Aspirations and Well-being

7/30/2019 Aspirations and Well-being

1/11

This article was downloaded by: [Dartmouth College Library]On: 03 February 2012, At: 07:18Publisher: Psychology PressInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: MortimerHouse, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal of PsychologyPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/pijp20

Aspirations and wellbeing in Romanian and US

undergraduatesMichael J. Stevens

ab

, Petru-Madalin Constantinescuc

& Andreea Butucescud

aDepartment of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA

bSchool of Sciences, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania

cSchool of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest,

Bucharest, Romaniad

Center for Educational and Professional Counseling, Ovidius University of

Constanta, Constanta, Romania

Available online: 24 May 2011

To cite this article: Michael J. Stevens, Petru-Madalin Constantinescu & Andreea Butucescu (2011): Aspirations and

wellbeing in Romanian and US undergraduates, International Journal of Psychology, 46:6, 436-445

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2011.565344

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial orsystematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distributionin any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that thecontents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, anddrug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable forany loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever causedarising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditionshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2011.565344http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/pijp20


2/11

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2011, 46 (6), 436445

Aspirations and wellbeing in Romanian and

US undergraduates

Michael J. Stevens1,2, Petru-Madalin Constantinescu3, and Andreea Butucescu4

1Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA2School of Sciences, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania3School of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania4Center for Educational and Professional Counseling, Ovidius University of Constanta,

Constanta, Romania

Updating cross-cultural research of the past decade on the relationship between life aspirations andwellbeing, we compared Romanian (N69) and US (N64) undergraduates on the contribution of theimportance and likelihood of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations to psychological maladjustment and lifesatisfaction, and on the qualitative meaning they assign to financial success. Similarly to prior studies, we found

that extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations tended to be either negatively or positively correlated with life satisfaction,

respectively; however, wealth predicted life satisfaction for Romanian students. Unlike previous research, we

found generally negative relationships between intrinsic aspirations and psychological maladjustment. Although

there were no differences between Romanian and US undergraduates on extrinsic and intrinsic orientation, on

the overall importance of attaining aspirations, or on specific extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations, Romanian

students expressed weaker expectations of fulfilling intrinsic aspirations than did US students. Finally, the groups

produced similar rankings of aspirations and assigned similar meaning to financial success. The results favored

a social cognitive rather than a self-determination model of psychological wellbeing in that expectations for

attaining aspirations were more often predictive of life satisfaction than were their content. We interpret these

findings and their convergence and departure from earlier research in terms of political economic, demographic,

and cultural factors. We encourage future cross-cultural investigations of the social construction of aspirations,

subsidiation of seemingly contradictory aspirations to each other, and cognitive and ecological mediation of thecomplex relationship of aspirations to psychological functioning.

Keywords: Aspirations; Maladjustment; Wellbeing; Cross-cultural.

Mettant a` jour la recherche multiculturelle de la dernie` re de cennie portant sur la relation entre lesaspirations face a` la vie et le bien-etre, nous avons compare des e tudiants universitaires de premier cycleroumains (N69) et e tats-uniens (N64) sur la contribution de limportance et de la probabilite datteindre des

aspirations intrinse` ques et extrinse` ques pour linadaptation psychosociale et la satisfaction face a` la vie, ainsi que

sur la signification qualitative quils attribuent au succe` s financier. Similairement aux e tudes ante ce dentes, nous

avons trouve que les aspirations extrinse` ques et intrinse` ques tendaient a` etre soit ne gativement ou positivement

corre le es avec la satisfaction face a` la vie, respectivement; cependant, la richesse pre disait la satisfaction face a` la

vie chez les e tudiants roumains. Contrairement aux e tudes pre ce dentes, nous avons trouve des relations

ge ne ralement ne gatives entre les aspirations intrinse` ques et linadaptation psychosociale. Quoiquil ny ait pas dediffe rence entre les e tudiants roumains et e tats-uniens en regard de lorientation extrinse` que et intrinse` que,

concernant limportance ge ne rale des aspirations a` atteindre ou les aspirations extrinse` ques et intrinse` ques

spe cifiques, les e tudiants roumains exprimaient de plus faibles attentes quant a` latteinte des aspirations

intrinse` ques comparativement aux e tudiants e tats-uniens. Finalement, les groupes ont obtenu des rangs similaires

daspirations et ont attribue des significations similaires au succe` s financier. Les re sultats favorisaient un mode` le

Correspondence should be addressed to Michael J. Stevens, Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4620,

Normal, IL 61790-4620, USA. (E-mail: [email protected]).

Preliminary findings were presented at the 2010 regional meeting of the International Council of Psychologists,Padua, Italy.

2011 International Union of Psychological Science

http://www.psypress.com/ijp http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2011.565344


3/11

sociocognitif plutot quun mode` le autode termine du bien-etre psychologique, en ce sens que les attentes pour

atteindre les aspirations e taient plus souvent pre dictives de la satisfaction face a` la vie que ne le tait leur contenu.

Nous interpre tons ces re sultats, leur convergence et leur orientation a` partir de la recherche ante rieure en termes

de facteurs politiques, e conomiques, de mographiques et culturels. Nous encourageons les e tudes multiculturelles

futures sur la construction sociale des aspirations, sur la subsidiarite des aspirations apparemment contradictoires

les unes par rapport aux autres, ainsi que sur le role me diateur des aspects cognitifs et e cologiques sur la relation

complexe entre les aspirations et le fonctionnement psychologique.

