Future orientation : developmental and ecological perspectives / by Rachel Seginer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Seginer, Rachel.

Series:

Springer series on human exceptionality

The Springer series on human exceptionality

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Time perspective in adolescence.

Adolescent psychology.

Physical Description:

xviii, 258 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Springer, 2009.

Summary:

Where am I going? What do I want to do with my life? Such questions are typical of-even essential to-adolescence and continue to influence individuals throughout their lifetimes. And although human beings are capable of anticipating future events even as infants, the teen years are the peak period for weighing options and setting long-range goals. Future Orientation: Development and Ecological Perspectives synthesizes a wealth of theory and empirical data to explore future thinking as both a developmental process and an individual one.

Starting with its origins in childhood, the book identifies the forces that affect this evolution, from early interactions with parents to personality traits and self-processes. Adolescents' future orientation is analyzed by its influences-a complex network of gender expectations, family and peer relationships, and cultural variables-and is, in turn, linked to developmental outcomes at school, capacity for intimacy, and adjustment in emerging adulthood and in adult life. This unique volume:

Examines future orientation as an aspect of positive psychology, focusing on the stages of preadolescence, adolescence, and emerging adulthood.

Relates future orientation with other psychological constructs relevant to this age group, including identity and self-esteem.

Offers ecological and developmental perspectives to explore the effects of family members and peer groups on future thinking.

Compares adolescent future thinking across cultures and discusses the roles of gender and gender constructs in future orientation.

Complements developmental and educational psychology as well as counseling and parental guidance courses.

Given the current climate of rapid social change, Future Orientation is an invaluable reading for researchers, clinicians, and practitioners, including child and school psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and others who work with young people during this critical juncture.

Contents:

1 Future Orientation: A Conceptual Framework 1

The Evolvement of Future Orientation Conceptualization 3

Early Psychological Analyses 3

Athematic Approaches to Future Orientation 5

The Thematic Approach 9

The Three Component Model of Future Orientation 14

Four Interfacing Approaches 17

The Motivational Approach: Future Time Perspective 18

The Self Approach: Possible Selves 20

Personality Goal Approaches 23

Personal Dispositions Approaches 26

2 The Evolvement of Future Orientation: Infancy Through Middle Childhood 29

Future Orientation in Infancy 29

Future Orientation in Early Childhood 31

Children's Sense of the Future 32

Two Approaches to Processes Underlying the Development of Future Knowledge 35

Planning Behavior in Early Childhood 37

Socialization of Future Knowledge 40

Future Themes in Children's Literature 42

Future Orientation in Middle Childhood 46

Early Expressions of Hopes and Fears 47

The Construction of Future Hopes and Fears in Middle Childhood 48

3 Future Orientation in Personality Contexts 61

Self Esteem and Self Agency 62

The Self: A Conceptual Framework 62

The Effect of the Self on Future Orientation 63

Self-Agency and Future Orientation 64

Self-Stability and Future Orientation 64

Self-Esteem and Future Orientation 65

The Self-Schema of Loneliness 67

Self-Schema 67

Loneliness 67

Loneliness and Future Orientation 68

Loneliness and Future Orientation: Summary 71

Psychological Empowerment 71

Psychological Empowerment and Future Orientation: The Case of Israeli Arab Girls 72

The Cultural Context of Psychological Empowerment and Future Orientation 76

Summary: Psychological Empowerment and Future Orientation 77

Defensive Pessimism and Strategic Optimism 78

Defensive Pessimism 78

Strategic Optimism 79

Strategies and Dispositions 80

Future Orientation and Defensive Pessimism 80

Primary and Secondary Control Orientations 82

Primary and Secondary Control: Conceptual Framework 82

Cultural Contexts 84

Primary and Secondary Control and Future Orientation 86

Cognitive Abilities and Future Orientation 88

4 Future Orientation Sex Differences 91

Sex Differences: Their Extent, Origins and Underlying Processes 91

Evolutionary Psychology 92

Social Role Theory 93

The Gender Similarity Approach 95

Socialization of Gender Roles 95

Future Orientation Sex Differences and Gender Similarities 96

Theory Based Predictions 97

Gender Effects on the Themes and Extension of Future Orientation 98

Future Orientation Sex Differences: Recent Findings 111

The Cultural Context of Sex Differences 112

The Hoped For and Feared Future of Transition to Modernity Girls: The Case of Israeli Arab and Druze Girls 114

Future Orientation Motivational and Behavioral Components Gender Differences 118

5 The Effect of Parenting on Future Orientation 125

Family Atmosphere, Parenting and Future Orientation 126

Early Studies on the Effect of Parenting on Adolescent Future Orientation 126

Positive Parenting and Future Orientation 127

The Positive Parenting Multiple Step Model 129

The Five-Step Model of Future Orientation Parenting 130

Empirical Estimates of the Model 132

Future Orientation Multi-Step Model in Cultural Context 134

Parents' Beliefs and Adolescents' Future Orientation 137

Empirical Studies 138

Parents' Beliefs and Adolescents' Future Orientation: Summary 141

Intergenerational Transmission of Future Orientation 142

The German Setting 142

The Italian Setting 142

The Finnish Setting 143

The Israeli Setting 143

The Three-Component Model: Parent-Adolescent Correspondence 144

Parents as Models 146

The Meaning of Parent-Child Congruence 146

Summary: How Parents Facilitate the Construction of Future Orientation 147

6 The Effect of Contemporaries: Siblings and Peers 149

Adolescent Sibling Relationship 150

The Effect of Sibling Relationship on Adolescents' Future Orientation 151

Adolescent Peer Relations 154

The Effect of Peer Relationship on Adolescent Future Orientation 155

The Future Orientation of Classmates 158

Peer Influence: What Adolescents Do and Report 161

7 Future Orientation Outcomes 165

Future Orientation and Academic Achievement 165

The Underlying Rationale: Perceived Instrumentality 166

Future Orientation and Academic Achievement Links: Empirical Analyses 168

Future Orientation and Two Developmental Tasks: Identity and Intimacy 173

Identity 173

The Relations Between Future Orientation and Identity 174

Future Orientation and Identity Links: Empirical Evidence 175

Intimacy 180

Future Orientation and Intimacy Links: Empirical Evidence 181

Future Orientation and Adjustment to Developmental Transitions 183

Emerging Adults' Adjustment to Military Service 183

Midlife Adjustment to Early Retirement: The Case of Non-Commissioned Officers 187

8 Summary, Conclusions and Future Directions for Research and Action 191

Recapitulation: Future Orientation in Light of Five Main Issues 191

The Five Issues 191

The Conceptual Issue: Future Orientation and Interfacing Approaches 192

The Developmental Issue: A Case of Non-continuous Indicators 195

The Personality Issue: The Role of the Self and Other Personality Characteristics 199

The Interpersonal Relationships Issue: The Effect of Parents, Siblings and Peers 200

The Cultural Context Issue: Does Culture Matter? 202

Directions for Future Research 205

Theory into Practice: Turning Hopes into Plans and Plans into Outcomes 206

Theory into Practice: A Generic Scheme of Linking Future Hopes to Present Behavior 208

In Conclusion 210.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780387886404

0387886400

OCLC:

271772183