Young adults' achievement and attributional strategies in the transition from school to work: antecedents and consequences

Abstract

This study focused on investigating the extent to which the achievement and attributional strategies individuals deploy influence their success in dealing with the transition from school to work, and whether their success or failure in this particular would have consequences for the kinds of strategy they deployed later in life. Two hundred and fifty young adults filled in the Cartoon‐Attribution‐Strategy Inventory, a revised version of Beck's Depression Inventory, and a work status questionnaire at the beginning of the last spring term of their curriculum, four months after their graduation, and a year and a half after it. The results showed that the deployment of maladaptive strategies, such as passive avoidance, led to problems in dealing with the transition from school to work. In turn, young adults' problems in dealing with this transition decreased their use of self‐serving causal attributions, which was also found to lead to increased depressive symptomatology. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The role of academic buoyancy and emotions in students’ learning‐related expectations and behaviours in primary school

“…The present study focused on three types of learning-related beliefs and behaviours as outcomes of academic buoyancy and emotions: one representing negative beliefs (failure expectations), one representing maladaptive behaviour (avoidance behaviour), and one representing an adaptive strategy (task-oriented planning). These outcomes were chosen because previous studies have shown that behaviours reflecting a high level of interest and effort, such as task persistence and task-oriented planning of how to proceed in learning situations, are beneficial for students' academic achievement and school adjustment (e.g., Aunola et al, 2003;Hirvonen et al, 2010;M€ a€ att€ a et al, 2002). In contrast, pessimistic beliefs, such as failure expectations, and behaviours related to low effort and task-irrelevant activities, such as task avoidance, have proven to be harmful for students' school adjustment and development of academic skills (e.g., Hirvonen, Tolvanen, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2012;M€ a€ att€ a et al, 2002;M€ agi, H€ aidkind, & Kikas, 2010).…”

“…These outcomes were chosen because previous studies have shown that behaviours reflecting a high level of interest and effort, such as task persistence and task-oriented planning of how to proceed in learning situations, are beneficial for students' academic achievement and school adjustment (e.g., Aunola et al, 2003;Hirvonen et al, 2010;M€ a€ att€ a et al, 2002). In contrast, pessimistic beliefs, such as failure expectations, and behaviours related to low effort and task-irrelevant activities, such as task avoidance, have proven to be harmful for students' school adjustment and development of academic skills (e.g., Hirvonen, Tolvanen, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2012;M€ a€ att€ a et al, 2002;M€ agi, H€ aidkind, & Kikas, 2010). Because of their central role in learning situations, it is important to understand how these beliefs and behaviours are influenced by students' emotional and cognitive resources.…”

“…Previous studies have shown learning-related beliefs and behaviours to play a significant role in learning (e.g., Aunola, Nurmi, Lerkkanen, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2003;Hirvonen, Georgiou, Lerkkanen, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2010; M€ a€ att€ a, Nurmi, & Majava, 2002). This is because students' success expectations and effort determine the extent to which they can use their existing skills and gain new ones.…”

Goal Engagement During the School–Work Transition: Beneficial for All, Particularly for Girls

“…School‐to‐work transition studies show that individual goals and motivational processes have positive effects on objective career success, including self‐efficacy (Pinquart, Juang, & Silbereisen, 2003), prioritizing work‐related goals (Nurmi, Salmela‐Aro, & Koivisto, 2002), expecting success and avoiding internal attributions after failure (Määttä, Nurmi, & Majava, 2002), engaging in job‐search behavior (Pinquart et al, 2003), and career exploration (Kracke, 2002). A meta‐analysis by Kanfer, Wanberg, and Kantrowitz (2001), including studies on initial transitions in the workplace, reemployment following nonwork or layoff, and job‐to‐job transitions, provides evidence for the positive effect of active and engaged job‐search behavior on later employment status across a wide range of career‐related transitions (see also Saks & Ashforth, 1999; Wanberg, Glomb, Song, & Sorensen, 2005).…”

States of nature and states of mind: a generalized theory of decision-making

“…Intuitively, one might suppose that failure would hurt the non-cognitive ability to participate in order to reap long-term rewards. This conclusion is supported by a large literature on attribution, where it has been established that young people who are unsuccessful are less likely than their peers to attribute their outcomes to their own decision-making (Gurney 1981;Furnham 1984;Määttä et al 2002). A negative effect of failure on noncognitive ability could also be expected because psychological payoffs such as a fear of failure are likely to become more salient following negative experiences (Tversky and Kahneman 1974).…”