Possible Selves and Negative Health Behaviors During Early Adolescence

Abstract

The relation of the possible selves to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption was the focus for this study. Participants (1,606 students in Grades 6 through 9) listed their possible selves and reported their cigarette and alcohol use. The results revealed that adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use were related negatively to (a) the number of positive expected selves and (b) the balance between expected selves and feared selves. However, when both possible-selves variables were entered in the model simultaneously, only the number of positive expected selves consistently was related to negative health behavior. In addition, the number of positive expected selves was related more strongly to the negative health behavior of eighth and ninth graders than to that of sixth and seventh graders. The findings from the present study are contrasted with previous research. In addition, the utility of an intervention involving the possible selves is discussed.

Prospective Effects of Possible Selves on Alcohol Consumption in Adolescents

“…This finding is similar to previous evidence that positive possible selves may be protective against risk behaviors. For example, Aloise-Young et al (2001) found that the number of positive expected possible selves predicted lower levels of alcohol and tobacco use in sixth- to ninth-graders. Newberry and Duncan (2001) found that high school adolescents with lower levels of delinquent behaviors had more positive possible selves.…”

“…Possible selves are cognitive structures that include vivid images of the self in the future state along with procedural knowledge in the form of strategies for either achieving or avoiding possible selves (Cross & Markus, 1991; Markus & Nurius, 1986). They are powerful predictors of adolescents’ behavior (Aloise-Young, Hennigan, & Leong, 2001; Newberry & Duncan, 2001; Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2006; Oyserman & Markus, 1990a, 1990b). As modifiable memory structures, possible selves may be a promising intervention target, particularly in the formative stages of identity development (Oyserman, Terry, & Bybee, 2002), but have yet to be explored in relation to alcohol use in adolescence.…”

“…Some investigators have focused on properties of the total collection of possible selves, e.g., the number of hoped-for (Black, Stein, & Loveland-Cherry, 2001), number of feared (Oyserman & Markus, 1990a), number of expected (Aloise-Young et al, 2001), and number of balanced pairs (a hoped-for and feared possible self in the same domain, e.g., a hoped-for possible self to graduate from high school and a feared possible self of not graduating from high school; Aloise-Young et al, 2001; Oyserman & Markus, 1990a, 1990b). Other investigators have focused on a single possible self, e.g., presence or absence of a possible self in a specific content domain including alcohol use, e.g., “problem drinker” (Corte & Szalacha, 2010; Lee et al, in press), binge drinker (Quinlan, Jaccard, & Blanton, 2006), or the content domain of the most important possible self (Hooker & Kaus, 1992).…”

The role of feared possible selves in the relationship between peer influence and delinquency

“…Understanding the impact of feared delinquency specifically may be an important step in understanding the link between feared possible selves and delinquent behavior. Most studies examining possible selves have assessed either the motivational impact of positive, expected selves (Aloise-Young et al, 2001) or balance among various possible selves irrespective of a specific domain (i.e., by matching positively valenced and negatively valenced possible selves in the same categories; Oyserman & Markus, 1990a, 1990b; Oyserman & Saltz, 1993). By matching positively valenced possible selves with negatively valenced possible selves in the same domains, researchers obtain a general calculation of factors that individuals both hope for (on the positive end) and fear (on the negative end).…”

“…However, a feared delinquent possible self may be a distinctly important construct in its own right. Evidence suggests the merit of investigating types of possible selves separately (i.e., count of feared possible selves) and in specific domains (e.g., delinquency; Oyserman et al, 2004; Aloise-Young et al, 2001). …”