This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Phinney, J. S. Articles by Blanton, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Life Goals and Attributions for Expected Outcomes among Adolescents from Five Ethnic Groups

California State University, Los Angeles

Kathleen Baumann

University of California, Los Angeles

Shanika Blanton

California State University, Los Angeles

This research explored the relationships among life goals and attributions for outcomes among 371 adolescents (mean age 14.8 years) from five American ethnic groups: Armenian, Vietnamese, Mexican American, European American, and African American. Adolescents responded to open-ended questions regarding their future goals, expectation of reaching their goals, and attributions for the expected outcome. Results showed that most adolescents set high goals and expected to reach them. Those who expected to reach their goals attributed the outcome more to effort and less to external factors than did those who did not expect success. Compared to European American adolescents, minority group adolescents attributed outcomes more to effort and less to ability. This finding may reflect their belief that they need to work harder to overcome obstacles and stereotypes.

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 23, No. 4, 363-377 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/0739986301234002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?