This study assessed 1574 Grades 5 to 11 youth (63.6% female) from the 4‐H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), a longitudinal study involving U.S. adolescents, to assess if patterns of intentional self regulation (ISR) existed; whether these trajectories differed in relation to several Grade 5 parenting characteristics; and whether ISR trajectories were linked to positive and negative developmental outcomes at Grade 11. Growth mixture modeling identified a four‐group solution of ISR trajectories: Steady Decline, Elevated, Late Onset, and Pronounced Decline. Most adolescents reported an incremental decrease in ISR from Grades 5 to 11 (Steady Decline). Lower levels of parental warmth, monitoring, and school involvement at Grade 5 predicted Late‐Onset ISR development while Pronounced Decline adolescents reported lower levels of PYD and Contribution at Grade 11. We discuss the finding that youth at initially similar levels of ISR diverged over adolescence, while youth at initially disparate levels converged.

Three studies investigated the association of social approach and avoidance motivation with cognition, behavior, emotions, and subjective well-being. Study 1 (N ¼ 245), a correlative self-report study, showed that approach and avoidance motivation mediated the effects of adult attachment-styles on social anxiety. A secure attachment-style was associated with co-occurring approach and avoidance motivation. Study 2, a social-interaction study (N ¼ 38), revealed an association of avoidance motivation with a negative experience and passive behavior, and approach motivation with a positive experience and active behavior. Interestingly, the interaction of approach and avoidance motivation predicted engaged behavior and a positive emotional experience. Study 3 (N ¼ 203), an online survey, showed that subjective well-being was negatively associated with high avoidance motivation, irrespective of the strength of approach motivation. Taken together, the studies show that social approach and avoidance motivation interact in predicting positive experiences and social behavior in a concrete social situation. However, from the long-term perspective, the negative consequences of social avoidance motivation seem to prevail when approach and avoidance motivation co-occur. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The experience of and reactions to social situations partly depends on a person's expectations about his or her interaction partners. Social approach motivation refers to a general positive expectation for social interactions, i.e., a dispositional orientation toward positive, hoped-for social incentives, whereas social avoidance motivation refers to a general negative expectation, i.e., an orientation away from negative, feared social incentives (McClelland, 1985). Previous research has repeatedly shown that approach and avoidance motivation are largely independent of each other (e.g., Ebner, Freund, & Baltes, 2006) and show differential effects on emotion, cognition, and behavior (e.g., Freund, 2006;Gable, 2006;Gray, 1982). This implies that social approach and avoidance motivation can co-occur within a person (for a detailed discussion see Nikitin & Freund, 2008).As of yet, little is known about the effects of co-occurring social approach and avoidance motivation on behavior, cognition, and emotion. The current paper addresses this gap. More specifically, Study 1 explored the role of attachment styles as antecedents of social approach and avoidance motivation and their co-occurrence. Study 2 investigated how social approach and avoidance motivation interact in predicting experience and behavior in an actual social interaction. Finally, Study 3 examined how social approach and avoidance motivation are related to habitual subjective well-being. In all three studies, we tested if co-occurring social approach and avoidance motivation is best characterized by an ambivalent character (e.g., Mehrabian, 1994;Schmidt, 1999) or if the negative pattern of avoidance motivation for cognition, emotion, behavior, and subjectiv...

How do changes in life expectancy and longevity affect life-span development? This paper argues that historical increases in life expectancy primarily have an impact on the later and less on the earlier parts of the life span. Increased life expectancy is both a challenge and an opportunity for positive development. A perspective is outlined according to which self-regulation is a key factor for successful aging. Assuming a compensatory relationship of social norms/expectations and self-regulation for developmental regulation, processes such as setting, pursuing, and disengaging from personal goals should be particularly important in old age, a life phase that is characterized by being less normatively structured than younger phases. This argument is elaborated in the domains of social relations, leisure, and work.

Two diary studies investigated the role of social approach and avoidance motivation in important developmental transitions in young and old adulthood. Study 1 comprised a sample of young adults (N = 93, M = 21.5 years) who moved out of their parental homes. The sample of Study 2 consisted of older adults (N = 69, M = 76.95 years) who moved into senior housing. In both studies, participants reported their habitual social approach and avoidance motives as well as their daily social experience and subjective well-being over the course of 2 weeks. In line with the literature, social approach motives and age were related to higher subjective well-being, whereas social avoidance motives were negatively associated with subjective well-being. Time since the transition was an important moderator of the association between social avoidance motives and negative outcomes. With increasing time from the transition, the negative effects of social avoidance motives decreased. The positive effects of social approach motives remained fairly stable over time. Importantly, age did not moderate any of the associations between social motivation and outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of transition-related instability and age-related stability.

Social affiliation appears to be a central human need. Taking a developmental perspective, we discuss whether and how the desire to belong (approach motivation) and the fear of being rejected (avoidance motivation) might be of central importance for understanding success or failure in transitional phases, especially in the transition from adolescence into adulthood. Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of social motives (approach, avoidance, and their co-occurrence) are reviewed. We argue that both tendencies need to be taken into account for understanding affiliation motivation and behavior and its significance for life satisfaction and well-being. A predominant social approach motivation has positive consequences for cognition, behavior, emotion, and well-being, whereas the opposite pattern holds for a predominant avoidance motivation. Co-occurrence of both is characterised by ambivalent cognitions and emotions, and unstable behavior. Taking a developmental perspective, however, and considering social development in the transition to adulthood, co-occurrence might be more beneficial than a predominant avoidance motivation.Il est clair que l'affiliation est un besoin humain fondamental. On se demande, dans une perspective développementale, si et comment le désir d'être accueilli (motivation à l'approche) et la crainte d'être rejeté (motivation à l'évitement) pourraient être d'une importance majeure dans l'explication du succès ou de l'échec des périodes de transition, en particulier lors du passage de l'adolescence à l'âge adulte. On passe en revue les prolongements cognitifs, émotionnels et comportementaux des motivations sociales (approche, évitement et leurs corollaires). On soutient que les deux tendances doivent être prises en compte pour comprendre la motivation à l'affiliation et les comportements qui s'ensuivent, ainsi que leur portée pour le bien-être et le bonheur de vivre. Etre * Address for correspondence: Jana Nikitin or Alexandra M. Freund, University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Binzmuehlestrasse 14/11, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland. Email: nikitin@psychologie.uzh.ch or freund@psychologie.uzh.chWe wish to thank Corwin Senko for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We also acknowledge the help of Tamara Herz who carefully edited this manuscript. prioritairement motivé par les contacts sociaux a des retombées positives sur la cognition, le comportement, les émotions et le bien-être, tandis que le schéma inverse renvoie à une motivation dominante pour l'évitement. La co-occurrence de ces deux motivations provoque des cognitions et des émotions ambivalentes et un comportement instable. Toutefois, d'un point de vue développemental, et pour ce qui est de la maturation sociale lors du passage vers l'âge adulte, la co-occurrence pourrait se révéler plus bénéfique que la seule motivation à l'évitement. INTRODUCTIONImagine a young woman entering a class for the very first time at the beginning of her time at college. She might be looking forward to meeting new people and m...