Abstract
The current study investigated emerging adults’ help seeking from friends to deal with academic difficulties, and the mediating role of this help seeking in the associations between perceived goal structures and academic and social adjustment among 300 emerging adults (N = 300; Mage = 22.28; 50% female). Structural equation modeling results confirmed that emerging adults’ help seeking from friends (i.e., adaptive or avoiding) mediated the effects of perceived goal structures (i.e., mastery or performance) on academic and social adjustment. Emerging adults who perceived greater emphasis on mastery were more likely to seek adaptive help, whereas those who perceived greater emphasis on performance were more likely to avoid seeking help from friends. Further, adaptive help seeking was positively related to friendship satisfaction and academic engagement, while avoiding help seeking was negatively related to friendship satisfaction and positively related to anxious solitude. The findings emphasize the importance of mastery-oriented environment to foster emerging adults’ adaptive help seeking and academic and social adjustment in college.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altermatt, E. R. (2007). Coping with academic failure: Gender differences in students’ self-reported interactions with family members and friends. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(4), 479–508. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431607902938
Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(5), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.84.3.261
Anderman, E. M., & Wolters, C. A. (2006). Goals, values, and affect: Influences on student motivation. In P. A. Alexander & P. H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology (pp. 369–389). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Angelopoulos, M., & Catano, V. M. (1993). International and Canadian students' choice of helping source: It depends on the problem. Journal of College Student Development, 34(5), 377–378.
Arbreton, A. J. A. (1993). When getting help is helpful: Developmental, cognitive, and motivational influences on students' academic help-seeking. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 54(3-A), 863–864.
Arnett, J. J. (2004). Adolescence and emerging adulthood 2nd Ed. Pearson.
Arnett, J. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: What is it, and what is it good for. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 68–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00016.x
Asher, S. R., & Paquette, J. A. (2003). Loneliness and peer relations in childhood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(3), 75–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01233
Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty. Jossey-Bass.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis.
Cassidy, J., & Asher, S. R. (1992). Loneliness and peer relations in young children. Child Development, 63(2), 250–365. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb01632.x
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
Cohen, S., & Hoberman, H. M. (1983). Positive events and social supports as buffers of life change stress. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 13(2), 99–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1983.tb02325.x
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J., & Jaser, S. S. (2004). Temperament, stress reactivity, and coping: Implications for depression in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 33(1), 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3301_3
Côté, J. E. (2006). Emerging adulthood as an institutionalized moratorium: Risks and benefits to identity formation. In J. J. Arnett & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 85–116). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11381-004
Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040–1048. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1040
Elliot, A. H., & McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2 x 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(3), 501–519. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.501
Erath, S. A., Flanagan, K. S., Bierman, K. L., & Tu, K. M. (2010). Friendships moderate psychosocial maladjustment in socially anxious early adolescents. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(1), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2009.05.005
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Growth and crises of the "healthy personality". In M. J. E. Senn (Ed.), Symposium on the healthy personality (pp. 91–146). Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. (psychological issues, no. 1). International Universities Press.
Erkut, S. (2010). Developing multiple language versions of instruments for intercultural research. Child Development Perspectives, 4(1), 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00111.x
Fickova, E. (2001). Personality regulators of coping behavior in adolescents. Studia Psychologica, 43(4), 321–329.
Garcia-Reid, P. (2007). Examining social capital as a mechanism for improving school engagement among low-income Hispanic girls. Youth & Society, 39(2), 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X07303263
Gazelle, H., & Ladd, G. W. (2003). Anxious solitude and peer exclusion: A diathesis-stress model of internalizing trajectories in childhood. Child Development, 74(1), 257–278. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00534
Gazelle, H., & Rudolph, K. D. (2004). Moving toward and away from the world: Social approach and avoidance trajectories in anxious solitary youth. Child Development, 75(3), 829–849. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00709.x
Givens Rolland, R. (2012). Synthesizing the evidence on classroom goal structures in middle and secondary schools: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Review of Educational Research, 82(4), 396–435. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312464909
Grant, H., & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.541
Guay, F., Boivin, M., & Hodges, E. V. E. (1999). Predicting change in academic achievement: A model of peer experiences and self-system processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1097/0022-0663.91.1.105
Hall, S. M. (2018). Everyday austerity: Towards relational geographies of family, friendship and intimacy. Progress in Human Geography, 43(5), 769–789. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132518796280
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Structural equation modeling: A multidisciplinary journal cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 37–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M. L. (1999). Achievement goals and student well-being. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24(4), 330–358. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.0993
Kaplan, A., & Midgely, C. (1999). The relationship between perceptions of the classroom goal structure and early adolescents’ affect in school: The mediating role of coping strategies. Learning and Individual Differences, 11(2), 187–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-6048(00)80005-9
Kaplan, A., Gheen, M., & Midgley, C. (2002). Classroom goal structure and student disruptive behaviour. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 191–211. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709902158847
Karabenick, S. A. (2003). Seeking help in large college classes: A person-centered approach. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(1), 37–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00012-7
Karabenick, S. A. (2004). Perceived achievement goal structure and college student help seeking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(3), 569–581. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.3.569
Karabenick, S. A., & Berger, J. L. (2013). Help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy. In H. Bembenutty, T. J. Cleary, & A. Kitsantas (Eds.), Applications of self-regulated learning across diverse disciplines: A tribute to Barry J. Zimmerman (pp. 237–261). IAP Information Age Publishing.