A modo de una actualizacio n de la investigacio n transcultural de la ultima de cada sobre la relacio n entre lasaspiraciones de vida y el bienestar, se compararon estudiantes universitarios rumanos (N69) yestadounidenses (N64) en la incidencia de la importancia y la probabilidad de alcanzar aspiraciones intrnsecas

y extrnsecas sobre el desajuste psicolo gico y la satisfaccio n con la vida, y sobre el significado cualitativo que se le

asignaba al e xito financiero. Al igual que en estudios previos, se encontro que las aspiraciones extrnsecas e

intrnsecas tienden a correlacionarse negativa o positivamente con la satisfaccio n de vida, respectivamente, sin

embargo, el e xito econo mico predijo satisfaccio n de vida en los estudiantes rumanos. A diferencia de las

investigaciones previas, encontramos relaciones generales negativas entre las aspiraciones intrnsecas y el

desajuste psicolo gico. Aunque no hubo diferencias entre los estudiantes rumanos y estadounidenses en la

orientacio n extrnseca e intrnseca, en la importancia global que le asignaban al alcance de las aspiraciones, o en

las aspiraciones extrnsecas e intrnsecas especficas, los estudiantes rumanos expresaron expectativas ma s de biles

que los estudiantes de los Estados Unidos de cumplimiento de las aspiraciones intrnsecas. Por ultimo, los grupos

produjeron un ranking similar de aspiraciones y le asignaron significados similares al e xito financiero. Losresultados favorecieron ma s un modelo de cognicio n social que un modelo de autodeterminacio n del bienestar

psicolo gico, en el que eran las expectativas para el logro de las aspiraciones ma s que los contenidos en s los que

ma s predecan la satisfaccio n con la vida. Interpretamos estos hallazgos y su convergencia y divergencia con las

investigaciones anteriores en te rminos de factores polticos, econo micos, demogra ficos y culturales.

Recomendamos la realizacio n de futuras investigaciones transculturales referidas a la construccio n social de

las aspiraciones, la subordinacio n de aspiraciones aparentemente contradictorias entre s y la mediacio n cognitiva

y ecolo gica de la compleja relacio n entre las aspiraciones y el funcionamiento psicolo gico.

Aspirations can be viewed as goals or as value-

based means for satisfying human needs

(Schwartz, 1994). Organismic self-determinationtheories (SDTs) hold that the immoderate pursuit

of extrinsic aspirations (e.g., financial success,

social recognition, attractive appearance) is tied

to lower psychological wellbeing, whereas pursuit

of intrinsic aspirations (e.g., self-acceptance,

affiliation, community feeling) is linked to greater

psychological wellbeing (Fromm, 1976; Maslow,

1954; Rogers, 1947). Some have argued that

excessive materialism can distract people from

their inherent needs, leading to distress and more

serious dysfunction (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000;

Kasser, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001). This viewcontrasts the social cognitive perspective of moti-

vation, which holds that the content of aspirations

is less essential to wellbeing than are perceived

capabilities of attaining aspirations (Carver &

Scheier, 1998; Oishi, Diener, Lucas, & Suh,

1999). The biopsychosocial model of mental

health and illness (Schwarzer & Gutierrez-Dona,

2000) places additional relevance on the construct

of satisfaction with life, with mental health

conceived not only as the absence of dysfunction

but also as the presence of subjective wellbeing.

Conversely, mental illness may be construed not

only as the presence of dysfunction, but also as the

absence of subjective wellbeing.

Previous cross-cultural research has establisheda relationship between healthy functioning and the

relative importance and efficacy of aspirations that

fulfill organismic tendencies rather than lead to a

conferred sense of worth (Frost & Frost, 2000;

Grouzet et al., 2005; Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996;

Ryan et al., 1999; Schmuck, Kasser, & Ryan, 2000;

van den Berg & Pitariu, 2005). Because SDT holds

that the pursuit of intrinsic aspirations is tied to

organismic functioning (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000;

Kasser, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001), and by

implication universal needs, efforts to fulfill such

needs should enhance wellbeing across cultures(Schwartz, 1994). SDT has received support in

research on US samples (e.g., Kasser & Ryan,

1993) as well as in studies conducted in eastern and

western European countries (e.g., Ryan et al.,

1999; Schmuck et al., 2000). In a cross-cultural

investigation of the relationship between aspira-

tions and wellbeing, Frost and Frost (2000) found

that, while Romanian and US students reported

greater wellbeing when intrinsic goals (i.e., com-

munity feeling) were central to their lives, only US

students showed a negative association between

extrinsic motivation (i.e., financial success)

ASPIRATIONS AND WELLBEING 437


4/11

and wellbeing. In addition, Romanian students

reported less satisfaction with life and lower

expectations for life satisfaction than US

students, perhaps directing them to pursue more

self-oriented goals (e.g., personal growth). This

partial confirmation of SDT may have reflected

differences in the sociohistorical contexts ofRomania versus the United States, underscoring

the importance of situating the content of aspira-

tions and expectations for their attainment in an

ecological framework (Bond et al., 2004; Ingelhart,

1997; Ingelhart & Baker, 2000; Spector et al.,

2001). Furthermore, the relatively low expecta-

tions of Romanian students for attaining extrinsic

goals were tied to a diminished sense of wellbeing,

not only supporting a social cognitive explanation

of motivation (see Bond et al., 2004) but also

suggesting why they may have chosen to pursue

more attainable intrinsic goals (e.g., personalgrowth).

