Family contexts, individual characteristics, proximal settings, and adolescents' aspirations.

This study examined relations among family contexts, individual characteristics, proximal family and school settings, and adolescents' aspirations. As part of a national longitudinal investigation of Australian secondary school students, data were collected from 1,724 boys and 1,788 girls. The results suggest (a) family contexts defined conjointly by family social status and parents' perceived aspirations have medium to large associations with adolescents' educational aspirations and small significant associations with occupational aspirations. (b) Also, relations between family contexts and adolescents' aspirations are mediated in part by measures of adolescents' individual characteristics and their perceptions of proximal learning settings. (c) There are family context differences in the nature of the linear and curvilinear relations among individual characteristics, proximal settings, and adolescents' aspirations. Further, (d) there are sex-related variations in the associations between family contexts, individual characteristics, proximal learning settings, and adolescents' aspirations.