Karabenick, S. A., & Knapp, J. R. (1991). Relationship of academic help seeking to the use of learning strategies and other instrumental achievement behavior in college students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(2), 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.83.2.221
Karabenick, S. A., & Newman, R. S. (Eds.). (2006). Help seeking in academic settings: Goals, groups, and contexts. Erlbaum.
Karabenick, S. A., & Newman, R. S. (2009). Seeking help: Generalizable self-regulatory process and social-cultural barometer. In M. Wosnitza, S. A. Karabenick, A. Efklides, & P. Nenniger (Eds.), Contemporary motivation research: From global to local perspectives (pp. 25–48). Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
Karabenick, S. A., & Sharma, R. (1994). Perceived teacher support of student questioning in the college classroom: Its relation to student characteristics and role in the classroom questioning process. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 90–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0063.86.1.90
Kiefer, S. M., & Shim, S. S. (2016). Academic help seeking from peers during adolescence: The role of social goals. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 42, 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2015.12.002
Knapp, J. R., & Karabenick, S. A. (1988). Incidence of formal and informal academic help-seeking in higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 29(3), 223–227.
Kroger, J. (2003). What transits in an identity status transition: A rejoinder to commentaries. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 3(3), 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532706XID0303_07
Kurdek, L. A., & Sinclair, R. J. (2000). Psychological, family, and peer predictors of academic outcomes in first-through fifth-grade children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.92.3.449
Le Mare, L., & Sohbat, E. (2002). Canadian students' perceptions of teacher characteristics that support or inhibit help seeking. The Elementary School Journal, 102(3), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.1086/499702
Lengua, L. J., & Long, A. C. (2002). The role of emotionality and self-regulation in the appraisal–coping process: Tests of direct and moderating effects. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23(4), 471–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0193-3973(02)00129-6
Levy-Tossman, I., Kaplan, A., & Assor, A. (2007). Academic goal orientations, multiple goal profiles, and friendship intimacy among early adolescents. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(2), 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.06.001
Marchand, G., & Skinner, E. A. (2007). Motivational dynamics of children’s academic help-seeking and concealment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(1), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0063.99.1.65
Makara, K. A., & Karabenick, S. A. (2013). Characterizing sources of academic help in the age of expanding educational technology: A new conceptual framework. In S. A. Karabenick & M. Puustinen (Eds.), Advances in help-seeking research and applications: The role of emerging technologies (pp. 37–72). IAP Information Age Publishing.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
McKeachie, W. J. (1999). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (10th ed.). Heath.
Meece, A. A. (2006). Classroom goal structure, student motivation and academic achievement. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 478–503. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070258
Midgley, C. (Ed.). (2002). Goals, goal structures, and orientations of adaptive learning. Erlbaum.
Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., Freeman, K. E., & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales. University of Michigan.
Miserandino, M. (1996). Children who do well in school: Individual differences in perceived competence and autonomy in above-average children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(2), 203–214. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0063.88.2.203
Nelson-Le Gall, S. (1985). Help-seeking behavior in learning. Review of Research in Education, 12(1), 55–90. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X012001055
Nelson-Le Gall, S., & Glor-Scheib, S. (1985). Help seeking in elementary classrooms: An observational study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 10(1), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476X(85)90006-2
Newman, R. S. (1994). Adaptive help seeking: A strategy of self-regulated learning. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regulation of learning and performance: Issues and educational applications (pp. 283–301). Lawrence Erlbaum Associated, Inc.