This study aimed to:

1. extend the study of the association of

extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations to psycho-

logical wellbeing in a sample of Romanian

and US undergraduates situated in a changed

and more interconnected world than that of

10 years agowe anticipated fewer differ-

ences between Romanian and US under-

graduates on the subjective importance and

perceived likelihood of attaining extrinsicand intrinsic aspirations (Cernat, 2010;

Condruz-Bacescu & Maftei, 2007)

2. examine the relationship of extrinsic

and intrinsic aspirations to psychological

maladjustment as well as wellbeing in these

samples

3. compare the subjective meaning of a core

extrinsic aspiration, financial success, on

which these groups had differed previously

4. test SDT against the position that expecta-

tions for the attainment of aspirations are

more predictive of psychological wellbeingthan their content (i.e., likelihood of attain-

ment vs. importance).

METHOD

Participants

Sixty-nine Romanian undergraduates (38 women,

31 men) between 19 and 60 years old (M26.101,

SD9.895) volunteered. Most were ethnically

Romanian (89.9%), unmarried (63.8%), andOrthodox (79.7%), with an annual family income

of less than the equivalent of US$4100 (73.9%),

and majoring in the social sciences (58.0%) or hard

sciences (40.6%). Sixty-four US undergraduates

(35 women, 28 men) between 18 and 25 years old

(M19.839, SD1.321) volunteered. Most were

ethnically European (80.6%), unmarried (93.7%),

Catholic (41.7%), or Protestant (38.3%), with anannual family income above $65,000 (60.7%), and

majoring in the social sciences (41.3%) or educa-

tion (34.9%). Because Levenes test revealed a

significant inequality in age variances,

t(129)4.942, p5 .001, a Mann-Whitney U-test

was performed for Romanian and US under-

graduates on age, yielding a significant group

difference, U(131)3172.500, z4.891, p5 .001;

mean rank difference31.65. Consequently, age

was partialed out of all data used in the analyses

described below.

Measures

The following measures were used in this study:

background questionnaire, Aspiration Index (AI;

Kasser & Ryan, 1993), an open-ended item on the

meaning of financial success, College

Maladjustment Scale (Mt; Ben-Porath et al.,

2000; Kleinmuntz, 1961), and Satisfaction with

Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larson, &

Griffin, 1985). The methodology used in translat-

ing each instrument into Romanian followed the

standards of the International Test Commission

(Tanzer & Sim, 1999) and other established

guidelines for the translation and cross-cultural

use of psychological tests (Hambleton & Patsula,

1999). Specifically, we used transliteration and

back-translation procedures (Brislin, 1970).

Transliteration entailed concern by the authors

for preserving the psychological meaning of items

as opposed to derivation of a literal translation.

Back-translation involved a bilingual doctoral

candidate, unfamiliar with the instruments or

purpose of the study, retranslating Romanian

items into English to ensure their similarity in

meaning, form, and readability to the source

measures. The equivalence and temporal stability

of the Romanian and English versions of the AI

and SWLS were established in earlier research

(Stevens, Constantinescu, & Lambru, 2006a,

2006b).

Background questionnaire

The background questionnaire consisted of

open-ended and multiple-choice items thatinquired about gender, age, ethnicity, marital

438 STEVENS, CONSTANTINESCU, BUTUCESCU


5/11

status, religious affiliation, annual family income,

and academic major.

Aspiration Index

The AI has been used extensively in research on

SDT. It consists of 32 statements designed tomeasure seven major life goals: wealth, fame,

image, personal growth, relationships, community

feeling, and good health. Respondents rate each

item on two seven-point Likert scales (1not at

all, 7very) that represent the importance of the

aspiration and the likelihood of attaining it. In

addition to being internally consistent and stable,

factor analyses of the AI on US samples have

yielded two factors that correspond to extrinsic

(wealth, fame, image) and intrinsic (personal

growth, relationships, community feeling) aspira-

tions (Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996). In addition toscoring these six aspirations for their importance

and likelihood of attainment, we computed overall

importance and likelihood scores by averaging

importance and likelihood scores across aspira-

tions, as well as overall extrinsic and intrinsic

importance and likelihood scores by averaging

importance and likelihood scores across either

extrinsic or intrinsic aspirations, respectively.

Finally, we calculated respondents relative orien-

tation toward extrinsic versus intrinsic aspirations

by subtracting their overall (mean) importance and

likelihood scores for extrinsic aspirations fromtheir overall (mean) importance and likelihood

scores for intrinsic aspirations, respectively.

Financial success

The meaning of financial success consisted of a

single, open-ended item: Describe in your own

words what financial success means to you (i.e., its

significance to your life). This item was intended

to explore how Romanian and US undergraduates

currently construe financial success given prior

research suggesting a difference (Frost & Frost,2000). By adopting a qualitative method to

complement our otherwise quantitative approach,

we sought to uncover the richer, more nuanced

meaning of an important aspirationfinancial

successwith the aim of advancing the current

perspective on value-based motivation

(Alasuutari, 2010; Gilgun, 2005). Concerns about

generalizability and subjectivity notwithstanding,

our method of coding and analyzing participants

open-ended responses conformed to established

guidelines for the logico-deductive interpretation

of qualitative data (Willig & Stainton-Rogers,2008). Three Romanian and two American

judges unitized responses to the meaning of

financial success item for the Romanian sample

and US sample, respectively. A unit was defined as

a word, phrase, or sentence(s) that captures an

independent and complete idea. Judges indepen-

dently assigned each unit to one of 10 distinct

value clusters from the Schwartz Value Survey(achievement, benevolence, conformity, hedonism,

power, security, self-direction, stimulation, tradi-

tion, universalism) (Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995) or to

a miscellaneous category if ambiguous or ill-

fitting. Each unit was assigned to one value cluster

where it best fit. Intercoder reliability was not

determined because coders resolved instances of

disagreement by consensus. The Schwartz Value

Survey has been used in cross-cultural research of

this kind (Bond et al., 2004; Frost & Frost, 2000).

