How Can Family Contribute to Youth’s Purpose Exploration and Commitment? The Roles of Interest Support and Autonomy Support

Hung-Yang Chen and Ching-Ling Cheng ()
Additional contact information
Hung-Yang Chen: National Taiwan Normal University
Ching-Ling Cheng: National Taiwan Normal University

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2024, vol. 25, issue 8, No 1, 16 pages

Abstract: Abstract Evidence suggests that family is a cornerstone of youth’s purpose development. However, relevant findings were largely derived from Western contexts. The current research aims to investigate the effects family interest support and parents’ autonomy support (i.e., promotion of independence and promotion of volitional functioning) have on youth’s purpose exploration and commitment over middle adolescence in Taiwan. A total of 369 Taiwanese vocational high school students (45% females; mean age = 15.82 years old at the first investigation) partook in this study. Participating youth rated family interest support, parents’ autonomy support, and youth’s purpose exploration and commitment through questionnaires during the fall of their tenth and eleventh grades with approximately a one-year interval. A cross-lagged analysis showed that family support for interests was associated with youth’s increased purpose commitment one year later and parents’ promotion for independence was associated with youth’s enhanced purpose exploration one year later. Parents’ promotion of volitional functioning was not associated with youth’s purpose exploration or commitment one year later. In line with prior studies conducted in Western cultures in demonstrating the significant role of the family in cultivating youth’s purpose development, the current research shows that various aspects of family support may yield different effects on the two purpose dimensions. Parents’ promotion of independence fosters youth to explore their purpose in life, particularly during adolescence where independence is of great concern. When youth become gradually aware of their interests, supporting youth’s interests helps youth sustain their commitment to purpose over time.

Keywords: Purpose Commitment; Purpose Exploration; Interest Support; Autonomy Support; Family; Adolescence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00824-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:25:y:2024:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00824-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00824-w

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().