The effect of others' influence, effort, and ability attributions on emotions in achievement and affiliative situations.

In this examination of how attributions and types of situation influence emotions, 46 American undergraduates completed a questionnaire consisting of 12 vignettes that varied according to content, outcome, and attribution. After reading each vignette, they indicated how they would feel in the situation described. In a second experiment, 27 Finnish undergraduates participated in an identical procedure. In both experiments, subjects felt more pride and happiness after they attributed a successful achievement to effort or ability rather than to others' influence. Attributions of affiliative success did not influence emotions. Subjects felt the most shame and guilt after they attributed achievement failure to lack of effort, and they felt the least negative emotions after they attributed affiliative failure to lack of effort.     

青少年未来取向问卷中文版的测量学分析

介绍了芬兰著名心理学家J.-E.Nurmi等人编制的未来取向问卷,并考察了其在中国文化背景中的适用性。未来取向问卷中文版的测量学分析表明,该问卷题目具有较好的内部一致性和稳定性;采用探索性因素分析考察了计划过程分问卷的结构效度、以自尊和抑郁作为该问卷各指标的效标考察了问卷的效标效度,结果表明,该问卷具有较好的效度,适合在中国青少年中使用。     

Company matters: Goal-related social capital in the transition to working life

Using longitudinal data on 343 young adults, the present study investigated the social ties involved in young adults’ work-related goals, how these ties change during transition to working life, and whether social ties contribute to success in dealing with the transition. The results showed that goal-relevant social ties reflected changes in the young adults’ developmental context. Furthermore, social ties that included a person with high socioeconomic status and weaker social ties contributed to employment success, whereas social ties containing one’s supervisor were associated with quality of employment. The results also showed that goal-related social hindrance increased young adults’ intentions to quit and decreased job satisfaction.     

The role of educational track in adolescents' school burnout: A longitudinal study

Background Transition from comprehensive school to later educational tracks is challenging for many adolescents. The present three‐wave longitudinal study conducted in Finland considers this issue from the perspective of school burnout. Aims The study investigated the extent to which school‐related burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy) changes during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or vocational track. Sample The participants of the present study were 658 ninth graders, who filled in questionnaires twice during their final term of comprehensive school and once after the transition to post‐comprehensive schooling. Methods The participants filled in the school burnout inventory and supplied background information on gender and academic achievement. The data have analysed by latent growth curve modelling. Results The results showed that adolescents on an academic track experienced more exhaustion at school than those on a vocational track. Moreover, among adolescents on an academic track both the level of cynicism and inadequacy at school increased across time. In turn, among adolescents on a vocational track inadequacy at school decreased across time while cynicism increased before the school transition and decreased thereafter. Girls experienced more overall school burnout than boys, and adolescents whose academic achievement was lower experienced a higher level of burnout than adolescents who did better at school. Conclusions The results support the stage‐environment fit theory according to which the nature of the environments in academic and vocational education are more important than the transition per se for changes in how adolescents think and feel about school (see Eccles & Midgley, 1989 ).     

Achievement strategies in peer groups and adolescents' school adjustment and norm-breaking behavior

The present study examined the extent to which the achievement strategies deployed by adolescents, and those used by their peers would predict adolescents' school adjustment, academic achievement and problem behavior. The participants were 287 14–15-year-old comprehensive school students (121 boys and 165 girls) from a middle-sized town in central Sweden. The results showed that not only the maladaptive strategies used by adolescents, but also those reported by their peers predicted adolescents' norm-breaking behavior, low school adjustment and low level of achievement: high levels of failure expectations and task-avoidance among adolescents' peers were positively associated with adolescents' own norm-breaking behavior, and indirectly via this, also with their maladjustment at school and low grades. These associations were found after controlling for the impact of adolescents' own achievement strategies.     

Work-related goal appraisals and stress during the transition from education to work

People's personal goals interact with their life situations in many ways. This study examined the appraisals of personal goals during a transition from education to work and their interplay with stress in different domains of life. Finnish young adults (N = 265, 60% female) reported on their goals in the work domain, and related appraisals of importance, attainability, and progress, and the amount of stress they experienced with regard to economic situation, time, and work. The results showed that those individuals who appraised their work goals as important, attainable and progressing well, benefited from their goal striving as evidenced in less stress in all three domains. Moreover, individuals who initially experienced elevated stress levels due to their economic and work situation adapted their work-related goals, such that they later set goals which were more attainable and showed better progress. For these individuals, pursuing work goals remained highly important, whereas for others work goal importance declined.     

Goal pursuit in young adulthood: The role of personality and motivation in goal appraisal trajectories across 6 years

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine changes in the appraisals of personal goals during young adulthood, and to investigate personality and motivation as predictors of goal appraisals. Israeli young adults (N = 284, 46% female) were assessed four times during ages 23–29 and reported on their goal appraisals (goal investment, goal momentum and goal stress), personality (efficacy and self-criticism) and motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation). The results showed mean stability for goal investment and momentum, whereas goal stress declined. Efficacy predicted higher goal investment and momentum 6 years later, while self-criticism accounted for individual differences in goal stress. Autonomous motivation predicted higher goal investment and momentum, while amotivation related to higher goal stress.     

Career goal-related social ties during two educational transitions: Antecedents and consequences

This study examined adolescents’ career goal-related social ties during the transition from compulsory to post-compulsory education and during transition from post-compulsory education to working-life or further studies. A total of 687 Finnish adolescents aged 15–16 were surveyed of whom 654 also participated at the second measurement point one year later, and 497 three years later. Differences in career goal-related social ties were found according to gender, GPA, family structure, and SES. Moreover, social ties were associated with educational track after compulsory school above and beyond SES, GPA, and family structure. Adolescents who named a teacher or a romantic partner were more likely to enter vocational track, while adolescents who named their father were more likely to enter academic track.     

Opposites detract: Middle school peer group antipathies

This study examines variability in patterns of peer group antipathy. Same-grade adolescent peer groups were identified from sociometric nominations of preferred affiliates in a community sample of 600 Finnish ninth-grade middle school students (mean age = 15.0 years). Hierarchical linear modeling determined characteristics of youths in actor groups (nominators) that predicted antipathy for youths in target groups (nominatees) on the basis of target group characteristics. Most antipathies were based on dissimilarity between groups representing the mainstream culture and groups opposed to it. The higher a peer group’s school burnout, the more its members disliked students in peer groups with higher school grades and students in peer groups with higher sports participation. Conversely, the higher a peer group’s school grades, the more its members disliked students in peer groups with higher school burnout. Students in peer groups with less problem behavior disliked students in peer groups with more problem behavior. There was some evidence of rivalry within the mainstream culture: The higher a group’s school grades, the more its members disliked groups whose members participated in sports.