College Maladjustment Scale

The Mt scale is composed of 41 truefalse items

designed to measure psychological difficulties of

sufficient severity to motivate university students

to seek professional assistance. Responses are

scored in the maladjustment direction, with

higher scores measuring anxiety, inefficacy, pessi-

mism, somatization, and the experience of life as

a strain most of the time. The Mt scale shows

acceptable internal consistency, concurrent valid-

ity with established indices of general maladjust-

ment, and predictive validity with such criteria asgrade-point average and history of psychological

treatment (Lauterbach, Garcia, & Gloster, 2002).

Satisfaction with Life Scale

The SWLS is a five-item measure of subjective

wellbeing that requires the evaluation of ones

personal circumstances against normative stan-

dards. Responses are based on a seven-point

Likert scale (1 strongly disagree, 7 strongly

agree), with scores above 20 indicating life

satisfaction. The SWLS has good internal consis-tency, and factor analyses have identified a single

dimension of subjective wellbeing (Diener et al.,

1985; Frost & Frost, 2000).

Procedure

After giving consent, undergraduates completed

in counterbalanced order the background ques-

tionnaire, AI, the item on the meaning of financial

success, Mt, and SWLS. Undergraduates received

extra credit for their participation and weredebriefed.



6/11

RESULTS

Similarities between Romanian and US

undergraduates

For Romanian and US samples, AI scale scores

for importance and likelihood dimensions were

subjected to separate factor analyses with a forced

two-factor solution. Eigenvalues that approached

1 were the criteria for factor extraction. For both

samples, two factors emerged for importance scale

scores, accounting for 66.242% and 68.690% of

the variance for Romanians and Americans,

respectively. Factor 1 included three AI extrinsic

scales, with loadings on wealth, fame, and image of

.810.844 for Romanian undergraduates and .792

.880 for US undergraduates. Factor 2 included

three AI intrinsic scales, with loadings on personal

growth, relationships, and community feeling of

.732.788 and .609810 for Romanian and US

students, respectively. For both samples, two

factors emerged for likelihood scale scores,

explaining 73.642% and 69.539% of the variance

for Romanians and Americans, respectively.

Factor 1 included three AI extrinsic scales, with

loadings on wealth, fame, and image of .715.913

for Romanian undergraduates and .794.828 for

US undergraduates. Factor 2 included three AI

intrinsic scales, with loadings on personal growth,

relationships, and community feeling of .540.918

for Romanian and .771.839 for students, respec-tively. The results of these factor analyses support

the conceptual distinction between extrinsic and

intrinsic aspirations.

For Romanian and US samples, Mt and SWLS

scores were negatively correlated, r(67).520,

p5 .001, 1b .566, and r(62).561, p5 .001,

1b .597, respectively. A principal components

factor analysis with varimax rotation of Mt and

SWLS scores for both samples yielded a single

factor that accounted for 77.02% of the variance,

confirming these measures to be contrasting yet

related aspects of psychological maladjustmentand wellbeing.

Overall extrinsic importance and likelihood

scores were positively correlated for Romanian,

r(67) .672, p5 .001, 1b .784, and for

American groups, r(62) .792, p5 .001, 1

b .876. Overall intrinsic importance and like-

lihood scores were also positively correlated for

Romanian undergraduates, r(67) .458, p5 .001,

1b .465, and for US undergraduates,

r(62) .577, p5 .001, 1b .621. Overall extrinsic

and intrinsic importance scores were positively

correlated for Romanian students, r(67)

.362,p .002, 1b .315, and for US students,

r(62) .252, p .047, 1b .166. Overall extrinsic

and intrinsic likelihood scores were also positively

correlated for Romanian, r(67) .618, p5 .001,

1b

.714, and for American samples,r(62) .483, p5 .001, 1b .476. Because there

were no statistically significant gender differences

on overall intrinsic and extrinsic importance and

likelihood scores for either group, the remaining

analyses were conducted on pooled national

samples.

Relative orientation scores were correlated with

Mt and SWLS scores, with a positive association

only for US undergraduates between relative

likelihood scores and SWLS scores, r(62) .379,

p .002, 1b319. Correlations for Romanian

and US samples between AI centrality scale scores(a description of the calculation of centrality scores

appears below) and Mt and SWLS scores are given

in Table 1. The only significant correlations at an

alpha level of .01 was likelihood of personal

growth scores and SWLS scores for US students,

r(62) .412, p .001, 1b .367.

Differences between Romanian and US

undergraduates

Before determining the relationship of aspirationalcontent to psychological maladjustment and

TABLE 1

Correlations of importance and likelihood AI Centrality Scale

scores with Mt and SWLS scores for Romanian and US

undergraduates

Mt SWLS

Aspirations Romanian US Romanian US

Wealth

Importance .046 .130 .053 .095

Likelihood .150 .033 .226 .216

Fame

Importance .077 .172 .144 .194

Likelihood .088 .186 .128 .220

Image

Importance .016 .061 .064 .010

Likelihood .080 .114 .244a .079

Personal growth

Importance .071 .090 .096 .161

Likelihood .283b .234 .270c .412d

RelationshipsImportance .114 .219 .209 .167

Likelihood .109 .291 .010 .231

Community feeling

Importance .008 .084 .031 .077

Likelihood .067 .124 .060 .004

ap .044, 1b .168; bp .019, 1b .211; cp .025, 1b

.196; dp .001, 1b .381.



