Intrinsic Life Goals Research Articles

Does the apple fall far from the tree? A meta-analysis linking parental factors to children's intrinsic and extrinsic goals.

Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017) has highlighted the differential roles that intrinsic life goals (for personal growth, close relationships, community connections, and physical health) and extrinsic life goals (i.e., for wealth, image, and status) play in supporting well-being. Less is known about how orientations toward these two types of aspirations develop. It is likely that early environmental influences, namely one's parents, impact individuals' aspirations. We address this gap by systematically reviewing the links between relevant parents' characteristics and the intrinsic and extrinsic goals of their children. We identified 49 eligible reports. Children's intrinsic aspirations were higher when parents provided a need-supportive environment (characterized by support for autonomy, relatedness, and competence) and when they endorsed intrinsic aspirations themselves, whereas children's extrinsic aspirations were higher when parents exhibited extrinsic aspirations themselves, promoted the pursuit of extrinsic aspirations, and provided environments characterized by need frustration. Therefore, fostering basic psychological need satisfaction may support children's intrinsic aspiring. In addition, parents should also be mindful of their own extrinsic goals, as they may influence extrinsic aspirations in their children and possibly compromise their well-being over the long term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors Associated with Opting Out of an Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donor Registry: Differences and Similarities across Five Key Groups of Young Race/Ethnically Diverse Potential Donors in the United States

Young adults from underserved racial/ethnic groups are critically needed as unrelated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donors, yet they are more likely than other groups to opt out of donation after having matched a patient. Understanding which factors are most strongly associated with opting out among young underserved racial/ ethnic registered donors compared with their White counterparts will provide the basis for specific interventions to improve donor retention. We sought to determine the key, modifiable psychosocial, registry-related, and donation-related characteristics that are uniquely associated with opting out across 5 key racial/ethnic groups of young HSC donor registry members who had been contacted as a potential match for a patient. This study examines data from a large cross-sectional survey of young (age 18 to 30) registry members shortly after they preliminarily matched a patient (CT-stage) and continued toward or opted out of donation (CT-C and CT-NI), stratified by racial/ethnic group and sex. We assessed psychosocial, registry-related, and donation-related characteristics for all participants. We used chi-squared and F tests to assess differences between racial/ethnic groups. A separate logistic regression analysis for each racial/ethnic group was conducted to quantify adjusted associations between each variable and opting out. Then, we compared these associations across the racial/ethnic groups by evaluating the interaction effect between each variable and racial/ethnic group, with the same outcome (CT-C versus CT-NI) in question. Nine hundred thirty-five participants were surveyed, including 284 White, 165 Hispanic, 191 Black, 192 Asian/Pacific Islander, and 103 Multiracial/multiethnic participants. There were significant differences across racial/ethnic groups in values/goals, religious objections to donation, HSC-related medical mistrust, and parental involvement in donation decisions. Adjusted logistic regression subgroup analyses indicated that ambivalence was strongly associated with opting out across all racial/ethnic groups. Greater focus on intrinsic life goals (e.g., raising a family, becoming a community leader, influencing social values) was associated with opting out in the Multiracial/multiethnic, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander groups. Healthcare mistrust and insufficient registry contact was a significant factor for Hispanic participants. Protective factors against opting out included remembering joining the registry (Black participants), and parental support for donation decision (Asian/Pacific Islander participants). The performance of each logistic regression model was strong, with area-under-the curve ≥.88, CT-stage outcome classification accuracy ≥89%, and good fit between expected and observed opt-out probabilities. In the analysis across different racial/ethnic groups, the only significant interaction was race/ethnicity by whether more contact with the registry would have changed the decision at CT-stage; this variable was significant only for the Hispanic group. In the within-group analysis for Hispanic participants, the "more registry contact" variable was strongly associated with opting out (odds ratio 5.8, P = .03). Consistent with a growing body of HSC donor research, ambivalence was a key factor associated with opting-out for all racial/ethnic groups. Other key variables were differentially associated with opting-out depending on racial/ethnic group. Our study highlights key variables that registries should focus on as they develop targeted and tailored strategies to enhance commitment and reduce attrition of potential donors.

