One Size Does Not Fit All: The Importance of Measuring Individual Group Differences

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Cultural Considerations in the Educational Context

Abstract

During adolescence there is a dramatic increase in cognitive skills which influences how people begin to think about their futures. The construct of possible selves has been used to help understand adolescents’ views of their future plans and goals by exploring their social perceptions to gain insight as to how they think about the world and themselves. This study examined the role of perceived teacher support on adolescents’ development of possible selves. The hypothesized model was tested with the whole sample as well as broken down into four separate groups based on gender and ethnicity. Results suggest that the four groups in this study think about their future possible selves of graduating from a four year university in different ways.

Authors

• Shadi Roshandel, Dominican University of California

• Cynthia Hudley, University of California - Santa Barbara