7/11

wellbeing, it was necessary to control for

the potential confound of the tendency to evaluate

all aspirations as important or attainable. AI

scale scores for each aspiration were centralized

by subtracting either mean importance or

likelihood scores from raw importance or like-

lihood scale scores, respectively. Then eight

stepwise regressions were performed with centra-

lized AI scale scores as predictors either of Mt or

SWLS scores for Romanian and US

undergraduates.

For Romanian and US samples, the regressionof centralized importance scale scores on Mt was

not significant. Unlike the results for the American

group, the regression of centralized likelihood

scale scores on Mt scores was significant for

Romanian undergraduates, R2 .080, F(1,

67)5.811, p .019, f20.087, 1b .686; cen-

tralized likelihood of personal growth scores

negatively predicted Mt scores, b.283. The

regression of centralized likelihood scale scores on

SWLS scores was significant for Romanian

students, R2 .142, F(2, 66)5.453, p .006,

f

2

.166, 1b

.854, and US students,R2 .170, F(1, 60)12.297, p .001, f20.205,

1b .949. For Romanian participants, SWLS

scores were positively predicted by centralized

likelihood of personal growth scores, b .304,

and centralized likelihood of wealth scores,

b .264, DR2 .069, F(1, 66)5.290, p .025,

f20.074, 1b .617. For American participants,

centralized likelihood of Personal growth scores

positively predicted SWLS scores, b .412.

To further identify differences between

Romanian and US samples, we conducted t-tests

on overall importance and likelihood scores,overall extrinsic and intrinsic importance

scores, overall extrinsic likelihood and intrinsic

likelihood scores, centralized importance and

likelihood scores for AI extrinsic scales (wealth,

fame, image) and AI intrinsic scales (personal

growth, relationships, community feeling), and Mt

and SWLS scores. Alpha was set at .01 to correct

for the accumulation of experiment-wise error.

Only one of the t-tests reached significance;

Romanian undergraduates produced significantly

lower likelihood scores averaged across intrinsic

aspirations than did US undergraduates,

t(129)

2.849, p

.005, d

0.502, 1b

.813.The rank order of centralized AI scale scores for

Romanian and American groups was virtually the

same (Table 2).

The 58 Romanian undergraduates who

responded to the open-ended item on the meaning

of financial success generated 92 units. Units were

assigned primarily to eight value clusters, most

often to hedonism (e.g., pleasure; 25.0%), mis-

cellaneous (20.0%), security (e.g., family protec-

tion; 15.2%), tradition (e.g., moderation; 12.0%),

and benevolence (e.g., helpfulness; 10.9%).

Achievement (e.g., success), self-direction (e.g.,freedom), and power (e.g., authority) each con-

tained less than 10% of all units, with no units

assigned to conformity (e.g., obedience), stimula-

tion (e.g., excitement), or universalism (e.g., justice

and peace). The 62 US undergraduates who

responded generated 168 units on financial suc-

cess. Units were assigned to all 10 value clusters,

most often to tradition (23.8%), benevolence

(17.9%), security (17.3%), and hedonism

(16.1%). The seven remaining clusters each con-

tained less than 10% of all units. For example,

approximately 1% of units linked financial successto power or self-direction.

TABLE 2

Ranking of importance and likelihood AI Centrality Scale scores for Romanian and US

undergraduates

Importance Romanian mean (SD) Importance US mean (SD)

Personal growth 6.54 (3.57) Relationships 7.88 (9.33)

Relationships 6.37 (4.71) Personal growth 5.78 (3.65)

Community feeling 2.53 (4.37) Community feeling 3.28 (4.50)Wealth 3.89 (4.20) Wealth 3.20 (4.50)

Image 4.01 (4.76) Image 5.25 (4.80)

Fame 7.54 (4.75) Fame 8.50 (4.67)

Likelihood Likelihood

Relationships 6.07 (4.39) Relationships 6.28 (3.22)

Personal growth 5.25 (3.04) Personal growth 4.47 (3.22)

Community feeling 1.93 (4.07) Community feeling 3.47 (4.12)

Image 2.71 (4.23) Image 3.08 (3.82)

Wealth 4.17 (4.35) Wealth 3.26 (4.03)

Fame 6.36 (4.11) Fame 7.89 (3.99)



8/11

DISCUSSION

Factor analyses of age-residualized AI scale scores

lent additional support to the distinction between

extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations by Romanian

and US undergraduates. Outcomes of the factor

analyses are in line with the two-factor solutionsfor the AI established in prior research on US

adolescents and young adults (Deci & Ryan, 2000;

Kasser, 2002; Kasser & Ryan, 1996), cross-cultural

comparisons of US and German undergraduates

(Schmuck et al., 2000), and a large-scale transna-

tional investigation that included a Romanian

sample (Grouzet et al., 2005). The single-factor

solution and negative relationship between mal-

adjustment and life satisfaction underscores the

notion that psychological wellbeing may have

individual and cultural dimensions and determi-

nants (Bond et al., 2004; Schwarzer & Gutierrez-Dona, 2000; Spector et al., 2001; van den Berg &

Pitariu, 2005). Specifically, the presence of anxiety,

cynicism, disagreeableness, inefficacy, externality,

somatization, and strain may impede the experi-

ence of wellbeing, whereas the absence or opposite

of such tendencies may enable a person to

experience wellbeing. The organismic perspective

(Fromm, 1976; Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1947) and

its progeny, SDT (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000;

Kasser, 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001), offer

insights into how psychological maladjustment

and life satisfaction may co-create each other,which can guide empirical efforts to articulate the

construct of psychological wellbeing. Perspectives

that feature generalized expectancies (Bond et al.,

2004) and personality dispositions (Spector et al.,

2001; van den Berg & Pitariu, 2005) represent

promising alternative approaches for understand-

ing this relationship.

