ABSTRACT

This research investigates positive future expectancies, particularly hope in children, which is comprised of agency thinking, perceiving oneself as capable of achieving goals, and pathways thinking, perceiving oneself as capable of discovering methods toward the desired goals. Two studies (n = 82) were conducted in the United States to examine the role of agency and pathways thinking in children’s trait and state happiness based on children’s self-reports and their parents reports of their children. In Study 1, dyads of typically developing children (M_age = 10.21 years) and their parents (M_age= 43.84 years) completed measures of hope and happiness. Study 2 extended Study 1 to include a diverse sample of children with chronic health conditions (M_age = 11.14 years) and their parents (M_age = 43.48 years). In Study 1, regression analyses revealed that children’s self-reports of agency thinking predict children’s trait and state happiness, p’s < .05. Contrastingly, in Study 2, regression analyses revealed that children’s self-reports of pathways thinking predict children’s self-reports of trait happiness, p < .001. Also, collectively, pathways thinking, agency thinking, and children’s age predict children’s state happiness, p = .025. In both studies, parents’ reports of their children’s hope were not significant predictors of children’s happiness. There also was not an association between parents’ perceptions of their children’s hope and happiness and their children’s self-reported levels. These findings elucidate the cognitive aspects of hope that promote happiness in childhood and advance understanding of the determinants of children’s happiness in the U.S.

摘要

这项研究调查了积极的未来预期，特别是儿童的希望，其中包括代理思维（认为自己有能力实现目标）和路径思维（认为自己有能力找到实现预期目标的方法）。美国进行了两项研究（n = 82），根据儿童的自我报告和父母对孩子的报告，探讨代理和路径思维在儿童特质和幸福状态中的作用。在研究 1 中，典型发育儿童（M_年龄= 10.21 岁）及其父母（M_年龄= 43.84 年）完成了希望和幸福的测量。研究 2 扩展了研究 1，纳入了患有慢性健康问题的儿童（ M_年龄= 11.14 岁）及其父母（M_年龄= 43.48 岁）的不同样本。在研究 1 中，回归分析显示，儿童对代理思维的自我报告可以预测儿童的特质和幸福状态，p < 0.05。相比之下，在研究 2 中，回归分析显示，儿童对路径思维的自我报告可以预测儿童对特质幸福的自我报告，p < .001。此外，路径思维、代理思维和儿童年龄共同预测儿童的幸福状态，p= .025。在这两项研究中，父母对孩子的希望的报告并不是孩子幸福的重要预测因素。父母对孩子希望和幸福的看法与孩子的自我报告水平之间也没有关联。这些发现阐明了希望促进童年幸福的认知方面，并增进了对美国儿童幸福决定因素的理解