Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which differences in agegraded sociocultural contexts influence adolescent future-oriented goals, concerns, and related temporal extension. Ninety-five 13–14-year-old Australian boys and 104 girls, 87 16–17-year-old Australian boys and 81 girls, 67 13–14-year-old Finnish boys and 86 girls, and 56 16–17-year-old Finnish boys and 107 girls were investigated. Half of the subjects in each group came from an urban environment and half from rural regions. The subjects filled in the Hopes and Fears Questionnaire measuring the content and temporal extension of goals and concerns. Overall, the results showed that adolescent goals, concerns, and related temporal extension reflected the major developmental tasks of their own age and early adulthood. However, interesting cross-cultural, gender, and urban rural differences were also found, reflecting variation in societal options and cultural values. For example, Australians were more interested in leisure and more concerned about their own health and global issues. Later school transitions meant that in older age groups the Finnish adolescents expected goals related to their future education and occupation to be actualized later than Australian youths did. Because of a lack of career options, interest in a future occupation decreased with age among adolescents living in rural regions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dannefer, D. (1984). Adult development and social theory: A paradigmatic reappraisal.Am. Social. Rev. 49: 100–116.
Douvan, E., and Adelson, J. (1966).The Adolescent Experience. John Wiley, New York.
Elder, G. H., Jr. (1985). Perspectives on the life course. In Elder, G. H., Jr. (ed.),Life Course Dynamics. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Erikson, E. H. (1959).Identity and the Life Cycle. International Universities Press, New York.
Gillispie, J. M., and Allport, G. W. (1955).Youth's Outlook on the Future (a Cross-National Study). Doubleday, New York.
Greene, A. L. (1990). Great expectations: Constructions of the life course during adolescence.J. Youth Adolesc. 15: 99–113.
Hagestad, G. O., and Neugarten, B. L. (1985). Age and the life course. In Binstock, R. H., and Shanas, E. (eds.),Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Havighurst, R. J. (1948/1974).Developmental Tasks and Education (3rd ed.). McKay, New York. (Original work published 1948.)
Held, T. (1986). Institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of the life course.Human Develop. 29: 157–162.
Lazarus, R., and Folkman, S. (1987). Transactional theory and research on emotions and coping.Eur. J. Personal. 1: 141–169.
Lessing, E. E. (1972). Extension of personal future lime perspective, age, and life satisfaction of children and adolescents.Develop. Psychol. 6: 457–468.
Lewin, K. (1948). Time perspective and morale. In Lewin, K. (ed.).Resolving Social Conflicts. Harper, New York.
Maxwell, S. E., and Delaney, H. D. (1990).Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data. Wadsforth, Belmont, CA.
Mehta, P. H., Rohila, P. K., Sundberg, N. D., and Tyler, L. E. (1972). Future time perspective of adolescents in India and the United States.J. Cross-Cultural Psychol. 3: 293–302.
Myers, J. L. (1979).Fundamentals of Experimental Design. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
Mönks, F. (1968). Future time perspective in adolescents.Human Develop. 11: 107–123.
Newman, B. M., and Newman, P. R. (1975).Development Through Life. A Psychosocial Approach. The Dorsey Press, Homewood, IL.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1987). Age, sex, social class, and quality of family interaction as determinants of adolescents' future orientation: A developmental task interpretation.Adolescence 22: 977–991.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1989a). Adolescents' orientation to the future: Development of interests and plans, and related attributions and affects, in the life-span context.Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium 39. The Finnish Society for Sciences and Letters, Helsinki.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1989b). Development of orientation to the future during early adolescence: A four-year longitudinal study and two cross-sectional comparisons.Int. J. Psychol. 24: 195–214.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1991). How do adolescents see their future? A review of the development of future orientation and planning.Develop. Rev. 11: 1–59.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1992). Age differences in adult life goals, concerns, and their temporal extension: A life course approach to future-oriented motivation,Int. J. Behav. Develop. 15: 487–508.
Nurmi, J.-E. (1993). Adolescent development in an age-graded context: The role of personal beliefs, goals and strategies in the tackling of developmental tasks and standards.Int. J. Behav. Develop. 16: 169–189.
Nurmi, J.-E. and Lainekivi, J. (1991). Verbal fluency and the measurement of future-oriented goals and hopes: A comparison of questionnaire and interview data.Percept. Motor Skills 72: 1–2.
Nurmi, J.-E., Poole, M. E., and Seginer, R. (1992).Future Hopes and Fears Questionnaire. Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki.
Nurmi, J.-E., and Siurala, L. (1994). Finland. In K. Hurrelman, (ed.),International Handbook of Adolescence, pp. 131–145 Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.
Nuttin, J. R. (1984).Motivation, Planning, and Action. A Relational Theory of Behavior Dynamics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Louvain.
Petersen, A. C., Crouter, A. C., and Wilson, J. (1988). Heterosexual behavior and sexuality among normal young adolescents. In Levine, M. D., and McAnarney, E. R. (eds.),Early Adolescent Transitions. Lexington Books, Lexington, MA.
Poole, M. E., and Cooney, G. H. (1985). Cultural differences in the exploration of career and leisure possibilities by adolescents in Australia and Singapore.Austral. J. Educat. 29: 249–265.
Poole, M. E., and Cooney, G. H. (1987). Orientations to the future: A comparison of adolescents in Australia and Singapore.J. Youth Adolesc. 16: 129–151.
Pulkkinen, L. (1984, September).A longitudinal perspective on future-orientation in late adolesence. A paper presented at the XXIII International Congress of Psychology, Acapulco.
Seginer, R. (1988a). Adolescents facing the future. Cultural and sociopolitical perspectives.Youth Society 19: 314–333.
Seginer, R. (1988b). Social milieu and future-orientation: The case of kibbutz vs. urban adolescents.Int. J. Behav. Develop. 11: 247–273.
Seginer, R. (1992). Future orientation: Age-related differences among adolescent females.J. Youth Adolesc. 21: 421–437.
Solantaus, T. (1987). Hopes and worries of young people in three European countries.Health Promot. 2: 19–27.
Sundberg, N. D., Poole, M. E., and Tyler, L. E. (1983). Adolescents' expectations of future events — A cross-cultural study of Australians, Americans, and Indians.Int. J. Psychol. 18: 415–427.
Trommsdorff, G., Burger, C., and Fushsle, T. (1982). Social and psychological aspects of future orientation. In Irle, M. (ed.),Studies in Decision Making, de Grutyer, Berlin.
Tyler, L. E. (1978).Individuality: Human Possibilities and Personal Choice in the Psychological Development of Men and Women. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Wallace, M., and Rabin, A. I. (1960). Temporal experience.Psychol. Bull. 57: 213–236.
von Wright, J. M., and Rauste-von Wright, M. (1977). Sex differences in personal and global future time perspective.Percept. Motor Skills 44: 30.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received Ph.D. from University of Helsinki. Research interests are adolescent development and cognitive and attributional strategies as pathways to problem behavior. To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received Ph.D. from La Trobe University. Research interests are higher education policy, research management, women and careers, and adolescence.
Received M.A. from University of Helsinki. Research interests are identity development and problem solving.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nurmi, JE., Poole, M.E. & Kalakoski, V. Age differences in adolescent future-oriented goals, concerns, and related temporal extension in different sociocultural contexts. J Youth Adolescence 23, 471–487 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538040
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538040