Our primary goal was to replicate the associa-

tions of extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations to

psychological wellbeing and to examine whether

these aspirations would be inversely related to

psychological maladjustment among a contempor-ary sample of Romanian and American under-

graduates. We found partial support for the

linkages predicted by SDT. Unlike earlier investi-

gations (Frost & Frost, 2000; Kasser & Ryan,

1993, 2006; Ryan et al., 1999; Schmuck et al.,

2000), we did not find that relative importance and

likelihood of attaining extrinsic aspirations nega-

tively predicted maladjustment or wellbeing, with

the exception of attaining wealth. Contrary to

SDT (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Kasser, 2002;

Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001), expectations of attain-

ing wealth were positively linked to wellbeing forRomanian undergraduates, perhaps indicating

that financial success, once perceived as an

important but unlikely goal (Frost & Frost,

2000), may now be within reach and, in accor-

dance with social cognitive theory (Carver &

Scheier, 1997; Oishi et al., 1999), enhance sub-

jective wellbeing.

Because Romania is poorer than the UnitedStates (Ingelhart, 1997; Ingelhart & Baker, 2000),

as were Romanian undergraduates relative to their

American peers, Romanians in general may not be

in circumstances in which financial success as a

central life aspiration has the same adverse

psychological consequences as it does for citizens

of wealthier nations (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000;

Grouzet et al., 2005; Kasser, 2002; Kasser & Ryan,

1993, 1996; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001; Schmuck

et al., 2000). Given consistent widespread dissa-

tisfaction with their living standard (Soros

Foundation Romania, 2007), it seems reasonablethat the lower-order (extrinsic) needs of Romanian

students would need to be met materially before

organismic (intrinsic) needs could be pursued

(Maslow, 1954). In fact, the perceived economic

status of Romanians (i.e., goods owned and

favorable social comparisons) is tied to their

subjective wellbeing (Cernat, 2010). Moreover,

related studies on happiness (Csikszentmihalyi,

1999; Myers, 2000) show that a precondition of

psychological wellbeing is a modest and stable

income, after which less tangible and more mean-

ingful commitments become sources for fulfillment(e.g., personal growth).

Recent investigations have advanced the view

that financial success, though still belonging to the

extrinsic cluster of aspirations, may have a more

nuanced connotation for citizens of economically

disadvantaged countries than for those of post-

materialistic nations (Cernat, 2010; Grouzet et al.,

2005). More so than their US peers, Romanian

undergraduates construed financial success as a

way to enjoy the pleasures of life with, perhaps,

less forbearance toward moderation and self-

sacrifice given the economic hardships they con-tinue to experience. However, like the US sample,

Romanian students reported that financial success

offered them and their families a greater sense of

order, security, and opportunity to reciprocate;

such pragmatic, survival (Ingelhart & Baker,

2000) values suggest that financial success may not

be related either to a sense of conferred worth or

to the fulfillment of organismic needs. Given the

association between internality and wellbeing

(Spector et al., 2001) and evidence that the young

and educated believe they are responsible for their

happiness (Mungiu-Pippidi, 2010), it is importantto explore the cognitive mediation of the



9/11

relationship between wealth and life satisfaction

(Bond et al., 2004).

As for intrinsic aspirations, the relative like-

lihood of attaining personal growth positively

predicted psychological wellbeing for Romanian

and US undergraduates, and negatively predicted

maladjustment for Romanians. These findingsdepart from prior cross-cultural research in

which such relationships did not emerge for

Romanian students (Frost & Frost, 2000).

Personal growth is central to organismic theory,

representing a tendency found in individualistic

cultures (Draguns & Tanaka-Matsumi, 2003). In

collectivistic cultures, increased striving toward

personal growth may represent an unintended

consequence of globalization (e.g., a decline in

traditional authority and rise in secularrational

values) (Bond et al., 2004; Ingelhart, 1997;

Ingelhart & Baker, 2000), especially amongyoung adults. This interpretation is bolstered by

the ranking of community feeling as the least

important and attainable organismic need, which

was unrelated to psychological maladjustment and

wellbeing (cf. Frost & Frost, 2000). Alternatively,

the results may simply reflect developmentally

appropriate aspirations for undergraduates as they

emerge from adolescence into early adulthood,

adopting an open stance toward personal and

vocational sources of fulfillment (van den Berg &

Pitariu, 2005).

That the relative likelihood of attaining personalgrowth positively predicted psychological well-

being supports a social cognitive interpretation

rather than one grounded in SDT. That is,

expectations for initiating and sustaining agentic

action aimed at fulfilling intrinsic goals rather than

the content of these goals are experienced as

satisfying and free of discomfort (Carver &

Scheier, 1998; Oishi et al., 1999). The link for US

students between their stronger orientation toward

anticipated goal attainment and psychological

wellbeing further supports the social cognitive

formulation. Romanian students have come toexperience themselves as more capable of attaining

their inherent needs, though less efficacious than

their American peers, perhaps because they are

better educated (Mungiu-Pippidi, 2010) and less

thoroughly socialized by communism (Cernat,

2010). However, ordinary Romanians internality

is lower than that of Americans (Spector et al.,

2001) and their generalized expectancies reflect

greater perceived hostility toward citizens by the

social system in which they are situated (Bond

et al., 2004; Sandu, 1999). Such cognitive appre-

hension and fatalism imply that even youngRomanians may be hampered in fulfilling intrinsic

aspirations by lingering ecological conditions (e.g.,

lack of a new statecitizenry social contract;

Mungiu-Pippidi, 2010).

