indicated that supportive communicatio...

This study addressed how two normative developmental factors, attachment and identity, are associated with adolescents' sexual attitudes and sexual risk-taking behavior. The sample consisted of 2029 adolescents (mean age = 16.2 years) living in the Southeast United States. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Higher levels of attachment a...

The effectiveness of relationship education has been supported for youth in correcting faulty relationship beliefs and forming conflict management skills; however, there is very limited research addressing whether relationship education matters for building or modifying relationship standards for romantic partners or relationships. Furthermore, whe...

Interdependence and social exchange theories were used to explore parent–adolescent relationship quality and early adolescents' relationships with close friends and dating partners. Associations among adolescents' perceptions of parental support and psychological control, peer relationship experiences (communication, emotional support, and possessi...

Career identity development is salient in adolescence and young adulthood, but little research has assessed career identity in populations other than four-year college students. Context should be considered when examining career identity, and to address this gap in the literature, the current study examined the extent to which parental support for...

While mentoring programs are prevalent, limited research focused on the mentors’ experiences exist, particularly during critical periods of development. Using a qualitative, grounded theory approach, this study explores the elements of the mentoring experience for a cohort of late adolescent/emerging adult women in a long-term program. Outcomes des...

High school delinquency, adolescent behaviors ranging from repeated school misconduct to being arrested, is a critical concern in the United States. Though widely believed that reputation is related to adolescent behavior, few studies have addressed the relationship between adolescent reputation and delinquency. Using the National Educational Longi...

The current study examined associations among parenting practices, adolescents’ self-esteem and dating identity exploration, and adolescents’ sexual behaviors. Participants were 680 African American and European American sexually experienced adolescents attending public high schools in the southeast. Results indicated that risky sexual behavior was...

This analysis of the papers in the special section on the intersection of identity development and peer relationship processes calls attention to conceptual contribution this collection of papers makes to the literature on identity development. Together these ten papers build on strong theoretical foundations in identity development, which posit cl...

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact parenting has on the development of self-control, both before and after the general theory of crime suggests self-control is established. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, longitudinal data from mothers with children ages 8–9 and 12–13 were analyzed via structural equation mo...

We examined relations among perceived parenting practices (support and psychological control), attachment dimensions for romantic relationships (anxiety and avoidance) and exploration of the dating identity among actively dating adolescents in two high school aged samples. In the all female sample of Study 1 (n = 653) and the gender balanced sample...

Integration of adult attachment and psychosocial development theories suggests that adolescence is a time when capacities for romantic intimacy and identity formation are co-evolving. The current study addressed direct, indirect and moderated associations among identity and romantic attachment constructs with a diverse sample of 2178 middle adolesc...

Preparing for an adult career and incorporating a career into one's identity is a key task during the transition to adulthood (Erikson, 1968), and completing developmental tasks is considered a major factor in adjustment (Havinghurst, 1972). Previous research has established associations between overall career preparation in high school and adjustm...

The current study investigated the association between dimensions of security in romantic relationships, anxiety and avoidance, and general interpersonal competence among two groups of high school-aged adolescents: one currently in a dating relationship (daters) and one not currently involved (non-daters). Our findings show that daters were less an...

The authors examined linkages among identity styles, academic possible selves, and grades for 1,137 public high school students across a southern state in the United States. The measurement model revealed a positive association for the informational style and a negative association for the diffuse style with academic possible selves. There were pos...

Preparing for an adult career through careful planning, choosing a career, and gaining confidence to achieve career goals is a primary task during adolescence and early adulthood. The current study bridged identity process literature and career construction theory (Savickas, 2005) by examining the commitment component of career adaptability, career...

The theories of John Bowlby and Erik Erikson reveal parallels that, together, offer opportunities to examine attachment-linked working models (secure base representations) as contexts of identity formation. Although the theories are grounded in fundamentally different assumptions, each offers concepts that can enrich the application of the other. O...

Extension faculty and agents/educators are increasingly collaborating with local and state agencies to provide and evaluate multiple, distinct programs, yet there is limited information about measuring outcomes and combining results across similar program types. This article explicates the methods and outcomes of a state-level evaluation of approxi...

Identity exploration in the area of work is theorized to be salient in emerging adulthood, and according to Vondracek's extensions of Erikson's theory, self-realization may be achieved through integration of career choice into one's identity. The present study aimed to address the extent to which parental support for career, work experience, and ca...

Missing from the discussion of adolescent identity development is the role of teachers as identity agents. Teachers can be purposeful co-constructors of adolescents' identities when they use a transformative pedagogical approach that involves fostering collaborative learning and empowering students to think creatively and critically. In an effort t...

