The aim of the present study was to investigate: (a) self and age related differences in time perspective and future time orientations / (b) age differences in adaptive self-regulation / and (c) the contribution of future and self orientations and adaptive self-regulation to well-being. A questionnaire consisting of measures concerning future outlook and time perspective, adaptive self-regulation, self-construals, goals and subjective well-being variables was administered to 404 adults (191 young, 128 middle-aged, 85 older). Also, short structured interviews about time, future, end of life and age were conducted for descriptive and exploratory purposes with nine individuals, three individuals from each age group. On the basis of the results, it was concluded that, (1) older adults had less open and planful, but more anxious future outlook than younger adults, and middle-aged adults had a time perspective more like older adults&rsquo / (2) there is a difference in the content of the goals reported by each age group, and total number of goals reported by older adults was lower than the number of goals reported by young and middle-aged adults / (3) for all age groups, balanced type (i.e., related-individuated, as defined by the Balanced Integration and Differentiation, BID, model) individuals had the most favourable future outlook, and only balanced-type individuals at young, middle and older ages did not differ from each other in terms of having the most favourable future outlook / (4) balanced type individuals reengaged into other goals more than the unbalanced type individuals when they were faced with an unattainable goal / (5) goal reengagement increased with having more open future time perspective, and the contribution of open future time perspective to goal reengagement was much more for middle-aged and older adults than younger adults / (6) self orientations, future time perspective and goal reengagement contribute to well-being, and contributions of future time perspective and goal reengagement to well-being after the contribution of self orientations were considerable only for young and middle-aged adults / (7) gender was not found to have a significant effect on goal reengagement and well-being, but women had slightly more anxious and fatalistic future attitudes than men.

Ateities lūkesčių, tikslų ir planavimo tyrimai yra labai svarbūs, ypač siekiant padėti paaugliams susidoroti su vis didėjančiais reikalavimais ir išbandymais bei siekiant sumažinti dėl jų kylančią įtampą ir įvairias problemas. Remiantis J.E. Nurmi (1991, 1993), tam tikri ateities planavimo sunkumai gali būti rimtas signalas apie kitas paauglių problemas, taigi akivaizdu, kad sėkmingas paauglio funkcionavimas yra susijęs su ateities planavimu ir tikslų kėlimu. Ateities orientacijos samprata šiame darbe apima ateities tikslus, lūkesčius ir su tuo susijusį nerimą, baimę, taip pat strategijas, būdus, padedančius siekti numatytų tikslų, bei patį ateities orientacijų procesą, kurį sudaro trys etapai – motyvacija, planavimas ir įvertinimas, o tam didelę įtaką daro kognityvinės strategijos, kurios lemia tai, kaip asmuo vertins savo galimybes pasiekti tikslų, kokiais būdais jų bus siekiama ir panašiai. Analizuojant ateities planavimą, svarbūs faktoriai yra ateities lūkesčių turinys bei planuojamo laiko perspektyva (Nurmi, 1991, 1993, 1995; Ruiz, Llinares, Zacares, 2003). Tyrime siekiama atskleisti, kokie ateities planavimo ypatumai būdingi sunkumų turintiems (depresija sergantiems, elgesio ir valgymo sutrikimų turintiems) paaugliams, išnagrinėti, kuo skiriasi sunkumų turinčių ir sveikų paauglių ateities planavimas bei kokie yra skirtumus lemiantys veiksniai. Tyrimo metu buvo naudojamas ,,Ateities vilčių ir baimių klausimynas“ (Nurmi, Poole, Seginer, 1992), kurio pagalba buvo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / SUMMARY Research on how adolescents see their future and what goals and plans they set for the future are extremely important in order to help adolescents to cope with increasing demands and tension they inflict. According to J.E. Nurmi (1991, 1993), various difficulties in formulating future plans can be an important indicator of other problems adolescents face. It is obvious, that adolescents‘ future-oriented decisions crucially influence their lifes, furthermore it is normative age-specific task. That is why analysis of future expectations, specific to problematic adolescents, is so important. In this research future-orientation is described in terms of three psychological processes, motivation, planning and evaluation, which is highly influenced by cognitive strategies that moderate the process of evaluating one‘s abilities and setting strategies to achieve goals. The content and time perspective are also important factors of future-orientation (Nurmi, 1991, 1993, 1995; Ruiz, Llinares, Zacares, 2003). This research reveals future expectations specific to problematic (i.e. those who suffer from depression, conduct disorder and eating disorders) adolescents; how they differ from their healthy peers and what factors contribute to these differences. Measure instrument used to find out adolescents‘ goals was „Future Goals and Fears Questionnaire“ (Nurmi, Poole, Seginer, 1992). „The Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire“ was used in order to find out what cognitive strategies... [to full text]

abstract: In the present research, elements of the intra- (i.e., family dynamics) and extra-family (i.e., characteristics of parents' occupations) contexts were examined in a longitudinal design as associated, broadly, with individuals' mental health, relationship quality, and future orientations among Mexican American families with adolescent offspring in two separate studies. The first study reviewed the utility of applying dyadic data methods to the investigation of family processes, explored the strengths three different analytic approaches (i.e., the actor-partner interdependence model, a two-intercept model, and a difference model), and applied them to the study of marital relationships (N = 246 marital dyads). Results revealed that spouses' marital negativity was related to their own somatic symptoms, whereas, spouses' somatic symptoms were associated with both their own and their partners' marital negativity, with some variations by approach. This study suggested the three analytic approaches, though designed to answer slightly different questions, yielded a similar pattern of results with several important differences. The second study utilized a person-centered approach to identify family-level patterns of both mothers' and fathers' objective occupational characteristics (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity), as well as the larger sociocultural context of these patterns (N = 160 dual-earner families). Results revealed three distinct occupational contexts: Differentiated High Physical Activity, Incongruent, and Congruent High Self-Direction. Results indicated that families in the Congruent High Self-Direction profile had the highest levels of youth career aspirations, whereas, educational aspirations were the highest among youth in both the Incongruent and Congruent High Self-Direction profiles. Youth-mother and -father conflict was highest in the Congruent High Self-Direction profile, and youth-father warmth was highest for families in the Differentiated High Physical Activity profile. This study suggested that Mexican American parents work in varied occupational contexts, and these contexts were differentially associated with family relationships and youth's orientations toward the future. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2012