The kids just want it all: Aspiration discrepancy, life satisfaction and mental health amongst Australian emerging adults

Megan Weier (2011). The kids just want it all: Aspiration discrepancy, life satisfaction and mental health amongst Australian emerging adults Honours Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.

       
Attached Files (Some files may be inaccessible until you login with your UQ eSpace credentials)
Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads
WeierMegan4071thesis2011.pdf WeierMegan4071thesis2011 application/pdf 1.72MB 27
Author Megan Weier
Thesis Title The kids just want it all: Aspiration discrepancy, life satisfaction and mental health amongst Australian emerging adults
School, Centre or Institute School of Psychology
Institution The University of Queensland
Publication date 2011-10-12
Thesis type Honours Thesis
Supervisor Professor Chirstina Lee
Total pages 88
Language eng
Subjects 1701 Psychology
Abstract/Summary Arnett’s (2000) theory of emerging adulthood has not yet been used in the context of exploring discrepancy between personal and influential other aspirations. First-year university students (N = 309) were asked to rank order a list of achievements that they wish to complete by the age of 40 in terms of priority, and to rank the same list according to what they perceive influential others wish them to achieve. An aspiration discrepancy score was created using a Spearman’s rank order correlation. It was hypothesized that less agreement between personal and influential other aspirations, or a larger aspiration discrepancy, would be related to lower life satisfaction and mental health scores. Additionally, it was hypothesized that this relationship would be moderated by the participant’s desire to comply with influential others. Normative sequencing in the achievement of aspirations and gender differences in ranked priorities were also hypothesized. There was a significant relationship between aspiration discrepancy and mental health, while a significant moderated interaction between aspiration discrepancy and compliance exists when predicting life satisfaction. Normative sequencing preferences did not differ across levels of compliance or gender, and while men placed a greater priority on marriage and having a high paying job than women, there were no gender differences in the priority of having children or owning a home, although women did place a higher priority on travel than men. As such, aspiration discrepancy appears to influence both life satisfaction and mental health and opens new avenues for research into emerging adulthood, while gender roles and normative sequencing preferences appear to moving away from traditional patterns.
Keyword Aspiration discrepancy
Life satisfaction

 
Citation counts: Google Scholar Search Google Scholar
Access Statistics: 56 Abstract Views, 27 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics
Created: Fri, 29 Jun 2012, 13:47:21 EST by Mrs Ann Lee on behalf of School of Psychology