Parental autonomy-support, intrinsic life goals, and well-being among adolescents in China and North America.
Self-determination theory proposes that prioritizing intrinsic life goals, such as community involvement, is related to well-being, whereas focusing on extrinsic life goals, such as financial success, is associated with lower well-being and that parenting influences the type of life goals that youth adopt. In a sample of 515 Chinese (56% female, mean age = 15.50) and 567 North American (52% male, mean age = 14.17) adolescents, a model of the relationships between parenting, life goals, and well-being was investigated and confirmed for intrinsic life goals. Across societies, autonomy-supportive parenting was associated with the endorsement of intrinsic life goals, which in turn was associated with well-being. Intrinsic life goals partially mediated the relationship between parental autonomy-support and well-being. These findings suggest that, cross-culturally, prioritizing intrinsic life goals is related to increased well-being among adolescents and that parents could encourage intrinsic life goals by being supportive of their children's autonomy.
Lekes
Natasha
N
Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. natasha.lekes@mail.mcgill.ca
Gingras
Isabelle
I
Philippe
Frederick L
FL
Koestner
Richard
R
Fang
Jianqun
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology