Motivation for Career in Teenagers

AbstractCareer motivation is an important field of study in the construction of sustainable society. Identify and develop intimate mechanisms that shape career choices by teenagers becomes a strong indicator of how society as a whole proves its effectiveness. Given crossing a prolonged crisis which calls into question the dominant social structural elements, unclear coherent and consistent process of career management in adolescents can lead to premature exhaustion of their involvement in learned helplessness phenomena, ambiguity and professional failure. There is also the risk of not achieving career maturation phenomenon which can lead to phenomena misfit search and permanent redefinition of the role of teenager – now reached adult – in social landscape. The paper aims to analyze and define the phenomenon of career choice motivation to intrinsic- extrinsic dimension (the intrinsic dimension by reference to the orientation towards reality and the need to experience stimulation, and matters extrinsic referring to extrinsic motivation identified, etc). This can provide an appropriate response, reported on the career management paradigm in this age group

Do Girls and Boys Perceive Themselves as Equally Engaged in School? The Results of an International Study from 12 Countries

This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school andwere rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world

Dimensions of students’ psychosocial well-being and their measurement: Validation of a students’ Psychosocial Well Being Inventory

This paper presents findings from a validation study of a measurement instrument for the dimensions of students’ psychosocial well-being. Researches to date suggest many separate but related dimensions of psychosocial well-being. In the current study, psychosocial well-being is considered to have four dimensions: subjective well-being related to every day’s events, subjective well-being related to faculty events, psychological well-being and social well-being. Diener’s (1985) and Seligman’s (2002) models of subjective well-being and Ryff’s (1995) and Keyes’ (1998) models of psychological and social well-being served as the conceptual basis for the development of this instrument. The sample for the validation study consisted of 449 university students at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest, Romania. Participants completed seven self-report questionnaires that related to the individual’s positive functioning in personal life and in society, including the Psychosocial Well Being Inventory (PSWBI). The validation study consisted of establishing the psychometric properties, factorial structure of the construct, and convergent and divergent validity of the instrument. Results show that PSWBI is a valid instrument, performing at least as well as popular measures of overall well-being but also specifying its dimensions

Mentoring – a Valuable Method of Practical Intervention in Need of Theoretical Grounding

The present study aims to give a general overview of the information on mentoring that already exists in the specialized literature. The aim of this necessary synthesis is to emphasize the acute need for its systematic research from a more subtle psychological perspective, one from which the psychology of learning should not miss. The theoretical perspective from which we treat this issue is suggested by a classical definition of mentoring (which can be found in many other definitions) that states that mentoring is “a protected relationship in which experimentation, exchange and learning can occur and skills, knowledge and insight can be developed” (Mumford, 2002, p.215). Our central argument is that the difficulties one encounters when trying to discover the efficiency of natural mentoring on the level of programmatic mentoring are due to the fact that research on mentoring to date has overlooked the contribution that the psychology of learning can bring to the shaping of this concept

Learning Context and Undergraduate Students’ Needs for Autonomy and Competence, Achievement Motivation and Personal Growth Initiative

AbstractThis study aims to identify the learning context (public vs. private university, regular vs. distance programs, year of study) differences and relations between undergraduate university students’ needs for autonomy and competence, achievement motivation and personal growth initiative. The participants in this study were 400 undergraduate university students, from two universities in Bucharest, Romania (a public and a private one), aged 19 to 40 (M = 24.48, SD = 5.926). Data were collected with 3 self-report scales. The research results contribute to the development of an empirical database for a better understanding of nowadays university student populations