Factors Associated with Opting Out of Donation among Registered Young Unrelated Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donors

Young adults enrolled in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donation registries, including the Be The Match registry in the United States, often opt out of the registry when a potential recipient is identified. This results in a limited supply from the most desirable allogeneic source of HSCs used in transplantation to treat serious health conditions. The differences in demographic, psychosocial, registry-related, and donation-related characteristics between those who continue to donation and those who opt out may elucidate the modifiable risk factors for attrition, but these characteristics have not been extensively studied in young donors up to age 30 years. Our goal was to study demographic, psychosocial, registry-related, and donation-related characteristics in a group of young HSC donor registry members who had recently been contacted about a potential recipient, to determine the key characteristics that differ between those who continued toward donation and those who opted out and to examine the extent of these differences. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a random sample of young (age 18 to 30 years) current and former registry members, stratified by race/ethnicity and sex. Demographic, psychosocial (eg, life goals, HSC allocation mistrust), registry-related (eg context and motive for joining the registry), and donation-related (eg, ambivalence, religious objections to donation, knowledge about donation) characteristics were assessed. Chi-square and 2-sample t tests were used to examine differences between those who continued (CT-C group) and those who opted out (CT-NI group). Hierarchical logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted covariate effects on the odds of opting out. A total of 935 participants were surveyed. Donation-related knowledge was higher in the CT-C group than in the CT-NI group. HSC allocation mistrust, religious objections, and concerns about donation were higher in the CT-NI group. After adjusting for covariates in a logistic regression model, we found that having more intrinsic life goals, having more ambivalence, and talking with registry staff only once/twice were significantly associated with opting out of the registry. Ambivalence had the strongest association with opting out. In contrast, remembering joining the registry, believing that parents would support donation, and having medical concerns were significantly associated with continuing toward donation. This effect of medical concerns on donation was discovered only after adjusting for the related but distinct ambivalence variable, with the remaining effect of medical concerns relating to engagement with the donation process and information-seeking. The model had strong discriminative ability (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=.92) and classification accuracy (86.6%). Our data indicate that among young adult members of a national HSC donor registry, ambivalence and limited contact with registry staff were more strongly associated with opting out of donation. Medical concerns were associated with continuing toward donation. Further studies are needed to confirm a causal link between medical concerns and continuing to donation among young donors. Our study suggests that these concerns might not be directly related to attrition, whereas other factors (eg, ambivalence, low donation-related knowledge) are associated with attrition and thus should be targeted for attrition reduction strategies.

"There for The Right Reasons": New Zealand Early Childhood Professionals' Sense of Calling, Life Goals, Personal and Spiritual Values.

Using a mixed-method approach, this present study examined the roles of calling and the relation between life goals and spiritual values among early childhood professionals in New Zealand. Among the 102 participants who completed the surveys, 24 participated in the follow-up individual interviews. In line with previous research, results showed that the five spiritual values-conformity, universalism, tradition, benevolence, and security-positively correlated with at least three intrinsic life goals, but showed a negative correlation with at least three of the four extrinsic goals. In addition, all non-spiritual values-self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, and power-correlated negatively with at least three of the intrinsic life goals. A similar pattern was found between the correlation between all non-spiritual values and extrinsic life goals. Interview data showed that participants who self-identified as having experienced a call to work with young children actively engaged with their calling. They also affirmed that their calling was experienced at a deeply personal and emotional level. Participants also recognized the important impact of life goals, personal and spiritual values on their work. This paper concludes with implications for future research and practice.

