Abstract
Life satisfaction is vital for a smooth transition to emerging adulthood. However, research on age and gender-related fluctuations in life satisfaction has yielded inconclusive and culture-specific results, which necessitates further investigation in more diverse contexts, including the Chinese culture. Despite the attribution theory and the value-as-a-moderator model highlighting the significance of achievement attribution in this period characterized by the pursuit of success, little is known about the specific impact of internal and external achievement attribution on the development of life satisfaction. This study examined life satisfaction trajectories from adolescence to emerging adulthood and explored the moderating effects of gender and achievement attribution, using five waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The sample consists of 504 youth (52.2% female), whose life satisfaction was tracked from 2012 (Mage = 16.55, SD = 0.50) to 2020 (Mage = 24.56, SD = 0.50). The multilevel growth models revealed that life satisfaction increased from ages 16 to 18, peaked at age 18, fell until age 20, and then remained stable from ages 20 to 24. No significant association was found between gender or external achievement attribution and life satisfaction development. Youth with higher internal achievement attribution had a greater increase in life satisfaction from ages 16 to 18, but had a larger decrease from ages 18 to 20. Adjusting internal achievement attribution may help alleviate the vulnerability of youth experiencing declining life satisfaction when transitioning to adulthood.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469.
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.
Baloğlu, M., Şahin, R., & Arpaci, I. (2020). A review of recent research in problematic internet use: Gender and cultural differences. Current Opinion in Psychology, 36, 124–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.05.008.
Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a psychology of human agency: Pathways and reflections. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 130–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617699280.
Bernal Romero, T., Melendro, M., & Charry, C. (2020). Transition to adulthood autonomy scale for young people: Design and validation. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 457. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00457.
Brun, L., Pansu, P., & Dompnier, B. (2021). The role of causal attributions in determining behavioral consequences: A meta-analysis from an intrapersonal attributional perspective in achievement contexts. Psychological Bulletin, 147(7), 701–718. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000331.
Burger, K., & Samuel, R. (2017). The role of perceived stress and self-efficacy in young people’s life satisfaction: A longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0608-x.
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. Russell Sage Foundation.
Chen, X., Cai, Z., He, J., & Fan, X. (2020). Gender differences in life satisfaction among children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 2279–2307. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00169-9.
Cislaghi, B., & Heise, L. (2020). Gender norms and social norms: differences, similarities and why they matter in prevention science. Sociology of Health and Illness, 42(2), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13008.
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Curran, P. J., Obeidat, K., & Losardo, D. (2010). Twelve frequently asked questions about growth curve modeling. Journal of Cognition and Development, 11(2), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248371003699969.
Dall’Oglio, A. M., Rossiello, B., Coletti, M. F., Caselli, M. C., Ravà, L., di Ciommo, V., & Pasqualetti, P. (2010). Developmental evaluation at age 4: Validity of an Italian parental questionnaire. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 46(7-8), 419–426. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01748.x.
Davey, G., De Lian, C., & Higgins, L. (2007). The university entrance examination system in China. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098770701625761.
Diener, E., & Fujita, F. (1995). Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: A nomothetic and idiographic approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(5), 926–935. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.5.926.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (2018). Advances in subjective well-being research. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0307-6.
Dormann, C., & Griffin, M. A. (2015). Optimal time lags in panel studies. Psychological Methods, 20, 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000041.
Ge, X., & Hou, Y. (2022). Patterns of achievement attribution of Chinese adults and their sociodemographic characteristics and psychological outcomes: A large-sample longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 184, 111230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111230.
Gordeeva, T., Sheldon, K., & Sychev, O. (2020). Linking academic performance to optimistic attributional style: Attributions following positive events matter most. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 35, 21–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-019-00414-y.
Hamilton, J. L., Stange, J. P., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2015). Stress and the development of cognitive vulnerabilities to depression explain sex differences in depressive symptoms during adolescence. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(5), 702–714. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702614545479.
Henkens, J. H., Kalmijn, M., & de Valk, H. A. (2022). Life satisfaction development in the transition to adulthood: Differences by gender and immigrant background. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(2), 305–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01560-7.
Hojman, D. A., & Miranda, Á. (2018). Agency, human dignity, and subjective well-being. World Development, 101, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.07.029.
Huang, Q., & Xie, Y. (2021). Social-demographic correlates of mindset in China. Chinese Journal of Sociology, 7(4), 497–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057150X211041908.