Newman, R. S. (1998). Students’ help seeking during problem solving: Influences of personal and contextual achievement goal. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 644–658. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.90.4.644
Newman, R. S. (2000). Social influences on the development of children's adaptive help seeking: The role of parents, teachers, and peers. Developmental Review, 20(3), 350–404. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1999.0502
Newman, R. S., & Schwager, M. T. (1993). Students’ perceptions of the teacher and classmates in relation to reported help seeking in math class. The Elementary School Journal, 94(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1086/461747
Nicholls, J. (1984). Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review, 91(3), 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.91.3.328
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611–621. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.611
Patrick, H., Kaplan, A., & Ryan, A. M. (2011). Positive classroom motivational environments: Convergence between mastery goal structure and classroom social climate. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 367–382. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023311
Perrine, R. M., Lisle, J., & Tucker, D. L. (1995). Effects of a syllabus offer of help, student age, and class size on college students' willingness to seek support from faculty. The Journal of Experimental Education, 64(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1995.9943794
Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D. A., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. H. (1993). Reliability and predictive validity of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ). Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53(3), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316449305003024
Radmacher, K., & Azmitia, M. (2006). Are there gendered pathways to intimacy in early adolescents’ and emerging adults’ friendships? Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(4), 415–448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558406287402
Rose, A. J., & Rudolph, K. D. (2006). A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys. Psychological Bulletin, 132(1), 98–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.98
Roseth, C. J., Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2008). Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: The effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 223–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.2.223
Roussel, P., Elliot, A. J., & Feltman, R. (2011). The influence of achievement goals and social goals on help-seeking from peers in an academic context. Learning and Instruction, 21(3), 394–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2010.05.003
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W. M., & Parker, J. G. (2006a). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 571–645). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Rubin, K. H., Wojslawowicz, J. C., Rose-Krasnor, L., Booth-LaForce, C., & Burgess, K. B. (2006b). The best friendships of shy/withdrawn children: Prevalence, stability, and relationship quality. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(2), 139–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9017-4
Ryan, A. M., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). “Should I ask for help?” the role of motivation and attitudes in adolescents’ help seeking in math class. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(2), 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.2.329
Ryan, A. M., & Shim, S. S. (2012). Changes in help seeking from peers during early adolescence: Associations with changes in achievement and perceptions of teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(4), 1122–1134. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027696
Ryan, A. M., & Shin, H. (2011). Help-seeking tendencies during early adolescence: An examination of motivational correlates and consequences for achievement. Learning and Instruction, 21(2), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2010.0
Ryan, A. M., Gheen, M. H., & Midgley, C. (1998). Why do some students avoid asking for help? An examination of the interplay among students' academic efficacy, teachers' social–emotional role, and the classroom goal structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 528–535. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.90.3.528
Ryan, A. M., Pintrich, P. R., & Midgley, C. (2001). Avoiding seeking help in the classroom: Who and why? Educational Psychology Review, 13(2), 93–114. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009013420053
Ryan, A. M., Patrick, H., & Shim, S. O. (2005). Differential profiles of students identified by their teacher as having avoidant, appropriate, or dependent help-seeking tendencies in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.2.275
Schenke, K., Lam, A. C., Conley, A. M., & Karbenick, S. A. (2015). Adolescents’ help seeking in mathematics classrooms: Relations between achievement and perceived classroom environmental influences over one school year. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 133–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.01.003
Senko, C., & Dawson, B. (2017). Performance-approach goal effects depend on how they are defined: Meta-analytic evidence from multiple educational outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(4), 574–598. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000160
Shim, S. S., Kiefer, S. M., & Wang, C. (2013). Help seeking among peers: The role of goal structure and peer climate. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(4), 290–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2012.692733
Shim, S. S., Wang, C., Makara, K., Xu, X., Xie, L., & Zhong, M. (2017). College students’ social goals and psychological adjustment: Mediation via emotion regulation. Journal of College Student Development, 58(8), 1237–1255. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0096
Shin, H. (2018). The role of friends in help-seeking tendencies during early adolescence: Do classroom goal structures moderate selection and influence of friends? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 53, 135–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.03.002
Shin, H. (2021). Early adolescents’ social achievement goals and perceived relational support: Their additive and interactive effects on social behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.767599
Shin, H., & Ryan, A. M. (2012). How do young adolescents cope with social problems? An examination of social goals, coping with friends, and social adjustment. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 32(6), 851–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431611429944
Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. H. (1993). Motivation in the classroom reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(4), 571–581. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.85.4.571
Skinner, E. A., Kindermann, T. A., & Furrer, C. J. (2009). A motivational perspective on engagement and disaffection: Conceptualization and assessment of children's behavioral and emotional participation in academic activities in the classroom. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(3), 493–525. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316440832323
Spangler, T., & Gazelle, H. (2009). Anxious solitude, unsociability, and peer exclusion in middle childhood: A multitrait–multimethod matrix. Social Development, 18(4), 833–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00517.x
Triandis, H. C., McCusker, C., & Hui, C. H. (1990). Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5), 1006–1020. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.5.1006
Turner, J. C., Midgley, C., Meyer, D. K., Gheen, M., Anderman, E. M., Kang, Y., & Patrick, H. (2002). The classroom environment and students' reports of avoidance strategies in mathematics: A multimethod study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 88–106. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.94.1.88
Urdan, T. (2010). The challenges and promise of research on classroom goal structures. In Handbook of research on schools, schooling and human development (pp. 110–126). Routledge.
Vanhalst, J., Soenens, B., Luyckx, K., Van Petegem, S., Weeks, M. S., & Asher, S. R. (2015). Why do the lonely stay lonely? Chronically lonely adolescents' attributions and emotions in situations of social inclusion and exclusion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(5), 932–948. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000051
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2012). Social support matters: Longitudinal effects of social support on three dimensions of school engagement from middle to high school. Child Development, 83(3), 877–895. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01745.x
Webb, N. M., Ing, M., Kersting, N., & Nemer, K. M. (2006). Help seeking in cooperative groups. In S. A. Karabenick & R. S. Newman (Eds.), Help seeking in academic settings: Goals, groups, and contexts (pp. 45–88). Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shin, H., Park, C. Emerging adults’ help seeking from friends: the role of perceived goal structures and implications for adjustment. Curr Psychol 42, 14569–14583 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02774-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02774-z