Prior research shows a positive correlation between years of education and overall health. Historically, Latinos have had lower levels of educational attainment than Whites and other ethnic groups in the United States. The current study explored how a student’s social context in sophomore year is associated with his/her college aspirations and college expectations, and how these factors then influence subsequent college preparatory behaviors and college application in senior year. Differences in the role of social context were explored in Latino students and White students. Secondary data analysis was conducted using the Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project (THEOP) dataset, which provided longitudinal data for 2,875 Texas high school students. Hopes and Fears theory of future orientation was used as the guiding framework for the analysis of future orientation. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to address the research questions. College preparatory behaviors and college application at senior year had the strongest associations with the social contextual variables at sophomore year that were most proximal to the students, namely family and friends. For all students, iv grade point average, graduation track, parent education in sophomore year were all significant predictors of college preparatory behaviors and college application in senior year. Parental encouragement to go to college in sophomore year was a significant predictor of college preparatory behaviors and college application at senior year among Latino students, but not among White students. Conversely, having more than three friends who planned to attend college or having a sibling who dropped out of high school was predictive of college preparatory behaviors and college application among White students, but not among Latino students. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed. / text

This study explores what motivates engineers in their early-mid career to change careers. It first establishes the definition of a career change from the perspective of those who have changed careers, and then examines what drives, influences and facilitates a career change, as well as how a career change is enacted physically and emotionally. This has been looked at through the contemporary lens of the ‘intelligent career framework’. This research adopted a qualitative, abductive approach following an initial inductive small-scale exploratory study. The fieldwork consisted of a pilot and main study using semi-structured interviews. For the main study, 22 interviews were conducted within one organisation in order to elicit the subjective experiences of engineers who had undertaken a career change. The findings show how the driving factors relate predominantly to knowing-why and knowing-where. The influencing and facilitating factors vary by individual, and relate to knowing-what, knowing-how knowing-when and knowing-whom. Six clusters of interacting factors were observed with knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-when at the core. Whilst the process of career change was complex and long, differing pathways through which individuals changed careers were evident, as well as emotions that needed to be managed. This study contributes to knowledge in the area of contemporary career theory by exploring career change through a new lens: the intelligent career framework. It demonstrates how individuals use their ‘career capital’ to effect a career change and the ways in which the six knowings interact to bring about a career change. It extends the understanding of the process of career change and discovers some of the organisational factors that influence or facilitate individuals making a career change. All of these contributions address identifiable gaps in the literature.

The lack of educational attainment among Latino youth, as evidenced by high school dropout rates, is a growing and costly problem that affects not only Latinos but society as a whole. Using a sample of 139 middle school Latino students, primarily of Mexican descendant, the current study used cluster analysis to identify a typology of students based on their educational aspirations, expectations, and perceived academic competence. Three distinct profiles emerged: a college-bound-congruent group with college aspirations and similar college expectations, and high academic confidence; a college-bound-incongruent group with college aspirations but vocational expectations, and medium academic confidence; and a vocational-bound congruent group with vocational or technical school aspirations and similar expectations, and low academic confidence. Students’ relationship with teachers was a factor that helped differentiate students across the different profiles. Relationships with parents and peers were not. Students’ gender, immigration status, and ethnic identity did not contribute to the differences in profiles. The findings suggest that future educational profiles of middle school Latino students are an important component of a comprehensive “early warning system” that could help identify students who may be at risk of dropping out school.

This dissertation examines what motivates individuals to prefer certain types of product attributes over others. It is proposed that consumer preference regarding product attributes is fundamentally connected to an individual’s future orientation, i.e., how a person perceives, thinks about, and copes with time left in life. Specifically, it is posited that future orientations play key roles in shaping a person’s criteria in product evaluation. Thus, this dissertation seeks to integrate the study of future orientation with research on socio-emotional selectivity influences on consumption. Building on past research, this study proposes a conceptual model including four constructs: future orientations, chronological age, product evaluation, and preferences. An experimental study was used to investigate the research objectives and calibrate and validate the model. The experiment examines the moderating effect of future orientations and chronological age on consumer preference for hedonic vs. utilitarian attributes. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two future orientations (expansive and limited) and one of two attributes contexts (hedonic and utilitarian). The sample for this study was drawn from consumers in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The research results will lead to an improved understanding of how preference varies from individual to individual and changes over time. In particular the research will provide insights about the impact of an individual’s future orientation on product attitude. The findings will advance current theory in both the new product evaluation and preference literature and have implications for the practice of marketing at levels of marketing strategy, product development, integrated marketing communications and loyalty programs.