Inzlicht, M., Shenhav, A., & Olivola, C. Y. (2018). The effort paradox: Effort is both costly and valued. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(4), 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.01.007.
Izaguirre, L. A., Rodríguez‐Fernández, A., & Fernández‐Zabala, A. (2023). Perceived academic performance explained by school climate, positive psychological variables and life satisfaction. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 318–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12557.
Kay, J. S., Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2016). High-school predictors of university achievement: Youths’ self-reported relationships with parents, beliefs about success, and university aspirations. Journal of Adolescence, 53, 95–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.08.014.
Kay, J. S., Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2017). Youth’s causal beliefs about success: Socioeconomic differences and prediction of early career development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(10), 2169–2180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0708-2.
Klapwijk, E. T., Goddings, A.-L., Burnett Heyes, S., Bird, G., Viner, R. M., & Blakemore, S.-J. (2013). Increased functional connectivity with puberty in the mentalising network involved in social emotion processing. Hormones and Behavior, 64(2), 314–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.03.012.
Koenig, L. R., Blum, R. W., Shervington, D., Green, J., Li, M., Tabana, H., & Moreau, C. (2021). Unequal gender norms are related to symptoms of depression among young adolescents: A cross-Sectional, cross-Cultural study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(1S), S47–S55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.01.023.
Kress, V. E., Newgent, R. A., Whitlock, J., & Mease, L. (2015). Spirituality/religiosity, life satisfaction, and life meaning as protective factors for nonsuicidal self‐injury in college students. Journal of College Counseling, 18(2), 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12012.
Kumar, P., Kumar, N., Aggarwal, P., & Yeap, J. A. (2021). Working in lockdown: The relationship between COVID-19 induced work stressors, job performance, distress, and life satisfaction. Current Psychology, 40(12), 6308–6323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01567-0.
Lang, F. R., & Heckhausen, J. (2001). Perceived control over development and subjective well-being: Differential benefits across adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(3), 509–523. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.81.3.509.
Larsen, C. (2016). How three narratives of modernity justify economic inequality. Acta Sociologica, 59(2), 93–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699315622801.
Li, N., Li, Y., Huang, X., Xiang, S., Hu, Q., Luo, C., & Chen, J. (2022). The role of achievement attribution in the associations between parent–child communication and psychological well-being among adolescents: A mediation analysis. European Psychiatry, 65(1), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.2314.
Lietaert, S., Roorda, D., Laevers, F., Verschueren, K., & De Fraine, B. (2015). The gender gap in student engagement: The role of teachers’ autonomy support, structure, and involvement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(4), 498–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12095.
Maher, J. P., Doerksen, S. E., Elavsky, S., Hyde, A. L., Pincus, A. L., Ram, N., & Conroy, D. E. (2013). A daily analysis of physical activity and satisfaction with life in emerging adults. Health Psychology, 32(6), 647–656. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030129.
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22(3), 491–495. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000222.
Nelson, L. J., & Chen, X. (2007). Emerging adulthood in China: The role of social and cultural factors. Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 86–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2007.00020.x.
Nikolaev, B., & Burns, A. (2014). Intergenerational mobility and subjective well-being—Evidence from the general social survey. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 53, 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2014.08.005.
Oishi, S., Diener, E., Suh, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 67, 157–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00051.
Oldehinkel, A. J., & Bouma, E. M. C. (2011). Sensitivity to the depressogenic effect of stress and HPA-axis reactivity in adolescence: A review of gender differences. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(8), 1757–1770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.10.013.
Orben, A., Lucas, R. E., Fuhrmann, D., & Kievit, R. (2022). Trajectories of adolescent life satisfaction. Royal Society Open Science, 9, 211808. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211808.
Park, R., Pituch, K. A., Kim, J., Chung, H., & Dodd, B. G. (2015). Comparing the performance of multivariate multilevel modeling to traditional analyses with complete and incomplete data. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 11(3), 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-2241/a000096.
Phillipson, S. (2006). Cultural variability in parent and child achievement attributions: A study from Hong Kong. Educational Psychology, 26(5), 625–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410500390772.
Pinheiro J, Bates D, R Core Team (2023). nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R package version 3.1-163. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme.
Piper, A. T. (2015). Sliding down the U-shape? A dynamic panel investigation of the age-well-being relationship, focusing on young adults. Social Science & Medicine, 143, 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.08.042.
