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Orientations to the future: A comparison of adolescents in Australia and Singapore

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Abstract

Using an event-listing approach, this study examined the personal and societal future orientations of 15-year-old males and females in Singapore and Sydney. Three aspects were examined: content, affect, and time span. Overall, the study found that adolescents perceived their personal and societal features in separate noninterlocking planes, seeing more pleasant, proximal, personal futures, and more unpleasant, distal, societal futures, especially in relation to nuclear war and political problems. Demographic and personal construct variables influenced this general pattern of future orientation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Monash University, 3168, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Millicent E. Poole

  2. School of Behavioural Science, Macquarie University, 2109, North Ryde, N.S.W., Australia

    George H. Cooney

Authors
  1. Millicent E. Poole
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  2. George H. Cooney
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Ph.D., social psychology, La Trobe University. Research interests: adolescence, education and social policy.

Ph.D., education, Sydney University. Research interests: adolescence, psychometrics, and statistics.

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Poole, M.E., Cooney, G.H. Orientations to the future: A comparison of adolescents in Australia and Singapore. J Youth Adolescence 16, 129–151 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02138916

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02138916

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