Perceptions of Chances for Success - Subject Baseline
This measure appears in the following time-points: Baseline.
Related Construct
Description of Measure
The Perceptions of Chances for Success measure (also called perceptions of opportunity) was adapted from the work of Menard & Elliott (1996) to assess the adolescent's prediction of his/her future adult success. Items from the measure tap the adolescent's investment in and perceived likelihood for achievement in several areas. Specifically, the scale taps Aspirations for Work, Family & Law Abiding Behavior (e.g., "How important is it to you to have a good job or career?"), and Expectations for Work, Family, & Law Abiding Behavior (e.g., "What do you think your chances are to earn a good living?"). There are a total of 14 questions asked (divided evenly between aspirations and expectations) to which participants respond on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "Not at all important/Poor" to "Very important/Excellent".
Higher scores for aspirations and expectations indicate greater optimism concerning future opportunities and/or success. Lower scores for "expectations fall short" indicate greater congruence between these perceptions. The scales were found to have adequate internal consistency in the Pathways baseline sample (Aspirations for Work, Family & Law = .67; Expectations for Work, Family & Law =.81). No confirmatory factor analyses have been conducted on these scales.
Three scores are computed:
- Aspirations for Work, Family, & Law [s0opport]; mean of 6 items. Data must be contained in five of the six items in order to receive a computed mean.
- Expectations to have work, family, & law [s0expect]; mean of 6 items. Data in five of the six items is required.
- Extent to which expectations fall short [s0pessim]; expectation score minus aspiration score
The following individual items are also available:
- How important to have a good job or career [S0Opp01a]
- How likely to have a good job or career [S0Opp01b]
- How important to graduate from college [S0Opp02a]
- How likely to graduate from college [S0Opp02b]
- How important to earn a good living [S0Opp03a]
- How likely to earn a good living [S0Opp03b]
- How important to provide a good home for your family [S0Opp04a]
- How likely to provide a good home for your family [S0Opp04b]
- How important to have a good marriage [S0Opp05a]
- How likely to have a good marriage [S0Opp05b]
- How important to have a good relationship with your children [S0Opp06a]
- How likely to have a good relationship with your children [S0Opp06b]
- How important to stay out of trouble with the law [S0Opp07a]
- How likely to stay out of trouble with the law [S0Opp07b]
- How old do you think you will live to be [S0Opp131]
References
- These questions were revised from the set used in the National Youth Survey -- Prediction of Adult Success (Menard & Elliott, 1996).
- Delbert S. Elliot, David Huizinga, and Scott Menard (1989) Multiple Problem Youth: Delinquency, Substance Use, and Mental Health Problems (New York: Springer-Verlag).
- Menard, S. and Elliott, D. S. (1996). Prediction of adult success using stepwise logistic regression analysis. A report prepared for the MacArthur Foundation by the MacArthur Chicago-Denver Neighborhood Project.
- Elliott, D.S., (1990). National Youth Survey. Institute of Behavioral Science. University of Colorado.