Adolescent Psychology Lab
Director: Dr. Daniel K. Lapsley (danlapsley@nd.edu)
Graduate Students: Paul Stey (pstey@nd.edu)
The Adolescent Psychology Lab researches adolescent and moral development at the interface of
social cognition and developmental psychology. Our research broadly fits within two primary
sectors. First, we examine the processes underlying ego and identity development during
adolescence, and during the transition into adulthood. Along this line, we are interested in
constructs such as adolescent invulnerability and risk-taking, adolescent-specific manifestations
of narcissism, and functional separation from one’s parents.
Second, we are interested in promoting moral identity and personality development. We focus on
how social cognitive structures underlie these developments. For example, how do we form
representations of moral individuals? Do these representations influence our own propensity to
act? And more broadly, how are moral individuals different from others? In investigating these
processes, we often take a cognitive approach by assessing the relative effects of deliberative and
implicit processing on moral actions.
Recent findings from this lab include the following:
1. College undergraduates who endorse prosocial goals (i.e., influence the social structure,
help others in need) demonstrate more adaptive development than their peers even 14
years later.
2. Some narcissistic perceptions can benefit adolescents. For example, perceiving oneself as
“omnipotent,” or a particular source of influence, can lead to increased self-worth and
decreased susceptibility to depressive onset.
3. Adolescents who perceive themselves as “invulnerable” to the risks confronting others
are more likely to take risks and perform delinquent acts. However, some forms of
invulnerability may benefit adolescents, as it can lead to decreased self-esteem and
anxiety problems.
4. When forming representations of moral stimuli, we do so in accordance to our daily use
of metaphor. For example, we describe people as of “high character” or as “low-down
scoundrels.” Accordingly, we represent moral personality traits along a vertical
dimension, in that we respond quicker to moral cues when they are higher in the visual
field.
5. Explicit and implicit measures of moral identity often find different results, suggesting
the need to go beyond mere questionnaire measures, and investigate methods such as trait
Q-sorts and response time tasks.