Šis darbas skirtas išsiaiškinti jaunų žmonių poreikius bei siekius, pagrindinius sprendimų dėl ateities motyvus bei veiksnius, susijusius su šiais sprendimais. Pagrindinis šio darbo tyrimo tikslas buvo - išsiaiškinti jaunų žmonių ateities orientacijų turinį bei jį lemiančius veiksnius, nustatyti kokią įtaką tam daro ekonominė padėtis, šeimos situacija, pasiekimai mokykloje bei asmeninės savybės ir palyginti didmiesčio bei miestelio mokinių ateities orientacijas. Tyrimo metu buvo apklausti 68 Vilniaus Viršuliškių vidurinės mokyklos bei Giedraičių Antano Jaroševičiaus vidurinės mokyklos 11 – 12 klasių mokiniai. Tyrimas buvo atliekamas anketavimo būdu. Mokiniams buvo pateiktos anoniminės anketos su 31 klausimu Išanalizavus gautus rezultatus, padarytos tokios darbo išvados: 1) Jauni žmonės yra optimistiškai nusiteikę savo tolimesnės ateities atžvilgiu, tiki jog pavyks susikurti sau gerovę: daugiau nei pusė apklaustųjų tikisi, kad ateityje turės ir aukštojo mokslo diplomą, ir sutuoktinį, ir dirbs mėgstamą, gerai apmokamą darbą, ir turės automobilį, jausis pasitikintys savimi bei bus pasiekę dabar užsibrėžtus tikslus. 2) Didžioji dalis jaunų žmonių iš karto po mokyklos baigimo planuoja toliau tęsti mokslus Lietuvoje, mažiau nei puse – palikti savo gimtąjį miestą, trečdalis pradėti dirbti ir tik nedidelė dalis – išvykti dirbti ar mokytis į užsienį. 3) Pagrindinis motyvas palikti savo gimtąjį miestą – išsilavinimo siekimas; tęsti mokslus Lietuvoje – noras ateityje susirasti gerai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The purpose of this work is to survey needs and goals of young people, aspects and motives which are related with the main future decisions. The principal object of this research was to find out young people‘s future orientations content and factors whitch cause it. Establish how economical situation, family situation, achievements in school or personal characteristics influence these contents and also to compare pupil‘s from city and small town future orientations. For this research 68 pupils of 11-12 forms from Vilnius Virsuliskiu secondary school and Giedraiciu Antonas Jarosevicius secondary school were interrogated. This survey was done using anonim questionnaire with 31 question. Such conclusions were made from results analysis: 1) young people think optimisticly about their futher future, they believe that they will create own prosperity: more than half respondents hope that in future they will have higher education degree and a spouse, favourite well paid job, a car, they will be confident about themselves and already reached goals whitch they are planed now. 2) Bigger half of young people straight after school are planning to continue studying in Lithuania, less than half to leave their native town, one third start to work and only little number to go work and study abroad. 3) the main motive to leave native town is education aspiration; to continue studies in Lithuania – wish to find well paid job in the future; to study in foreign countries – the aim of a better... [to full text]

There is heightened risk for physical and mental health concerns among U.S. veterans. For instance, 26% of veterans experience insomnia (i.e., chronic difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep), compared to 15% of the general population. This may be due, in part, to the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as veterans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with PTSD. Rumination or flashbacks focused on traumatic events (e.g., witnessing death) may contribute to problems with the onset and quality of sleep. However, not all veterans experience insomnia or PTSD symptoms, perhaps due to a positive future orientation (FO). Adaptive, goal-directed thinking may lessen risk for rumination about past actions or experiences (e.g., combat exposure), with consequent beneficial effects on sleep quality. Yet, to the extent that other negative emotions remain in the presence of FO, potential benefits may be thwarted. Specifically, feelings of shame (i.e., judging self as intolerable or defective) or anger may arise from discrepancies between military actions taken or witnessed and one’s moral beliefs. In turn, this may limit future-oriented coping abilities, with negative implications for PTSD symptoms and insomnia. At the bivariate level, we hypothesized that PTSD symptoms, insomnia, shame, and anger would be positively related, and that these variables would be negatively related to FO. At the multivariate level, we hypothesized that PTSD symptoms would mediate the relation between FO and insomnia, such that greater FO would be associated with fewer PTSD symptoms and, in turn, to fewer insomnia symptoms. Further, we hypothesized that shame and anger would moderate these linkages, reducing beneficial effects and exacerbating risk. Our sample of U.S. veterans (n=551) was recruited online from national organizations and social media groups and was primarily white (n=469; 85.1%) and male (n=382; 69.3%). Participants completed self-report measures, including the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory - Brief (future subscale), PTSD Checklist - Military Version, Insomnia Severity Index, and Differential Emotions Scale (shame and anger subscales). Bivariate correlations and moderated-mediation analyses, per Hayes (2013), were conducted, covarying age, sex, and ethnicity. In bivariate analyses, all variables were significantly related in hypothesized directions (p<.01). In mediation analyses, the total effect of FO on insomnia was significant (t=-5.336, p<.001), and the direct effect was nonsignificant when PTSD was added (t=-1.840, p=.07), indicating mediation. In moderated-mediation analyses, the PTSD-insomnia linkage was strengthened by shame (b2=-.011, t=-2.451, p=.015, CI=[-.019, -.002])and anger (b2=-.012,t=-3.1, p=.002, CI=[-.020, -.005]), in separate models. In our veteran sample, to the extent one is future-oriented, PTSD symptoms may be ameliorated, with consequent beneficial impact on sleep quantity and quality. Yet, shame and anger may exacerbate the linkage between PTSD symptoms and insomnia, suggesting that therapeutic interventions to reduce shame (e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and anger (e.g., cognitive reframing) may promote better sleep. Clinical strategies to promote positive future-oriented thinking (e.g., Cognitive Processing Therapy) may also help to alleviate PTSD symptoms and associated insomnia within the veteran population.

