Research suggests that character attributes may enable youth to envision and perform civic actions that benefit society, but few studies have examined the longitudinal associations between character attributes and civic actions. As a response to this gap, this study investigated how specific character attributes (purpose, future mindedness, humility, and moral courage) may be differently linked to various civic actions (community service, political activities, social activism) cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Survey data were collected from 521 adolescents (M_age = 14.44, SD = 1.92, 58.5% girls, 60.8% White). Structural equation models demonstrated that purpose and future mindedness were positively associated with all three civic actions at Time 1, but not at Time 2. Humility was not associated with any Time 1 civic actions, but was negatively associated with Time 2 political activities. Moral courage was positively associated with Time 1 social activism and Time 2 political activities. Results illuminate the short-term interplay between character attributes and civic actions and point to internal resources that may promote different forms of youth civic action.

研究表明，品格属性可能使青少年能够设想并实施有益于社会的公民行动，但很少有研究探讨品格属性与公民行为之间的纵向关联。作为对这一差距的回应，本研究调查了特定的性格属性（目标、未来意识、谦逊和道德勇气）如何在横向和纵向上与各种公民行为（社区服务、政治活动、社会活动）有不同的联系。调查数据收集自 521 名青少年（ M_年龄= 14.44， SD = 1.92，58.5% 为女孩，60.8% 为白人）。结构方程模型表明，目的和未来意识与时间 1 的所有三种公民行为均呈正相关，但在时间 2 则不然。谦逊与任何时间 1 的公民行为均不相关，但与时间 2 的政治活动负相关。道德勇气与第一时期的社会活动和第二时期的政治活动呈正相关。结果阐明了品格属性与公民行动之间的短期相互作用，并指出了可能促进不同形式的青年公民行动的内部资源。