Personal agency and personality in adolescence: silent voices and findings

We discuss the studies reported in this special issue on the basis of a descriptive framework. We conclude that implicit assumptions-silent voices, as we call them-concerning the transactional influence between person and environment, and concerning the primacy of personal agency exist side by side. We find in the studies both a variable-centred and a person-centred approach, and show that the person-centred approach can complement the variable, centred approach in a fruitful manner. On the other hand, both approaches seem to lead to similar results in the studies reported in this special issue. As a rule, the approaches lead to characterization of categories of adolescents, and moreover they can both be seen as exemplifying transactional thinking in the psychology of adolescence. Personal agency and personality are systematically correlated with developmental outcomes, but there are no strong indications that personal agency and personality are important predictors of later developmental outcomes. Such indications are found to a greater extent as regards the influence of parenting and the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship. Finally, there is evidence that peers have their own specific significance in the exploration of developmental options. (C) 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.