Data protection as privilege—Factors to increase meaning of GDPR in vulnerable groups

The General Data Protection Regulation in the EU has the potential to empower citizens towards data-based innovation and datafication. Realising this potential in practise is challenging, mainly because not everyone has the capabilities, seemingly expected by the lawmakers, to make use of relevant legal provisions. This empirical study sets out to investigate what can increase capabilities of citizens in datafied societies to understand and exercise their rights to data protection, as means to increase participation in socio-technical systems. We concentrate on vulnerable groups and criticise the GDPR as regarding data literacies as intrinsic life goals instead of instrumental means. We expand vulnerability to capability deprivation, based on a dynamic understanding of layered vulnerabilities. This overcomes solely negative associations of vulnerability and provides a more constructive framing in support of literacies of everyone, including less literate or more vulnerable. Based on this approach, we consider what is lacking to achieve GDPR literacy. We conducted interviews with representatives of civil society organisations supporting different groups in Flanders, Belgium. Based on these insights, we argue that a layered approach to vulnerability leads to a layered approach to capabilities, and to a layered approach of support based on the most appropriate conversion factors for different groups: (a) at the right place and time, (b) broader support structures from authorities, and (c) a focus on clear communication with the reader in mind.

The Interaction between Basic Psychological Needs, Decision-Making and Life Goals among Emerging Adults in South Africa

The interaction between emerging adult psychological well-being and decision-making, in South Africa, has not been explicitly explored in Self-Determination Theory. Life goals have been thought to play a role in the interaction between basic psychological needs and decision-making to promote psychological well-being. The current study, therefore, aimed to examine whether the decision-making styles employed, and the life goals which were deemed important, contribute to the understanding of the satisfaction or frustration of the basic psychological needs of emerging adults in South Africa. Data were collected cross-sectionally, using a secure, online survey among 1411 participants. The interaction between decision-making, life goals and basic psychological needs variables were examined using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses. The results in the study suggest that adaptive (vigilant) decision-making and intrinsic life goals were significant predictors for the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs. Some forms of maladaptive decision-making and extrinsic goals were predictors of the frustration of basic psychological needs. The variance explained by the various models were between 15.6–32.6%, with the results suggesting all models were significant. The results provide a novel contribution to emerging adult well-being in South Africa and Self-Determination Theory, with the implications for society, research and practice discussed.

청소년 운동선수의 생애목표와 목표중심 자기조절의 관계

Purpose: Based on the goal content theory, the purpose of this study was to provide useful information for coaching and counseling youth athletes by confirming the content of life goals that youth athletes want to pursue throughout their lives and verifying the effect of life goals on self-regulation. Methods: For this, data were collected from 347 male and female athletes in 18 individual and group sports currently attending middle and high schools through internet surveys and field surveys, and the results were analyzed using factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis methods. Results: First, the life goals of youth athletes were converged into three types of intrinsic goals (growth & health, relationship, and contribution) and three types of extrinsic goals (material, honor & popularity, and image). Second, youth athletes perceived intrinsic goals as relatively more important, and there were significant differences in intrinsic and extrinsic goals according to gender, school level (middle and high school), sport type (individual and group), and perceived athletic competence. Third, the life goal content significantly predicted goal-focused self-regulation, which is a motivational characteristic. In particular, the influence of intrinsic life goals was great. Conclusion: These results are expected to help psychological counseling and sports coaching for exercise or academic adaptation by providing basic information on the contents of student athletes' life goals and the motivational characteristics of their life goals.

The values you endorse set the body you see: The protective effect of intrinsic life goals on men's body dissatisfaction.

The mass media portrayal of a muscular body type ideal has been increasingly tied to men's body image dissatisfaction. We examined the role of self‐determination theory's intrinsic life goals within this body image ideal and its potential as a moderator of this dissatisfaction. We first tested the moderating effect of intrinsic life goals on the link between magazine consumption and body image dissatisfaction via an online questionnaire (Study 1; N = 826), then experimentally manipulated these goals and exposure to images of muscular male models (Study 2; N = 150). A robust protective effect of intrinsic goals on body image satisfaction was observed – the relationship between magazine consumption and body image dissatisfaction was only significant among individuals with a lower level of intrinsic life goal orientation. When participants' intrinsic goals were momentarily heightened, they reported significantly less body image dissatisfaction, compared to those not receiving a strengthening of these goals. The results are the first to find a protective effect of intrinsic life goals on men's body image, and have important implications for intervention.