The current study examined the effectiveness of a youth-focused relationship education curriculum in a sample of 1,430 adolescents attending health classes across 39 public high schools. The evaluation consisted of pre, post, and 1-year follow-up data collections for intervention and control samples. Growth curve models were fit to test the general...

Although scholars conclude that children/adolescents in two-parent nuclear families have an advantage over those in stepfamilies, emerging evidence indicates that the experiences of African American youths have been overshadowed. In three replicated studies, we detected no differences on several important and commonly assessed well-being and compet...

The current study investigated and compared the associations between identity processing styles and the actual work of identity formation in the career domain in two national contexts, the US and Turkey. Identity styles represent individuals’ orientations to identity work, and were measured by the Identity Processing Styles Q-Sort (IPSQ). The actua...

Identity styles represent strategies individuals use to explore identity-related issues. Berzonsky (Berzonsky, M. D. (1992). Identity style and coping strategies. Journal of Personality, 60, 771–788) identified three styles: informational, normative, and diffuse. In three studies, this paper presents (a) the identity processing style Q-sort (IPSQ),...

Research has demonstrated that (in)effective parenting influences whether a child/adolescent engages in deviant behaviors; however, research is mixed regarding whether that influence is direct. After a review of theoretical and empirical evidence, parenting factors outlined by several theories appear important in explaining the association between...

Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime proposes that low self-control leads to engagement in deviant behaviors, parents must properly socialize self-control in their children, and self-control fully mediates the parenting-deviance association. A critical analysis of the empirical evidence generated suggests a number of unresolved issues...

Romantic relationships matter for adolescents. Experiences in romantic relationships facilitate key areas of personal and interpersonal development, however, problems in romantic relationships and lack of positive role models can lead to increased risk of developing unhealthy relationship patterns that can persist into adulthood. The goals of this...

This paper reports on two studies with Turkish young adults that used the Turkish version of the Identity Processing Style Q-Sort (IPSQ). The IPSQ is based on Berzonsky's informational, normative, and diffused identity styles. Participants sort descriptors of the styles into columns ranging from most to least like them. Patterns in Turkish young ad...

We propose that interventions targeting youth should consider the effects of identity formation on outcomes. In this study, data from 935 high school students address the potential moderating effects of identity style (high vs. low informational, normative, diffuse orientations) on intervention-related change in faulty relationship beliefs, future...

The current study, using data from 374 African American students (59.4% female) in grades 7–12 attending a rural, southern county public school, addressed associations of self-efficacy, ethnic identity and parental support with “future education orientation.” Both gender and current level of achievement distinguished adolescents with differing leve...

Adolescent-focused marriage education is a relatively uncharted research area. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined the effectiveness of an adapted version of the curriculum entitled, Love U2: Increasing Your Relationship Smarts with an economically, geographically, and racially diverse sample of 340 high school students. Findings...

Identity control theory (Kerpelman, Pittman, & Lamke, Journal of Adolescent Research, 12: 325–346, 1997) and the literature on possible selves (Markus & Nurius, American Psychologist, 41: 954–969, 1986) and family influences on adolescents’ vocational choices (e.g., Otto, Journal of Career Development, 27: 111–117, 2000; Whiston & Keller, The Couns...

The aim of the study, upon which this article is based, was to investigate self-concept consistency and orientation towards the future in a sample of Swedish late adolescents (mean age 18.5). The introject part of structural analysis of social behaviour questionnaire, a future index, and an incomplete sentence task were administered to 132 particip...

Social capital may be particularly important for the well-being and future opportunities of African American adolescents living in low income families. In this study, linkages between interpersonal identity formation and adolescents’ perceptions of social capital quality were examined in a cross-sectional study of 374 low income, rural, African Ame...

Q-sort methodology offers a viable alternative for the examination of possible selves, permitting assessment of the relative importance of a large array of potential future outcomes. In the first half of this chapter, the development of a Q-sort, its implementation, and the steps used to analyze Q-data are discussed. Examples from prior studies tha...

The concept of possible selves, first brought to life only a short time ago by Hazel Markus and Paula Nurious(1986)has grown into an exciting stream of research. Scholars have examined possible selves with regard to a host of adolescent outcomes, including academic achievement, school persistence, career expectations, self-esteem, delinquency, iden...

According to the reputation enhancement theory, social bonds influence adolescents’ delinquent activity indirectly through the reputations they select. Findings from the current study of a school-based sample of female adolescents indicate that bonds to parents affect reputation enhancement beliefs, which, in turn, predict delinquent activity. Furt...

