Energizing behavior in the direction of future goals: The role of adolescents' hopeful futures in achieving positive developmental outcomes* .

摘要

Positive emotions surrounding the achievement of developmental outcomes, such as hope for one's future, have begun to receive theoretical attention in the developmental literature. Although considerable empirical research has focused on the content of adolescents' future expectations, there has been little investigation of the relations between hope, on the one hand, and adaptive functioning in later adolescence, on the other. Using extant data from 7th grade participants (N = 1,843) in the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), principal component analysis was used to determine the presence of an underlying construct, termed hopeful future, from a set of indicators assessing adolescents' future expectations. Covariation was assessed between hopeful future scores and other measures of adaptive developmental outcomes, including self-regulatory skills, PYD, and youth Contribution. Multiple regression analyses indicated that hopeful future in Grade 7 was a significant predictor of both PYD and Contribution in Grades 8, and 9, above and beyond the variance accounted for by adolescents' scores on measures of intentional self-regulation. The need for longitudinal investigation into the links between hopeful future and positive functioning in later adolescence is discussed.;*The preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by a grant from the National 4-H Council. The author would like to thank the members of her committee, Francine Jacobs, Jonathan Zaff, and Jacqueline Lerner, as well as her committee chair, Richard Lerner, for their feedback about this manuscript.