What do you really want? Change in goals and life satisfaction during Emerging Adulthood in Brazil

Aim and Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate how different types of goals may affect the satisfaction in life of Brazilian emerging adults in different developmental stages and, what characteristics they associate with adulthood. Method: Participants were 970 Brazilian youth aged from 18 to 30 years old (M = 22.8; SD = 3.4). The instruments we used were a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Aspiration Index and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. We performed a descriptive statistical analysis to elicit the characteristics related with becoming an adult, as well as ANOVAs to test if there was a difference between the endorsement of intrinsic or extrinsic goals based on sociodemographic characteristics; and if there was a difference, did it affect their satisfaction with life. Results: Results showed that the most important characteristic to be considered an adult was to be financially independent and to be responsible for oneself, while the least important were to be married and to have children. There was a significant difference in the importance participants gave to intrinsic goals based on sex and age. Consistently with previous research, we found that giving greater importance to intrinsic goals had a positive and significant effect on life satisfaction. However, different sets of goals were deemed important according to the developmental stage youth were in, and these changes had in turn a significant effect on life satisfaction. Conclusions: Finally, we found that prioritizing intrinsic goals contributes to greater life satisfaction in general. This study acknowledges that there are individual and contextual factors that may propel youth to choose their goals in order to attend these demands, regardless of their impact on life satisfaction.

Trait Perfectionism and Dance Goals Among Young Female Dancers: An Application of the 2 × 2 Model of Perfectionism

This study provided the first test of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism with respect to dancers’ goals for dancing in competitive dance. Four hundred twenty-five young female North American competitive dancers (M = 11.33 years; SD = 2.14) completed questionnaires assessing multidimensional perfectionism and goals for participation in dance. The latent moderated structural equations approach along with procedures outlined by Gaudreau indicated partial support for the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism. Pure Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism was associated with fewer intrinsic goals for dance and greater extrinsic goals for dance relative to nonperfectionism. Pure Personal Standards Perfectionism was related to less endorsement of extrinsic goals relative to nonperfectionism. Findings were complex with respect to mixed perfectionism, with this form of perfectionism being related to greater endorsement of both intrinsic and extrinsic goals for dance. Results provide partial support for the 2 × 2 model in youth dance.

First-year university students’ knowledge of academic misconduct and the association between goals for attending university and receptiveness to intervention

Academic misconduct (AM) runs rampant across higher education institutions in the US and internationally. Ample empirical research has identified myriad student variables that predict AM. However, two variables have been unexamined: the quality of conceptual knowledge university students have on AM and the relation between goals for going to university and reception to intervention on AM. Quantitative content analysis on written responses by 356 first-year university students reported surface-level knowledge of AM, frequent citation of extrinsic goals, and a lack of association between goals and receptiveness to intervention. Results corroborate prior research on university students’ limited understanding of AM. Results suggest that efforts to address AM do not need to tailor intervention components to match students’ goals for attending university.

Longitudinal Associations Between Vocational Identity Process and Career Goals

Vocational identity develops through the interplay between process and content dimensions. A three-wave longitudinal study investigated how identity process dimensions (in-breadth exploration, in-depth exploration, commitment making, identification with commitment, self-doubt, flexibility) and content dimensions represented by career goals (intrinsic goals, extrinsic goals) are interconnected across time. Participants were 327 full-time college students in South Korea at Time 1, 253 at Time 2, and 227 at Time 3. They rated values associated with their current career goal and completed the Vocational Identity Status Assessment 3 times with a 6-month interval. The autoregressive cross-lagged path analysis found positive reciprocal associations between intrinsic career goals and identification with commitment. Furthermore, intrinsic career goals positively predicted in-depth exploration, and self-doubt negatively predicted intrinsic career goals. These findings support the reciprocal relationships between vocational identity process and career goals in general, and between intrinsic career goals and the commitment dimension of identity more specifically.

Understanding the work goals–early retirement intention relationship: the mediating role of work passion and moderating role of HR practices’ flexibility

PurposeBased on goal content theory (GCT), this study examines the associations between different work goal contents (intrinsic and extrinsic goals) and early retirement intentions and reveals the underlying mechanisms of abovementioned relations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper tested the proposed model by using a sample of 265 workers in China using a two-wave survey.FindingsFindings(1) employees' intrinsic and extrinsic goals are both negatively related to early retirement intentions, and the effect of extrinsic goals on early retirement intentions is more significant. (2) Work passion was found to be a strong mediator between work goal content and employees' early retirement intentions. (3) Human resource (HR) practices’ flexibility significantly moderates the relationship between work passion and early retirement intentions.Originality/valueThe contribution of the current study is that this study first takes into account individuals’ psychological and organizational factors, aiming to reveal the differential effect of different work goals on individuals' early retirement intentions as well as the mediating effect of work passion and the moderating effect of HR practices’ flexibility in the abovementioned relations.

