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Positive and negative self-related goals and subjective well-being: A prospective study

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Abstract

To examine whether having self-related personal goals, or rather whether positive or negative appraisal of them, is associated with subjective well-being, 311 students were asked to complete the Personal Project Analysis (PPA) and revised Beck Depression Inventory, first at the beginning of their studies, and then 2 years later. After 3 years they were asked about the use of mental health services. Two groups of students were identified: (1) those with positive self-projects and (2) those with negative self-projects. The results showed that both positive and negative self-related projects showed stability across a 2-year period, but only negative ones were prospectively predicted by earlier depressive symptomatology. Although neither positive nor negative projects predicted depressive symptomatology, both predicted the use of mental health services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 4, Finland

    Katariina Salmela-Aro & Jari-Erik Nurmi

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  1. Katariina Salmela-Aro
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  2. Jari-Erik Nurmi
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Correspondence to Katariina Salmela-Aro.

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University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.

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Salmela-Aro, K., Nurmi, JE. Positive and negative self-related goals and subjective well-being: A prospective study. J Adult Dev 4, 179–188 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02510596

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