Cognitive and Emotional Development in Early Adolescents, 1975-1980

These data were collected at an elite private secondary school in New England in 1975-1977, shortly after this previously all male institution became coeducational. The purpose of the research was to examine the effect of a predominantly male environment upon the female students in the areas of achievement motivation and performance, sex role identification, moral and conceptual development, and eventual career choice. All of the 48 girls and 196 boys who entered the school during its first year of coeducation were tested in December, 1975. The following winter, 184 students were retested. During this testing, an additional sample of 55 boys and 38 girls was added to the study. Shortly after the first testing period, the original 48 girls and a matched sample of boys were interviewed. Follow-up interviews were conducted after the second testing period. The instruments used at Time I included five Thematic Apperception Tests (TATs) with verbal cues, the Alpert-Haber measure of test anxiety, the Bem sex role inventory, an anagram, a Kohlberg moral judgment dilemma, and a short demographic sheet. The interview included questions on attitudes toward the school, relationships with parents, future expectations, self-concept, friendship patterns, influence of others, personal goals, and attitudes toward the women's movement. The Time II instruments used were Rosenberg's self-esteem questionnaire, Feffer's "People I Know" task, sentence completion measure, Kohlberg's moral dilemma, Uses of Object test and five TATs with visual cues. The second interview focused on experiences during the past year and the degree to which the participants felt closer to their personal goals. The new sample, tested for the first time in 1977, was given measures of sex role orientation, moral development, self-esteem, creativity, and test anxiety, as well as a demographic questionnaire. The Murray Research Archive has most of the original record paper data for this study, including psychological tests, transcripts, and notes as well as audiotapes. The first wave of interviews and some of the follow-up interviews are missing. A small amount of this material has been coded and scored, but most analysis remains to be done.Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 60 audio files available