This study explores what motivates engineers in their early-mid career to change careers. It first establishes the definition of a career change from the perspective of those who have changed careers, and then examines what drives, influences and facilitates a career change, as well as how a career change is enacted physically and emotionally. This has been looked at through the contemporary lens of the ‘intelligent career framework’. This research adopted a qualitative, abductive approach following an initial inductive small-scale exploratory study. The fieldwork consisted of a pilot and main study using semi-structured interviews. For the main study, 22 interviews were conducted within one organisation in order to elicit the subjective experiences of engineers who had undertaken a career change. The findings show how the driving factors relate predominantly to knowing-why and knowing-where. The influencing and facilitating factors vary by individual, and relate to knowing-what, knowing-how knowing-when and knowing-whom. Six clusters of interacting factors were observed with knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-when at the core. Whilst the process of career change was complex and long, differing pathways through which individuals changed careers were evident, as well as emotions that needed to be managed. This study contributes to knowledge in the area of contemporary career theory by exploring career change through a new lens: the intelligent career framework. It demonstrates how individuals use their ‘career capital’ to effect a career change and the ways in which the six knowings interact to bring about a career change. It extends the understanding of the process of career change and discovers some of the organisational factors that influence or facilitate individuals making a career change. All of these contributions address identifiable gaps in the literature.

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Adolescent delinquency represents a significant threat to the health and future of developing persons. Due to the important implications of adolescent problem behaviors, it is essential that we understand the complex mechanisms in the life and mind of a developing person that may lead to these behavior problems in adolescence. I proposed that early family instability, including residential moves and changes in household composition, would be a primary predictor of adolescent problem behaviors, including risk-taking and externalizing behaviors. This relation was predicted to be mediated by future orientation. When young children are faced with uncertainty, they may develop a shorter-term view of their own life. Therefore, family instability is predicted to influence the developing orientation to the future, which is predicted to be related to problem behaviors in adolescence. Deviant peer association and family routine were predicted to be moderators in the model. The results reveal a significant association between early family instability and adolescent externalizing behavior. This association is significant while controlling for later family instability and other demographic variables, such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and child IQ. This indicates that early family instability is directly related to adolescent behavior beyond the effects of continuing instability and other individual factors. Additionally, the level of future orientation was associated with adolescent risk-taking behavior for boys but not for girls. This indicates that for boys, lack of thoughts about one's future is predictive of risky behaviors in adolescence. Early family instability was not significantly related to future orientation, precluding future orientation as a mediator in the relation between early family instability and later problem behaviors. Family routine and peer deviance were not found to be significant moderators in this study. The results of this study indicate the important role family instability plays in adolescent behavior problems. These results demonstrate that experiences in the first five years of a child's life have potentially long-term effects on the individual. Additionally, future orientation appears to be a significant predictor of adolescent risk-taking behavior for boys. As risk-taking behavior may be detrimental to the individual's life and future, it is important to understand factors that predict risk taking. Future studies should examine the development of future orientation and its role in adolescent adjustment. / Psychology

The last few decades have seen a growing body of research on narcissism, however few studies have examined the relationship between subclinical narcissism and future orientation. The proposed study will examine how grandiose and vulnerable types of narcissism influence future orientation, and whether anxiety, depression, impulsivity and sense of control play mediating roles in this relationship. It is hypothesized that anxiety will play a mediating role between future orientation and vulnerable narcissism, but not between grandiose narcissism and future orientation. Finally, it is hypothesized that grandiose and vulnerable narcissism will be correlated within individuals. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) will be used to test the hypotheses, and the a priori model is expected to have a good fit to the data. This study will further our understanding about how narcissists view their futures, and whether this is influenced by mediating factors.