Materialistic Orientation and Psyhological Well Being in Adolescents from 11th-12th Grade

The aim of the current study is to look for theoretically and empirically grounded proof for the correlation between aspirations – extrinsic and intrinsic- determining the motivation – and the psychological wellbeing of adolescents in 11th grade. Materialistic orientation is expressed in the preferences of extrinsic goals such as fame, wealth and image, while the intrinsic aspirations are related to preferences of aspirations for personal growth, personal relationships and community contribution. High level of psychological wellbeing is measured through the six elements from K. Ryff’s definition: self-acceptance, positive interaction with others, autonomy, managing of environment, meaning and personal growth. The research includes a group of 50 students in two Bulgarian high schools.

University students profiles of self-regulated learning and motivation

The aim of the study was to identify students’ self-regulation through learning strategies adoption in connection with motivation. A sample of 212 freshmen students answered a Likert-type questionnaire with the aim to assess learning strategies, mastery achievement goal, extrinsic goals, procrastination, and discipline valuation. Strategy use consisted in a specific task of writing a text. A person-centered approach was adopted according to the statistical data and four self-regulation clusters were identified, namely, highly self-regulated students, low regulation students, and two clusters with mixed scores. Through variance analysis mastery achievement goal appeared significantly associated only with thehighly self-regulated students cluster. Results were discussed in the framework of a self-regulated learning model and achievement goals theory. Finally, future investigations on other specific learning activities were proposed.

Employee Acceptability of Wearable Mental Workload Monitoring in Industry 4.0: A Pilot Study on Motivational and Contextual Framing

As Industry 4.0 will greatly challenge employee mental workload (MWL), research on objective wearable MWL-monitoring is in high demand. However, numerous research lines validating such technology might become redundant when employees eventually object to its implementation. In a pilot study, we manipulated two ways in which employees might perceive MWL-monitoring initiatives. We found that framing the technology in terms of serving intrinsic goals (e.g., improving health) together with an autonomy-supportive context (e.g., allowing discussion) yields higher user acceptability when compared to framing in terms of extrinsic goals (e.g., increasing productivity) together with a controlling context (e.g., mandating use). User acceptability still panned out neutral in case of the former, however - feeding into our own and suggested future work.

The effect of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on entrepreneurial intentions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how and when intrinsic (personal growth, affiliation, community contribution, health) and extrinsic (financial success, fame, physical appearance) goals affect individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). The study uses goal contents theory to propose that intrinsic and extrinsic goals positively influence individuals’ EIs. The authors further argue that the collectivism moderates the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic goals on individuals EIs.Design/methodology/approachA survey was designed to collect data from business graduates at a university in Pakistan. The measurement model and the hypothesized model were tested using the structural equation modeling technique in MPlus 7.0.FindingsThe results suggest that all four intrinsic goals and three extrinsic goals positively affect individuals’ EIs. However, financial success and fame appear to be the most prominent determinants of EIs. Similarly, personal growth and contribution to community are strong predictors of individuals’ EIs. Conversely, health, physical appearance and affiliation motives were found to have a weaker effect on individuals’ EIs. Moreover, the results show that collectivist orientation negatively moderates the effect of intrinsic goals on individuals’ EIs, but positively moderates the effect of extrinsic goals. These results suggest that the EIs of individuals with high collectivist orientation are mainly induced by extrinsic goals, whereas intrinsic factors play a greater role in stimulating the EIs of individuals with low collectivism.Originality/valueExtant research has paid little attention to intrinsic and extrinsic goals as determinants of individuals’ EIs. Thus, this study explores how and when intrinsic and extrinsic goals develop individuals’ EIs. This study is the first of its kind to highlight the importance of individuals’ cultural orientation (collectivism) to determine the alternative role of intrinsic and extrinsic goals in developing individuals’ EIs. In addition, this study was conducted in a different cultural setting (i.e. South Asia), which provides an opportunity to expand the boundary conditions of the phenomenon by offering an alternative perspective on this issue.