Unlike previous studies that reported differences

between US and European samples (Frost &

Frost, 2000; Grouzet et al., 2005; Ryan et al.,

1999; Schmuck et al., 2000), no significantdifferences emerged between Romanian and US

undergraduates on overall importance scores, on

the relative importance and likelihood of attaining

extrinsic and intrinsic aspirations, or on indices of

psychological functioning; however, Romanian

students had lower overall expectations of realiz-

ing their intrinsic goals. Ten years ago, Romanian

students were generally less fulfilled and confident

than American students about meeting their

aspirations, particularly those related to financial

success, personal growth, relationships, and com-

munity feeling (Frost & Frost, 2000). At present,young Romanian and American adults have

similar perceptions of the relative importance and

anticipated success in attaining their needs, both

material and organismic. Our Romanian under-

graduate sample suffered fewer years of commu-

nist indoctrination (Cernat, 2010), and, owing to

their youth at the time, experienced less depriva-

tion and oppression than did undergraduates

sampled by Frost and Frost (2000). Moreover,

the process of globalization in general and

integration into the European Union and NATO

specifically may have fostered cultural homogeni-zation (Ingelhart 1997; Ingelhart & Baker, 2000) in

which the United States has had a profound

impact on the worldview and lifestyle of many

Romanians (Condruz-Bacescu & Maftei, 2007).

Similarities aside, Romania is a country of

unhappy optimists (Soros Foundation Romania,

2007). Ordinary Romanians are less satisfied than

Americans (Spector et al., 2001), including

younger Romanians privileged by education and

perceived economic advantage (Cernat, 2010).

Although receptive to pathways for reaching

valued intrinsic goals (van den Berg & Pitariu,2005) and responsible for their happiness

(Mungiu-Pippidi, 2010), Romanian undergradu-

ates may lack confidence in their ability to succeed.

Their motivational trajectory may ultimately

reflect the sclerotic societal dynamics (Sandu,

1999) that undermine internal control beliefs

(Spector et al., 2001) and harden expectations of

maleficence (Bond et al., 2004).

The rank-ordering of aspirations according to

their relative importance and likelihood of attain-

ment are consistent with SDT and research

suggesting that, because intrinsic aspirationsreflect organismic needs, they are perceived as



10/11

inherently more important and attainable than

extrinsic goals (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Kasser,

2002; Ryan & Deci, 2000, 2001). The only

discrepancy in ranking was that Romanian under-

graduates placed the importance of personal

growth first and relationships second, whereas

American undergraduates reversed the order ofthese aspirations. As already noted, personal

growth was a priority aspiration for both samples,

but the rank ordering further identified relation-

ships as important and within reach, and related to

the experience of happiness (Csikszentmihalyi,

1999; Myers, 2000).

As Frost and Frost (2000) exhorted, Further

research into the study of East European nations

is needed in psychology (p. 748), particularly the

relationship of value-based motivation to psycho-

logical functioning given the multidimensional

transition that continues to impact the region(Cernat, 2010; Condruz-Bacescu & Maftei, 2007;

Mungiu-Pippidi, 2010; Sandu, 1999). Although

our study is constrained by its reliance on

relatively small and homogeneous samples of

convenience, mixed methods of data collection,

and variable effect sizes and power, it provides an

informative update to the cross-cultural literature

on aspirations and wellbeing. Among the more

prominent findings were the link between intrinsic

goals, specifically expectations of personal growth,

and wellbeing; the lack of association between

extrinsic goals and psychological dysfunction;indications that extrinsic aspirations may be

subsidiary to pragmatic values; the higher rankings

given by Romanian and US undergraduates to

intrinsic than extrinsic aspirations and conver-

gence between samples on the importance and

likelihood of attaining these goals; and evidence

favoring the social cognitive perspective in which

expectations of attaining aspirations are more

critical in determining wellbeing than their con-

tent. Simply put, the aspirations of young

Romanians and Americans have become more

similar. Future cross-cultural studies shouldembrace a multidisciplinary framework with

which to disentangle the complex relationship

between aspirations and wellbeing (e.g., Bond

et al., 2004; Grouzet et al., 2005; Spector et al.,

2001). In addition to administering more sensitive

measures of dysfunction and eudaimonic measures

of wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2001), we encourage

investigators to examine how diverse aspirations

are socially constructed, as such studies will clarify

the reasons why such goals are pursued and the

extent to which they may reflect universally held

values (Schwartz, 1994). We further recommendthat research on individual and national

differences include promising cognitive and per-

sonality variables (e.g., control beliefs, generalized

expectancies, Big Five) that may explain more fully

the relationship between value-based motivation

and psychological functioning.

Manuscript received July 2010

Revised manuscript accepted December 2010First published online April 2011

REFERENCES

Alasuutari, P. (2010). The rise and relevance of quali-tative research. International Journal of SocialResearch Methodology: Theory & Practice, 12,139155.

Ben-Porath, Y. S., McCully, E., Almagor, M., Butcher,J. N., Graham, J. R., Brems, C., et al. (2000). MMPI-2 content scales. In J. N. Butcher (Ed.), Basic scoreson the MMPI-2 (pp. 341434). Minneapolis, MN:University of Minnesota Press.

Bond, M. H., Leung, K., Au, A., Tong, K.-K., deCarrasquel, S., Murakami, F., et al. (2004). Culture-level dimensions of social axioms and their correlatesacross 41 countries. Journal of Cross-CulturalPsychology, 35, 548570.

Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-culturalresearch. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1,85216.

Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. New York, NY: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Cernat, V. (2010). Socio-economic status and politicalsupport in post-communist Romania. Communist and

Post-Communist Studies, 43, 4350.Condruz-Bacescu, M., & Maftei, M. M. (2007).

Globalization is reshaping the Romanian culture.In N. Dardac (Ed.), Change leadership in Romaniasnew economy (pp. 222229). Bucharest, Romania:National University Research Council.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). If we are so rich, whyarent we happy? American Psychologist, 54, 821827.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivationand self-determination in human behavior. New York,NY: Plenum.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The what andwhy of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11,

227268.Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S.

(1985). Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal ofPersonality Assessment, 49, 7175.

Draguns, J. G., & Tanaka-Matsumi, J. (2003).Assessment of psychopathology across and withincultures: Issues and findings. Behaviour Research andTherapy, 41, 755776.

Fromm, E. (1976). To have or to be?. New York, NY:Harper & Row.

Frost, K. M., & Frost, C. J. (2000). Romanian andAmerican life aspirations in relation to psychologicalwell-being. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31,726751.

Gilgun, J. F. (2005). Qualitative research and familypsychology. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 4050.



11/11

Grouzet, F. M. E., Kasser, T., Ahuvia, A., Dols, J. M. F.,Kim, Y., Lau, S., et al. (2005). The structure of goalcontents across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 89, 800816.

Hambleton, R. K., & Patsula, L. (1999). Increasing thevalidity of adapted tests: Myths to be avoided andguidelines for improving test adaptation practices.Journal of Applied Testing Technology, 1, 112.

Ingelhart, R. (1997). Modernization and postmoderniza-tion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Ingelhart, R., & Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization,cultural change and the persistance of traditionalvalues. American Sociological Review, 65, 1951.

Kasser, T. (2002). The high price of materialism.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of theAmerican dream: Correlates of financial success asa central life aspiration. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 65, 410422.

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examiningthe American dream: Differential correlates ofintrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social

Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280287.Kleinmuntz, B. (1961). Identification of maladjusted

college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 7,209211.

Lauterbach, D., Garcia, M., & Gloster, A. (2002).Psychometric properties and predictive validityof the Mt scale of the MMPI-2. Assessment, 9,390400.

Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. NewYork, NY: Harper & Row.

Mungiu-Pippidi, A. (2010). The other transition. Journalof Democracy, 21, 120127.

Myers, D. G. (2000). The funds, friends, and faith ofhappy people. American Psychologist, 55, 5667.

Oishi, S., Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Suh, E. (1999).Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfac-tion: Perspectives from needs and values. Personalityand Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 980990.

Rogers, C. R. (1947). Some observations on theorganization of personality. American Psychologist,2, 358368.

Ryan, R. M., Chirkov, V.I., Little, T. D., Sheldon, K. M.,Timoshina, E., & Deci, E. L. (1999). The Americandream in Russia: Extrinsic aspirations and well-beingin two cultures. Personality and Social PsychologyBulletin, 25, 15091524.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). The darker andbrighter sides of human existence: Basic psychologi-

cal needs as a unifying concept. PsychologicalInquiry, 11, 319338.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness andhuman potentials: A review of research on hedonicand eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review ofPsychology, 52, 141166.

Sandu, D. (1999). Spatiul social al tranzitiei[Social spaceof the transition]. Iasi, Romania: Polirom.

Schmuck, P., Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Intrinsicand extrinsic goals: Their structure and relationship

to well-being in German and U.S. college students.Social Indicators Research, 50, 225241.

Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are there universal aspects in thestructure and contents of human values? Journal ofSocial Issues, 50, 550562.

Schwartz, S. H., & Sagiv, L. (1995). Identifyingculture-specifics in the content and structure ofvalues. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26,92116.

Schwarzer, R., & Gutierrez-Dona, B. (2000). Healthpsychology. In K. Pawlik, & M. R. Rosenzweig (Eds.),The international handbook of psychology(pp. 452465). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Soros Foundation Romania. (2007). Public opinion

barometer 19982007: Romania. The country ofunhappy optimists. Retrieved from www.soros.ro/en/publicatii.php?cat=2.

Spector, P. E., Cooper, C. L., Sanchez, J. I.,ODriscoll, M., Sparks, K., Bernin, P., et al.(2001). Do national level of individualism andinternal locus of control relate to well-being?. Anecological level international study. Journal ofOrganizational Behavior, 22, 815832.

Stevens, M. J., Constantinescu, P.-M., & Lambru, I.(2006a, July). Romanian translation of the Satisfactionwith Life Scale. Paper session presented at the 26thInternational Congress of Applied Psychology,Athens, Greece.

Stevens, M. J., Constantinescu, P.-M., & Lambru, I.(2006b, August). Romanian translation of theAspiration Index. Paper session presented at the114th Annual Convention of the AmericanPsychological Association, New Orleans, LA.

Tanzer, N. K., & Sim, C. Q. E. (1999). Adaptinginstruments for use in multiple languages andcultures: A review of the ITC guidelines for testadaptations. European Journal of PsychologicalAssessment, 15, 258269.

van den Berg, P., & Pitariu, H. (2005). The relationshipsbetween personality and well-being during societalchange. Personality & Individual Differences, 39,229234.

Willig, C., & Stainton-Rogers, W. (Eds). (2008). The

Sage handbook of qualitative research in psychology.London, UK: Sage.


Documents

Aspirations and Well-being