Development and initial validation of a scale for the situational recognition of the basic psychological needs

Centered on the Basic Psychological Needs Theory, recent theoretical underpinnings were used and initial empirical processes were initiated to conceptualize, develop and validate a new questionnaire about how teachers shape instructional goals. In a first exploratory study, 188 university graduates and 211 in-service teachers from both the general and special education domains were recruited to recognize the basic psychological needs of an adolescent with physical and mild cognitive disability presented in a short video vignette. In the second confirmatory study, the sample consisted of 239 in-service teachers. According to the results, the new instrument demonstrated acceptable psychometric qualities. For instance, the goodness-of-fit indices CFI and NNFI were both good (1.00) in the confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, the recognition of the basic psychological needs was involved in a series of statistically significant correlations with participants’ intrinsic life goals (R ≥ .34), state empathy (R ≥ .38) and intrinsic instructional goals (R ≥ .51). This preliminary research suggested that participants integrated the new concept in their intrinsic motivational style. Overall, the results highlight the importance of recognizing the basic psychological needs by including this construct both in research and practice.

Unended Quest: Life Goals, Values, and Immigrant Parents in New Zealand.

Prior literature shows that values and life goals are associated with one's long-term levels of well-being. However, not much has been done on values and life goals among immigrants in New Zealand. This study aimed to address this lack of research by examining the personal values and life goals among immigrant parents in New Zealand. Based on the literature review, the hypothesis of this study is that immigrant parents' intrinsic life goals were positively correlated with their spiritual values. In contrast, extrinsic goals did not have similar effects. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The aspirations index, which was used to assess life goals, and the Schwartz' value survey, which measured the participants' personal values, were both distributed to the participants (N = 90). Follow-up interviews with 30 of the participants were also conducted. This research revealed that spiritual values were positively correlated with intrinsic goals and that extrinsic goals did not have similar correlations. Findings also showed that the primary role of life goals and spiritual values is to imbue parenting with a greater sense of purpose and meaning. As the research findings showed that spiritual values were positively correlated with intrinsic goals, helping immigrant parents to find meaning and purpose in parenting may promote child and family well-being. The paper discusses implications for parent education, social services, and future research.

Does Relationship Education Influence Adolescent Life-Goals?

Relationship education (RE) has been linked to several short- and longterm benefits; however, less is known about its effects on adolescents' overarching life-goals. This study utilized a multi-method approach to examine whether RE was linked to increases in the relative importance of intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic, life-goals. Results demonstrated a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest in the relative importance of intrinsic life-goals. Qualitative analysis identified themes relevant to intrinsic life-goals including differentiating between needs and wants and an increased focus on interpersonal functioning. Overall, results suggest RE may influence students' life-goals in beneficial ways.

A sound mind in a sound body?: the association of adolescents’ chronic illness with intrinsic life goals and the mediating role of self-esteem and peer relationship

ABSTRACTThis study examines the impact chronic physical illnesses, such as asthma, rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, have on the life goals of Korean adolescents, and evaluates the mediating effects self-esteem and peer relationship have in this regard. Data were sourced from the fifth wave of the Korea Child and Youth Panel Survey, which comprised 2,351 high-school adolescents, 42.5% of whom had a chronic physical illness. The major findings were: chronic physical illness has a positive association with adolescents’ intrinsic life goals, and self-esteem and peer relationship mediate the relationship between adolescents’ chronic physical illness and intrinsic life goals. Setting intrinsic life goals is essential for well-being, but the aspirations of adolescents with chronic physical illness are often constrained by their illness and treatment. This study revealed that, despite these constraints, adolescents with chronic physical illness who have higher self-esteem and high-quality friendships strive for positive and constructive life goals. Thus, the study suggests adolescents’ well-being can be enhanced through improving their self-esteem and peer relationships.

