Cross-lagged relationships between career aspirations and goal orientation in early adolescents

• Published in: Journal of vocational behavior Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 92 - 99
• Main Authors: Creed, Peter, Tilbury, Clare, Buys, Nick, Crawford, Meegan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.02.2011; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Academic Aspiration; Career aspirations; Career choice; Career expectations; Career preparation; Careers; Causal Models; Causality; Change; Correlation analysis; Cross-lagged; Cross-lagged panel design; Early Adolescents; Goal Orientation; Goal setting; Influences; Learning goal orientation; Longitudinal Studies; Occupational aspiration; Performance-avoid goal orientation; Performance-prove goal orientation; Relationship; Secondary education; Secondary school students; Student educational objectives; Studies; Surveys; Teenagers; Learning goal orientation; Career expectations; Performance-avoid goal orientation; Career aspirations; Performance-prove goal orientation; Cross-lagged
• ISSN: 0001-8791; 1095-9084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2010.09.010

We surveyed 217 students (145 girls; average age = 14.6 years) on two occasions, twelve months apart, on measures of career aspirations (job aspirations, job expectations, educational aspirations) and goal orientation (learning, performance-prove, performance-avoid), and tested the causal relationship between goal orientation and aspirations. We assessed five plausible cross-lagged models (a baseline model testing stability and synchronous effects only, a standard causal model with added cross-lagged paths from goal orientation at T1 to the outcome variables at T2, a reverse-causation model, a reciprocal-causation model, and a model of best fit). We found significant, synchronous associations at T1 and T2 between goal orientation and career aspiration, significant stability coefficients for all variables, and support for a standard causal model, with changes in performance-prove and performance-avoid orientations, but not learning orientation, associated with changes in career aspirations over time. We discuss the outcomes in relation to theory and the implications for practitioners.