Self-concept consistency and future orientation during the transition to adulthood

Abstract

The aim of the study, upon which this article is based, was to investigate self-concept consistency and orientation towards the future in a sample of Swedish late adolescents (mean age 18.5). The introject part of structural analysis of social behaviour questionnaire, a future index, and an incomplete sentence task were administered to 132 participants. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that participants with an inconsistent self-concept had a significantly more negative view of their future relative to those with a consistent self-concept. Qualitative analyses were consistent with quantitative findings but also revealed similarities among respondents in terms of ‘what’ they think about, when they think about their futures. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of theoretical models of self-concept consistency and successful developmental transitions to adulthood.