The role of future work goal motives in adolescent identity development: A longitudinal mixed-methods investigation

Yeager, David S.; Bundick, Matthew J.; Johnson, Rebecca

doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2012.01.004

Cited by 56 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…These different motives also frequently co-exist (Batson, 1998; also see Feiler, Tost, & Grant, 2012). In fact, in a series of qualitative interviews conducted with a diverse group of high school adolescents, it was common for teens to pair self-transcendent motives with self-oriented motives—much more common in fact than having only a self-transcendent motive (Yeager & Bundick, 2009; Yeager et al, 2012). Here we examine whether adding self-transcendent motives to self-oriented ones—what we call a “purpose for learning”—could produce benefits that self-oriented motives alone could not achieve.…”

Section: Defining a “Purpose For Learning”mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More directly relevant, Yeager et al (2012) found that some high school-aged adolescents spontaneously generated a purpose for learning during interviews—mentioning both a self-transcendent motive and an intrinsic, self-oriented motive for their future work, such as “being a doctor to help people and because it would be enjoyable.” Students with a purpose rated their schoolwork in general as more personally meaningful than adolescents with no career goal or only extrinsic motives (making money, gaining respect), even at a two-year follow-up (also see Lepper et al, 2005; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Other high school students discussed only typical interest-based, self-oriented motives.…”

Section: Purpose Meaning and Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other high school students discussed only typical interest-based, self-oriented motives. This group rated their schoolwork as no more meaningful compared to students with no future work goals or only extrinsic motives (Yeager et al, 2012). However, this study was limited in that it did not directly assess perceptions of tedious, skill-building tasks.…”

Section: Purpose Meaning and Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals are known to marshal self-discipline more when they are pursuing personally-meaningful goals (see Fishbach & Trope, 2005; Fishbach, Zhang, & Trope, 2010; Loewenstein, 1996; Mischel, Cantor, & Feldman, 1996; Rachlin, Brown, & Cross, 2000; Thaler & Shefrin, 1981; Trope & Fishbach, 2000; also see Eccles, 2009, Marshall, 2001). In the present research we propose that what has been called a purpose for learning (Andrews, 2011; Yeager, Bundick, & Johnson, 2012) can foster greater meaning in schoolwork and promote academic self-regulation as students take on tedious learning tasks.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

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Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Yeager

Henderson

Paunesku

et al. 2014

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

352

324

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Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in four studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with more of a purpose for learning also persisted longer on a boring task rather than giving in to a tempting alternative, and, many months later, were less likely to drop out of college. Study 2 addressed causality. It showed that a brief, one-time psychological intervention promoting a self-transcendent purpose for learning could improve high school science and math GPA over several months. Studies 3 and 4 were short-term experiments that explored possible mechanisms. They showed that the self-transcendent purpose manipulation could increase deeper learning behavior on tedious test review materials (Study 3), and sustain self-regulation over the course of an increasingly-boring task (Study 4). More self-oriented motives for learning—such as the desire to have an interesting or enjoyable career—did not, on their own, consistently produce these benefits (Studies 1 and 4).

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Section: Defining a “Purpose For Learning”mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Purpose Meaning and Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Purpose Meaning and Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 93%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Yeager

Henderson

Paunesku

et al. 2014

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

352

324

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Implementation of education projects is mainly focused on students' needs for somatopsychic and career development, in terms of students, schools are the key factor affecting students' career decision-making because school education can assist students in carrying out the career exploration, the motivation of looking for jobs, and the reflection of their own career goal [1].…”

Section: ) Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Student Career Decision-Making of Junior High School Students in Central Taiwan Area

Su¹,

Chang²,

Wu³

et al. 2016

IJIET

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Abstract-This study intends to investigate the factors affecting students' career decision-making for technique arts education program in junior high schools in central Taiwan areas.Based on the results, the findings are as follows: 1). The main factor affecting the student career decision is "personal factors".2). Students studying in a school of a larger scale and enrolled in homemaking courses are most prone to the influence of "personal factors" in educational decisions.3). For students with parents with mid-to high educational attainment, "family factors" are the most influential factors of student career decisions. 4). For students enrolled in homemaking courses, "school factors" are the most prominent factors of student career decisions.5). For students of Junior High Schools in Taichung City and enrolled in homemaking courses, career-exploration factors are the most significant factors of student career decisions. 

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Life goal selection pattern and purpose in adolescence: A latent class analysis

Hung

Geldhof

et al. 2023

Journal of Adolescence

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PurposeThis study aims to investigate the goal selection patterns among adolescents and examines the extent to which goals focused on oneself, relationships, and the larger community were associated with variability of daily purpose and mean level sense of purpose in life.MethodsParticipants were 213 high school students with an average age of 15.18 years in an urban public school district in the Northeast United States. Students were asked to select their three most important goals one time and report on their sense of purpose once a day for 3 weeks in spring of 2022. Latent class analysis was used to classify students by the type of goals selected. Differences in the overall sense of purpose and its subscales by class were examined.ResultsA model with four classes (Self and Inner Circle, Inner Circle, Other‐Oriented, and Self‐Oriented) best fits the data. There were no statistical group differences in the variability of daily purpose and overall sense of purpose. Only one pairwise comparison was significant and indicated that students in the Other‐Oriented group perceived their purpose as more meaningful than students in the Self and Inner Circle group.ConclusionsFindings from this study provide a lens into goal prioritization patterns among adolescents. Further, although students who were more likely to select other‐oriented goals had somewhat higher perceptions of sense of purpose, findings support the concept of equifinality by suggesting that a sense of purpose may be actualized through a diverse set of specific goals.

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The role of future work goal motives in adolescent identity development: A longitudinal mixed-methods investigation

Cited by 56 publications

References 35 publications

Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Boring but important: A self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Factors Affecting the Student Career Decision-Making of Junior High School Students in Central Taiwan Area

Life goal selection pattern and purpose in adolescence: A latent class analysis

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