1st Edition
The Routledge International Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Character Development, Volume I Conceptualizing and Defining Character
Drawing from philosophy, religion, biology, behavioral and social sciences, and the arts, The Routledge International Handbooks of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Character Development, Volumes I and II, present cutting-edge scholarship about the concept of character across the life span, the developmental and contextual bases of character, and the key organizations of societal sectors, within and across nations, that promote character development in individuals, families, and communities.
This first volume, Conceptualizing and Defining Character, explores the foundations of the field by providing an array of interdisciplinary approaches to character development, including economics, education, law, literature, military science, philosophy, and many more. With contributions from international experts, Volume I brings together cutting-edge research and discusses instances of character development, including civic character, courage, fairness, forgiveness, gratitude, morality, tolerance, and thankfulness.
This comprehensive publication is an essential reference for researchers and graduate students in behavioral sciences, biology, philosophy, theology, and economics, as well as practitioners leading or evaluating character education or character development programs around the world.
Find Volume II: Moderators, Threats, and Contexts here: www.routledge.com/9781032172453
Foreword
Admiral (Retired) James Stavridis
Preface
Section I: Introduction
1. Contemporary Character Development Scholarship: Multidisciplinary and International Perspectives
Michael D. Matthews and Richard M. Lerner
Section II: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Character Development
2. Epigenetics and Character Virtue Development
David S. Moore
3. Character Virtues in Developmental Science
David C. Witherington and Maria McCready
4. The Economic Approach to Personality, Character, and Virtue
James J. Heckman, Bridget Galaty, and Haihan Tian
5. Primed for Character Education: Deriving Design Principles for Effective Practice from Empirical Evidence
Marvin W. Berkowitz and Melinda C. Bier
6. Changing the Character of Schools: Promoting Servant Leadership Virtues to Solve Internationally Relevant Problems in Education
Melinda C. Bier, Deborah S. O’Reilly, Peter Kingori, Satabdi Samtani, and Marvin W. Berkowitz
7. Educating for Character in the Sexual Domain: Why It Matters and How to Do It
Thomas Lickona
8. Character Development in Higher Education
Edward Brooks and Tom Harrison
9. The Use and Inculcation of Character in Law: Challenges Reflected Throughout US Legal Systems
Roger J.R. Levesque
10: Character Development in Leadership and Organizational Studies
Patrick J. Sweeney
11. Contact with the vir fortis: Character Education and the Roman Practice of Declamation
Anthony Zupanic
12. Character Virtue Development in Military Science
Andrew Farina and Chaveso Cook
13. The Philosophical Foundations of Character Virtue Development
Andrew Peterson and Kristján Kristjánsson
14. Political Science Approaches to the Character Virtues
Hugh Liebert
15. Character Virtues in Positive Psychology
Robert E. McGrath
16. Character-Minded Evaluation: Recognizing and Activating the Essential Role of Character in High-Quality Evaluation
Jennifer Brown Urban, Miriam R. Linver, Jane Buckley, Monica Hargraves, and Thomas Archibald
17. The Culture of Character: Sociological Perspectives
Jeffrey S. Dill
18. Theological Perspectives on Beliefs and Communities of Practice: Virtue Systems as an Integrative Approach for Psychologists
Pamela Ebstyne King, Rebecca A. Baer, and Tyler S. Greenway
Section III: Instances of Character Development
19. Developing Civic Character
Sunah Hyun, Diane M. Ryan, and Peter Levine
20. Courage: Moral and Physical Dimensions
Erin I. O’Connell, Roshni M. Joseph, Addison E. Shemin, Jason Woodruff, Colin Simsarian, Francesco Yepez Coello, and Bruce Bongar
21. Justice: Where Aristotle and Kohlberg Meet
Juan Pablo Dabdoub, Marvin Berkowitz, Natasha Keces, and Aitor R. Salaverría
22. On Forgiveness and Character Development: Description, Explanation, and Optimization
Jonathan M. Tirrell
23. Gratitude: From Relational Emotion to Contextualized Virtue Inclusive of Indebtedness
Jenae M. Nelson, Jo-Ann Tsang, and Sarah A. Schnitker
24. Dynamics of Intellectual Humility
Elise Murray Dykhuis
25. Intellectual Virtues
Ben Kotzee and Jason Baehr
26. Kindness: A Path to Human Growth and Connectedness
Tina Malti and Tyler Colasante
27. The Development of Morality and the Character System: Implications for the Notion of Virtue
Larry Nucci
28. Personal Liberty, Mutual Respect, and Tolerance
David Lundie, Lee Shannon, and Antonio Zuffiano
29. Feeling Good and Feeling Thankful: The Role of Positive Emotions in Sustaining Early Prosocial Behavior
Stefen Beeler-Duden and Amrisha Vaish
30. Purpose through the Lens of Character Virtue Development
Kendall Cotton Bronk
Afterword
William Damon
Biography
Michael D. Matthews, Ph.D., is Professor of Engineering Psychology at the United States Military Academy. He has been a military psychologist since 1980. In the past 40 years, he has served on active duty as an Air Force officer (as a behavioral sciences officer), as a psychology professor at Drury University, as a research psychologist for the Army Research Institute, and, since 2000, in his current capacity at West Point.
