Social difficulty during adolescence contributes to internalizing problems (e.g., depression, stress) and spurs cycles of aggression and retaliation. In this article, I review how implicit theories of personality—beliefs about whether people can change their socially relevant characteristics—cause some adolescents to respond to social difficulty in these ways while others do not. Believing an entity theory of personality—the belief that people cannot change—causes people to blame their own and others’ traits for social difficulty, and predicts more extreme affective, physiological, and behavioral responses (e.g., depression, aggression). Interventions that teach an incremental theory of personality—the belief that people can change—can reduce problematic reactions to social difficulty. I discuss why interventions to alter implicit theories improve adolescents’ responses to conflict, and I propose suggestions for research.

中文翻译：

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处理青春期的社交困难：内隐人格理论的作用。


青春期的社交困难会导致内化问题（例如抑郁、压力）并刺激攻击和报复的循环。在这篇文章中，我回顾了隐性人格理论（关于人们是否可以改变其社会相关特征的信念）如何导致一些青少年以这些方式应对社会困难，而另一些青少年则不然。相信人格的实体理论——相信人们无法改变——导致人们将社交困难归咎于自己和他人的特征，并预测更极端的情感、生理和行为反应（例如抑郁、攻击性）。教授人格渐进理论的干预措施——相信人们可以改变——可以减少对社会困难的问题反应。我讨论了为什么改变隐性理论的干预措施可以改善青少年对冲突的反应，并提出研究建议。