Character Development Within the Relational Developmental Systems Metatheory: A View of the Issues

Abstract

At this writing, the study of character development is burgeoning, and this special issue provides an overview of why and how the relational developmental systems metatheory frames such growth, particularly growth in theory-predicated research and applications aimed at describing, explaining, and optimizing the development of positive attributes of character (i.e., character virtues). The empirical reports related to character development that are presented in this special issue are all framed by relational developmental systems–based ideas and, together, provide information about the mutually beneficial individual  context relations that are involved in character virtue development across the first three decades of life. A commentary discusses the implications of these studies for the enhancement of relational developmental systems–based character development research, for programs aimed at promoting different facets of character, and for the future growth of a developmental science of character virtues development.