Richard M. Lerner, Ph.D., is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and the Director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University. He went from kindergarten through Ph.D. within the New York City public schools, completing his doctorate at the City University of New York in 1971 in developmental psychology. Lerner has more than 800 scholarly publications, including more than 80 authored or edited books.
“This modern encyclopedia of character is a treasure. I have immense respect for its editors and authors, as well as the breadth of topics and how they have been organized. Most of all, I love the interdisciplinary approach represented in these two volumes. I know I will turn, again and again, to the chapters in this Handbook for knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration.”
— Angela Duckworth, CEO of the Character Lab and bestselling author of Grit
“This Handbook is greatly needed at this time in history when basic principles of honesty and integrity seem to take a backseat to self-interest and personal financial or political gain.”
— Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy (Retired), former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and author of To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision and coauthor of 2034: A Novel of the Next World War
“This multi-faceted, far-reaching Handbook succeeds on many fronts. It captures the classic concerns of character that sages have examined for centuries and the vibrant contemporary work that scholars are producing at this moment… It has no near equivalent as a resource for anyone wishing to review the present state of knowledge about this most crucial dimension of human life.”
— William Damon, Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence and author of The Path to Purpose
“Matthews and Lerner’s monumental two-volume International Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Character Development provides a timely and engrossing compendium of everything you ever wanted to know about character virtues—what they are, what they presage, how and where they are manifest, and how they can best be promoted and nurtured at all ages as well as in all contexts and cultures. The volumes comprise a finely written tour-de-force that will appeal especially to academics, parents, teachers, cultural critics, and those in positions of leadership throughout society even as they underscore how elusive these virtues have become in our fractured world.”
— Michael E. Lamb, Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Emeritus Fellow, Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge
“Understanding and promoting moral character may seem like gentle, uncontroversial goals. Yet, moral character is under serious threat in the world today, and these goals are as urgent as they’ve ever been. These extravagantly comprehensive volumes draw from virtually all disciplines to provide the best thinking and evidence to guide our efforts to strengthen collective and individual character. As a wonderful bonus, the handbook ends with unique resources on character-infused leadership in military professions and portraits of university-based and other centers for the study and promotion of character.”
— Anne Colby, author of Educating Citizens and The Power of Ideals
“To the great credit of the editors, they have taken an interdisciplinary approach to this topic, which is becoming increasingly important in today's world. The result is a highly comprehensive work with up-to-date findings — a vital resource for researchers and practitioners shaping character education worldwide.”
— Hubert Annen, Head of Military Psychology and Military Pedagogy Studies, Swiss Military Academy at ETH Zurich
“These knowledgeable and nuanced discussions of important topics from multidisciplinary perspectives of character and virtue will provide graduate students, researchers, and academicians with a valuable overview on a worldwide scale. Excellent resource for scholars at all levels.”
— Updesh Kumar, Scientist ‘G’ & Head Mental Health Division, DIPR, DRDO, Delhi, India
