Psychological modernity implies the existence of a set of individual personality characteristics that exist across cultures and form empirically identifiable clusters of specified attitudes, values, and behaviors which define humanity. Formal, explicit school programs, as well as learning experiences provided by peculiar social organization features of schools, are of demonstrable relevance to the study of psychological modernity. At least 10 modernity studies have now empirically established the formal education process as the most important variable effecting modern orientation in individuals. Two findings are particularly striking: (a) consistency of correlations among age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and other background items; and (b) remarkable consistency of the findings within countries where studies have overlapped. In all the studies, it was found that the longer individuals are exposed to school, the higher their modernity scores. The data show mixed findings concerning the influence of schooling on personality modernization when controlled for sex, SES, and measured academic performance. The implications of modernity findings for the role of schooling in the development process are dependent on the unexplored nexus between modern attitudes and values and their behavioral manifestations. (Author)