DIFFERENCES IN PURPOSES AND LIFE-GOALS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HEALTH BEHAVIOR IN A ROMANIAN ADOLESCENT SAMPLE

The goal of this research was to investigate specific personality factors theorized to be involved in adolescents’ health behavior, such as individual differences in the level of purposes in life and the variations of life goals. The instrumentation for the study was a self-completed questionnaire, which included items for assessing health-behavior data, the Purposes in Life scale, and the Aspiration Index for life-goals’ assessment. There were 385 teenage study participants aged between 16-18 years (mean = 16.8 years; 182 boys – 47.3 % and 203 girls – 52,7%) in Transylvania, Romania. Results showed that adolescents who engaged in health-protective behaviors (e.g., physical activity, fruit /vegetable consumption) reported higher levels of purposes in life and intrinsic life-goals, such as affiliation or personal growth. Conversely, those engaged in health risky behaviors (e.g., substance use, sweet/soft drink consumption) not only reported lower levels in having a purpose in life but also tended to report fewer health goals for the future as well as personal growth. These findings argue that health professionals should incorporate and emphasize the development of teenagers’ life goals and purposes in the design and conceptualization of school-based prevention and health promotion programs that focus on fostering healthy lifestyle adoption.

Efficacy of the Life Goal-Focused Brief Intervention among Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of the life goal-focused brief intervention, or the so-called the goal-focused self-regulation program (GFSRP), for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD).MethodsThe GFSRP was developed as an 8-week group-program, which is based on a wide range of self-regulation theories, such as goal setting and implementation intentions. Patients with AUD (n=50) took part in the GFSRP and were compared to the control group (n=48). This study examined the changes in outcome measures from baseline to follow-up (12-week) in a mixed design.ResultsThe GFSRP group had higher scores for the abstinence self-efficacy in negative affect situations than the control group at the post-test. In addition, it showed greater scores of optimisms compared to the control group. Furthermore, in the GFSRP group, there was no difference in intrinsic life goals from baseline to the 12-week follow-up, whereas the control group showed a significant decrease.ConclusionThe GFSRP could increase the abstinence self-efficacy and optimism among patients with AUD. Moreover, it might prevent loss of life-goals as core factors in self-regulation among patients with AUD.

Goal content, well-being, and psychological needs satisfaction in Chinese adolescents

We examined the mediating role of psychological needs satisfaction in the association between goal content and subjective well-being (SWB) in a Chinese cultural context. Chinese adolescents (N = 493) completed the Aspiration Index, the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale, and the Index of Well-Being. The results suggested that SWB was positively correlated with intrinsic goals and psychological needs satisfaction, and intrinsic goals were positively correlated with psychological needs satisfaction. Mediation analysis revealed that psychological needs satisfaction partially mediated the association between intrinsic goals and SWB. These results imply that pursuit of intrinsic goals helps individuals meet their psychological needs, thus promoting SWB. Together, these results suggest that educators and parents can help Chinese adolescents enhance their SWB by encouraging them to form intrinsic life goals and satisfy their psychological needs.

The Intrinsic Learning Goals of Elementary School Students, in Their Own Words

Applying intrinsic life goals and learning goals increases children’s autonomous motivation to learn and enjoyment of learning. A paucity of field-based intervention studies have focused on helping students set intrinsic life goals and learning goals. In particular, there is a need for qualitative studies that examine intrinsic learning goal content over the course of an intervention. This qualitative study examined the homework goals that 15 upper elementary school students wrote over the course of 5 weeks within the context of a 7-week parent autonomy support and student life goals intervention. Three themes were identified: (1) overtly healthy attitudes toward the learning process (e.g., focusing on enjoyment, interest, persistence, creativity, and taking on challenges); (2) expressing motivation for helping others, which is a key intrinsic life goal; and (3) deeper purposes for academic subjects (i.e., spelling, reading, math, and science), which students usually experience as more meaningful and satisfying than extrinsic goals. Whereas most previous studies assess goal orientation by having students fill out forced-choice questionnaires, future intrinsic life goals intervention studies may benefit from considering these themes and the way children describe their own intrinsic goals, because they could help with training students to set goals that support autonomous motivation.

