Social cognitive variables associated with educational aspirations, motivation, and risky behaviors

Identifying the psychological factors that are related to academic achievement and behavior problems in adolescents is an important research goal. The literature suggests that academic aspirations and academic achievement are related to risky behaviors, comparative evaluations, attributions, hope, and motivation. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the patterns of relations of these variables.; The results of this study are based on 294 African-American high school students. Hypotheses were evaluated with regression analyses, to evaluate which variables were predictive of the outcome variables and to evaluate for moderator or mediator effects. Evaluative style was found to mediate the relation of hope on a person's belief that they would attend college, or some other form of higher education. Attributional style was also found to mediate the relation of hope on a person's belief that they would attend college, or some other form of higher education. These findings indicate that evaluative style and attributional style may be more indicative of schemas the person holds about himself and more predictive than hope. Other interesting findings were also present, but no variables were found to significantly predict risky behaviors. Research may need to distinguish between "risky behaviors" that are indicative of future problems and risky behaviors that are typical adolescent behaviors. Also, educational systems may benefit from programs that evaluate children's social cognitions---their beliefs about themselves and their world---and design ways to work with those at risk for low self-efficacy and limited aspirations.