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Developmental Trajectories Of Self-Control: Assessing The Stability Hypothesis, James Vance Ray
Developmental Trajectories Of Self-Control: Assessing The Stability Hypothesis, James Vance Ray
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
A key proposition of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) self-control theory is the stability hypothesis which suggests that an individual's level of self-control, once established between the ages of 8-10, is stable over the life course. Empirical results from examinations of the stability hypothesis have been mixed. Prior tests of the stability hypothesis have employed aggregate assessment methods (e.g., mean-level and correlational analyses). Such approaches fail to take into account the possibility that individual developmental pathways may differ. This study employs individual longitudinal data over a four year period for 3,249 7th to 10th grade subjects to assess the …