Promoting Gratitude and Positive Feelings About Learning Among Young Adults

Universities are increasingly offering positive psychology courses; however, very few studies have been conducted to see if they enhance positive psychology outcomes for students. This study, conducted at a Western university in the U.S., examined the effects of a semester long positive psychology course on 26 undergraduate students’ gratitude and emotions toward studying. The course included broad aspects of positive psychology, such as gratitude, mindfulness, autonomy supportive communication, intrinsic life goals, intrinsic learning goals, acts of kindness, and identifying strengths. Using a retrospective pretest-posttest design, paired sample t tests revealed that students improved significantly on both gratitude and homework feelings. The effect size (Cohen’s d) for homework feelings was 1.03, indicating that students experienced a strong improvement in positive emotions toward studying and homework. The effect size for gratitude was .76, indicating a moderate to large positive effect on thankfulness. Percentage of classes attended was moderately positively associated with pre- to post-course improvement in gratitude and emotions, indicating that students with higher attendance were more likely to experience greater personal growth. Students of minority background (e.g., Latino) improved more than European American students on gratitude, whereas they improved equally well on positive emotions. Implications for universities, professors, and others interested in the positive psychological development of young adults are discussed.

Life Goals Increase Self-regulation among Male Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

ABSTRACTBackground: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been conceptualized as a chronic self-regulation failure. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the most probable pathways related to self-regulation among patients with AUD. In this study, a hypothetical model was proposed that focused on the relationship between risk factors (extrinsic life goals, emotion dysregulation) and protective factors (intrinsic life goals, self-control, and abstinence self-efficacy). Methods: Male patients with AUD (N = 188) were recruited from alcohol centers of four psychiatric hospitals between March 2015 and September 2015. All participants completed psychological assessments, including the Future Oriented Goals Scale (FOGS), the Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale (AASE), the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) as well as sociodemographic characteristics. Results: The final model was found to be a good fit to data. In testing indirect effects, it was shown that intrinsic life goals via emotion dysregulation, self-control, and alcohol abstinence self-efficacy decreased alcohol self-regulation failure. On the other hand, extrinsic life goals via these factors increased alcohol self-regulation failure. Conclusions/Importance: These results suggest that intrinsic goals might indirectly be the important and protective factors for AUD. Moreover, the findings implicate that self-regulation through goal setting may be necessary to alleviate symptoms and improve function among patients with AUD.

University socialization and the acceptance of anti‐egalitarian ideology: The underlying role of extrinsic life goals

AbstractPast research suggests that students in social science often become more egalitarian while students in business and economics show a trend in the opposite direction. Using a cross‐sectional study in which we compared first and third year students from different academic environments, we wanted to explore these issues and to test whether life goals may account for potential ideological differences among them. Psychology and economics students at first and third year of their respective academic group completed both the Aspiration index and social dominance orientation scale. Consistent with the socialization hypothesis, economics students reported higher levels of social dominance orientation than psychology students but only at the third year of study. A similar pattern of results was observed for extrinsic life goals (but no differences were found for intrinsic life goals). Importantly, the interaction between academic year and academic major on social dominance orientation was mediated by the measure of extrinsic life goals.

Primary School Teachers’ Life Satisfaction: The Role of Life Goals, Basic Psychological Needs and Flow at Work

The central aim of the study was to examine the relationship between primary school teachers’ life goals and life satisfaction using the self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan 2000) and the flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi 1975) as a framework. A study was conducted to test whether the relationship between intrinsic life goals and teachers’ life satisfaction is mediated by two serially posited mediators, the satisfaction of each basic psychological need (competence, autonomy and relatedness) and the experience of flow at work. A total of 480 primary school teachers (17 years of work experience on average) from different regions of Croatia participated in the study. The results, obtained by structural equation modeling, showed that only the need for competence and flow at work significantly mediate between intrinsic life goals and life satisfaction (β = .04, p < .001). The needs for autonomy and relatedness were not significant mediators when used as serial mediators. Thus, the study provides evidence that the positive relationship between life goals and life satisfaction is partly due to the increased satisfaction of the need for competence and more frequent flow experience at work. Also, the indirect effect of extrinsic goals on life satisfaction (β = −.024, p < .01) through autonomy and flow work was tested and found to be significant.