Perceptions of Chances for Success - Subject Follow-up
This measure appears in the following time-points: Follow06, Follow12, Follow18, Follow24, Follow30, Follow36, Follow48, Follow60, Follow72, Follow84.
Click the icon to view the questions asked for this measure.
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 [S#OPPORT]; 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 [S#EXPECT]; mean of 6 items. Data in five of the six items is required.
- Extent to which expectations fall short [S#PESSIM]; expectation score minus aspiration score
The following individual items are also available:
- How important to have a good job or career [S#Opp01a]
- How likely to have a good job or career [S#Opp01b]
- How important to graduate from college [S#Opp02a]
- How likely to graduate from college [S#Opp02b]
- How important to earn a good living [S#Opp03a]
- How likely to earn a good living [S#Opp03b]
- How important to provide a good home for your family [S#Opp04a]
- How likely to provide a good home for your family [S#Opp04b]
- How important to have a good marriage [S#Opp05a]
- How likely to have a good marriage [S#Opp05b]
- How important to have a good relationship with your children [S#Opp06a]
- How likely to have a good relationship with your children [S#Opp06b]
- How important to stay out of trouble with the law [S#Opp07a]
- How likely to stay out of trouble with the law [S#Opp07b]
Data Issues
- Some cases are missing data for this measure as a result of a bug in the programming code. Cases with this issue are noted with a missing value code of -700.
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.