Possible Selves across the Life Span

Cross, Susan E.; Markus, Hazel Rose

doi:10.1159/000277058

Cited by 578 publications

(527 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(26 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

494

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…There is abundant evidence that young, middle-aged, and older adults are in different life stages and are faced with different life topics and life tasks. (Cross & Markus, 1991;Grob et al, 1999;Nurmi, 1992;Nurmi et al, 1992;Strough et al, 1996). We thus argue that our middle-aged respondents might be better able to view a goal in terms of its intrinsic and extrinsic components due to their respective standing in life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Young, middle-aged, and older adults are typically in different phases of their lives, in which distinct topics are relevant or different tasks can or must be accomplished (e.g., getting started in work in young adulthood vs. retirement from work in later adulthood). Correspondingly, the goals people pursue generally reflect relevant life stage tasks (Cross & Markus, 1991;Grob, Little, & Wanner, 1999;Nurmi, 1992;Nurmi, Pulliainen, & Salmela-Aro, 1992;Strough, Berg, & Sansone, 1996). More specifically, goals related to education, partnership, friendships, and employment are more salient in young adulthood.…”

Section: A Life Span Perspective On Goals and Swbmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Neuroticism, extraversion, goals, and subjective well-being: Exploring the relations in young, middle-aged, and older adults

Gomez

Allemand

Grob

2012

Journal of Research in Personality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The positive association between intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic, goal importance and subjective well-being (SWB) is well-documented. However, less is known whether these associations are consistent across age groups and when simultaneously considering personality traits. Structural equation models conducted with young, middle-aged, and older adults indicated that neuroticism was negatively related to SWB across age groups, while extraversion and intrinsic goal importance held age-differential associations: Extraversion was related to SWB in the two younger age groups, whereas in older adults only an indirect effect emerged via intrinsic goal importance. Intrinsic goal importance was related to SWB among young and older adults but not among middle-aged adults. These results underscore the importance of age-differential associations in determinants of SWB.(Word count: 118)

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: A Life Span Perspective On Goals and Swbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroticism, extraversion, goals, and subjective well-being: Exploring the relations in young, middle-aged, and older adults

Gomez

Allemand

Grob

2012

Journal of Research in Personality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Future selves (and other possible selves) are the elements of the self-concept that are likely to be most flexible and adaptable. Individuals have considerable freedom to define and redefine their future selves (Cross & Markus, 1991 The third explanatory process for the impact of salient Future Work Selves relates to research on future-oriented cognitive processes (e.g., Gilbert & Wilson, 2007;Suddendorf, 2006;Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007). Positive possible selves facilitate the identification of future requirements through mental simulation of the desired future (Kosslyn, 1987).…”

Section: The Motivational Role Of Future Work Self Saliencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, we expect positive Future Work Selves to be more prevalent and more salient than feared future selves because individuals have the desire to create and maintain positive identities at work (Ashforth, 2001). Previous research has found feared possible selves to be considerably less prevalent than hoped for possible selves (Cross & Markus, 1991;Markus & Nurius, 1986). Second, our conceptualization of Future Work Selves reflects the importance of positive reference values in self-regulation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

Future work selves: How salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors.

Strauss¹,

Griffin²,

Parker³

2012

Journal of Applied Psychology

433

615

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Copyright and reuse:The Warwick Research Archive Portal (WRAP) makes the work of researchers of the University of Warwick available open access under the following conditions. Copyright © and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in WRAP has been checked for eligibility before being made available.Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-forprofit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. Publisher's statement:© APA and Journal of Applied Psychology. "This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record." http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026423 A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP url' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Adam Grant, Otilia Obodaru, and Heather Vough for their useful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. 2 FUTURE WORK SELVES: HOW SALIENT HOPED-FOR IDENTITIES MOTIVATE PROACTIVE CAREER BEHAVIORSA Future Work Self refers to an individual"s representation of himself or herself in the future that reflects his or her hopes and aspirations in relation to work. The clearer and more accessible this representation, the more salient the Future Work Self. An initial study with two samples (N = 397; N = 103) showed that Future Work Self salience was distinct from established career concepts and positively related to individuals" proactive career behavior. A follow up longitudinal analysis, Study 2 (N = 53), demonstrated that Future Work Selves salience had a lagged effect on proactive career behavior. In Study 3 (N = 233), we considered the role of elaboration, a further attribute of a Future Work Self, and showed that elaboration motivated proactive career behavior only when Future Work Self salience was also high. Together the studies suggest the power of future work selves as a motivational resource for proactive career behavior. 3 FUTURE WORK SELVES: HOW SALIENT HOPED-FOR IDENTITIES MOTIVATE PROACTIVE CAREER BEHAVIORSThe future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created -created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination. John Homer SchaarHistorically, individuals" career management and development were considered to be t...

show abstract

“…The Nature and Correlates of Self-Esteem Trajectories in Late Life One major theme of personality and lifespan research has long been whether and how key aspects of the self are preserved when people are faced with major challenges of late life (Baltes & Carstensen, 1996;Brandtstädter & Greve, 1994;Cross & Markus, 1991;Freund & Smith, 1999;Orth, Trzesniewski, & Robins, 2010;Robins, Trzesniewski, Tracy, Gosling, & Potter, 2002;Troll & Skaff, 1997). One important indicator of the self is self-esteem, which revolves around a general evaluation and appraisal of one's worth (Leary & Baumeister, 2000;Orth et al, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The nature and correlates of self-esteem trajectories in late life.

Wagner¹,

Gerstorf²,

Hoppmann³

et al. 2013

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Is it possible to maintain a positive perspective on the self into very old age? Empirical research so far is rather inconclusive with some studies reporting substantial self-esteem declines late in life, whereas others report relative stability into old age. In this report, we examine long-term change trajectories in self-esteem in old age and very old age and link them to key correlates in the health, cognitive, self-regulatory, and social domains. To do so, we estimate growth curve models over chronological age and time-to-death using 18-year longitudinal data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 1,215; age 65-103 at first occasion; M = 78.8 years, SD = 5.9, 45% women). Results revealed that self-esteem was, on average, fairly stable with minor declines only emerging in advanced ages and at the very end of life. Examining the vast between-person differences revealed that lower cognitive abilities and lower perceived control independently related to lower self-esteem. Also, lower cognitive abilities were associated with steeper age-related and mortality-related self-esteem decrements. In our discussion, we consider a variety of challenges that potentially shape selfesteem late in life and highlight the need for more mechanism-oriented research to better understand the pathways underlying stability and change in self-esteem.Word count: 204

show abstract

Possible Selves across the Life Span

Cited by 578 publications

References 21 publications

Neuroticism, extraversion, goals, and subjective well-being: Exploring the relations in young, middle-aged, and older adults

Neuroticism, extraversion, goals, and subjective well-being: Exploring the relations in young, middle-aged, and older adults

Future work selves: How salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors.

The nature and correlates of self-esteem trajectories in late life.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About