An exploratory study of daughters and their mothers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), guided by modernity theory is reported. The UAE has come from a desert nomadic culture to a high tech oil rich nation in just the past 40 years and is a key place to assess the impact of rapid development and fast paced transformations on family life. Differences...

Control theory was used to investigate identity microprocesses (i.e., self-verification)within the context of serious dating relationships. Forty-two college women importance for, and certainty about, their future career identities served as targets in the study. The targets and their dating partners participated in a procedure in which the targets...

The current study sought to discover whether workplace support provided by Army Family Team Building (AFTB) of the Department of the Army was associated with changes in individual knowledge of basic Army lifestyle information, and whether such changes influenced a sense of fit and satisfaction with the Army. Data were collected from 69 Army wives....

Explanations of girls' delinquency traditionally have emphasized individual and family dysfunction. Though recent explanations have emerged that promote less pathological views of girls' delinquency, there are still commonly held views that girls who are delinquent are anomalous. The current study examined reputation theory as a psychosocial explan...

Future orientation has been linked to a range of positive adolescent outcomes (e.g., Nurmi, 1991, 1993; Pulkkinen & Ronka, 1994), whereas a lack of orientation to the future has been associated with delinquency (e.g., Oyserman & Saltz, 1993; Trommsdorff & Lamm, 1980). The purpose of this study was to examine variation in future education and future...

This study examined 1,064 Army families reunited after a member's deployment for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Postdeployment outcomes were conceptualized in terms of the “fit” between the family and the demands of Army life, especially the stress of deployment. A structural model was used to test the hypothesized effects of d...

In this study, the authors examined adjudicated adolescent girls' and their mothers' perceptions of their relationship and quality of communication styles. Counseling implications for mental health practitioners who provide services to girls who are adjudicated and their families are discussed. (Contains 47 references and 3 tables.) (Author)

The current study combines qualitative and quantitative data to examine beliefs and strategies related to possible selves within a sample of 22 rural African American female adolescents and their mothers. Mother–daughter pairs responded to interview questions pertaining to the adolescents' desired possible selves. Pairs also completed a possible se...

Daily logs collected over a 10-week period from a small, nonrepresentative sample of young, childless married couples were examined. Housework was conceptualized as a daily decision predicated upon personal standards, social rhythms, and stress variables that shape the perception of need for housework. Findings indicate that home-based stress, stre...

Understanding how identities emerge and stabilize within the context of interpersonal relationships is an important issue in identity research. Seventy-six late adolescents and their peer partners participated in a laboratory study that focused on the possible selves tied to anticipated career, marriage, and parenthood roles. Control theory (people...

We propose a mid-range conceptual model integrating three somewhat disparate areas of research to provide an understanding of key factors that lead to marital instability. These areas are the influence of gender on marital instability, the negativity and distancing behaviors in marriage, and identity theory. We develop and discuss a model that posi...

Teng and Pittman's model of "work-family fit" served as a theoretical base for exploring the experiences of families moving from welfare to work. Responding to open-ended telephone interview questions, 30 recently hired welfare recipients described factors that were needed for them to make a smooth transition into work, be successful at their jobs,...

Where previous research on satisfaction with housework has examined satisfaction with relative allocations, this study examined spouses' satisfaction with their own performance. The authors found that satisfaction was a function of time spent, quality of outcomes, stress originating both at home and away, and approval by spouses for performance. Ti...

This article discusses two studies that exploredcollege students' role balance expectations for theirfuture career, marital, and parental identities.Participants were primarily Caucasian. In the first study, men and women who were family, balanced,career, or career/marriage oriented were compared.Variation within gender, especially for women, in th...

The current study was designed to examine linkages between mothers' and daughters' identity and relationship perceptions, their interactions around identity beliefs, and adolescent identity development within a population of adjudicated adolescent girls. Interviews and an interaction task were completed by 25 mother-daughter pairs. Findings reveale...

An abundance of research has been conducted on identityformation during adolescence, however, very little is bwwn about the processes that actually drive identity development. Furthermore, limited attention has been paid to the active influence of relationships with parents and peers on identity. Recentl, control theory has-been recognized as a use...

Adams (1997), Berzonksy (1997), and Grotevant (1997) provided disceming comnentary on the strengths of using a control theory approach to guide research on identity development. They highlighted critical issues and provided suggestions for expanding the identity control theory model. Our response to these comments focuses on the overarching meta-mo...

The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model of young adult postsecondary educational attainment. Specifically, the model posited that experiencing greater connection with parents, greater parental involvement in academic activities, and greater parental regulation of behaviors in the eighthgrade would result in higher levels of academi...