The changing parent-child relationship, self-esteem, and intelligence as determinants of orientation to the future during early adolescence

Abstract

In order to study how parent-child interaction, self-esteem and intelligence influence adolescents' orientation to the future, 57 11-year-old and 56 15-year-old adolescents were interviewed about their hopes for the future. The content and extension of each hope, as well as the levels of internality, optimism and realization, were estimated from the answers. The results showed that a high level of family discussion increased interest in a future family. The influences of parental control and family discussion, however, change as adolescents grow older: the more 11-year-olds reported parental control, the less optimistic they were about the future but the more steps they had taken to realize their hopes. On the other hand, the higher the level of family discussion adolescents reported at the age of 15, the more optimistic they were and the more they had realized their hopes. Adolescents with high self-esteem were more internal in their thinking about the future than those with low self-esteem.