Rigby, B., & Huebner, E. (2005). Do causal attributions mediate the relationship between personality characteristics and life satisfaction in adolescence? Psychology in the Schools, 42(1), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20026.
Roberts, A. G., & Lopez-Duran, N. L. (2019). Developmental influences on stress response systems: Implications for psychopathology vulnerability in adolescence. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 88, 9–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2018.10.008.
Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470316696
Salmela-Aro, K., & Tuominen-Soini, H. (2010). Adolescents’ life satisfaction during the transition to post-comprehensive education: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 683–701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-009-9156-3.
Schalembier, B. (2019). An evaluation of common explanations for the impact of income inequality on life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(3), 777–794. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9970-6.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Alfred Knopf.
Shane, J., & Heckhausen, J. (2017). It’s only a dream if you wake up: Young adults’ achievement expectations, opportunities, and meritocratic beliefs. International Journal of Psychology, 52(1), 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12408.
Shek, D. T., & Li, X. (2016). Perceived school performance, life satisfaction, and hopelessness: A 4-year longitudinal study of adolescents in Hong Kong. Social Indicators Research, 126(2), 921–934. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0904-y.
Shek, D. T. L., & Liang, L.-Y. (2018). Psychosocial factors influencing individual well-being in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: A six-year longitudinal study. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 13, 561–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9545-4.
Shek, D. T. L., Yu, L., Wu, F. K. Y., Zhu, X., & Chan, K. H. Y. (2017). A 4-year longitudinal study of well-being of Chinese university students in Hong Kong. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12(4), 867–884. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-016-9493-4.
Smith, D. S., Schacter, H. L., Enders, C., & Juvonen, J. (2018). Gender norm salience across middle schools: Contextual variations in associations between gender typicality and socioemotional distress. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(5), 947–960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0732-2.
Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023779.
Torchiano M (2020). effsize: Efficient Effect Size Computation. R package version 0.8.1, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=effsize.
van Buuren, S., & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, K. (2011). mice: Multivariate imputation by chained equations in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 45(3), 1–67. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v045.i03.
van Egmond, M. C., Omarshah, T., Navarrete Berges, A., Benton, J., Zalira, U., & Morrell, F. (2020). The relationship between caregivers’ gender equality norms and girls’ need satisfaction and self-esteem under conditions of resource scarcity. Motivation and Emotion, 44(2), 257–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09808-3.
Wang, J., Li, Q., & Luo, Y. (2020). Physics identity of Chinese students before and after Gaokao: The effect of high-stake testing. Research in Science Education, 52, 675–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09978-y.
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.92.4.548.
Welzel, C., & Inglehart, R. (2010). Agency, values, and well-being: A human development model. Social Indicators Research, 97(1), 43–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9557-z.
Willroth, E. C., Atherton, O. E., & Robins, R. W. (2021). Life satisfaction trajectories during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood: Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(1), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000294.
Xie, Y., & Hu, J. (2014). An introduction to the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Chinese Sociological Review, 47, 3–29. https://doi.org/10.2753/CSA2162-0555470101.
Yang, J., Zhang, S., Lou, Y., Long, Q., Liang, Y., Xie, S., & Yuan, J. (2017). The increased sex differences in susceptibility to emotional stimuli during adolescence: An event-related potential study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 660. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00660.
Yang, W., Sun, R., Wang, C., Chen, J., Zhang, C., Yu, J., & Liu, H. (2023). Epidemiology of depressive disorders among youth during Gaokao to college in China: Results from Hunan Normal University mental health survey. BMC Psychiatry, 23, 481 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04972-w.
Yong, M., McCarty, C. A., Vander Stoep, A., & McCauley, E. A. (2022). Gender differences in the effects of academic achievement on depressive symptoms during adolescence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31(12), 3326–3341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02414-x.
Yoo, C., Kahng, S. K., & Kim, H. (2017). The trajectory of life satisfaction and its associated factors among adolescents in South Korea. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 27(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/02185385.2016.1261732.
Yu, S., Chen, B., Levesque-Bristol, C., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2018). Chinese education examined via the lens of self-determination. Educational Psychology Review, 30(1), 177–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-016-9395-x.
Zhang, J., Miao, D., Sun, Y., Xiao, R., Ren, L., Xiao, W., & Peng, J. (2014). The impacts of attributional styles and dispositional optimism on subject well-being: a structural equation modelling analysis. Social Indicators Research, 119(2), 757–769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0520-7.
Zhang, K., Pei, J., Wang, S., Rokpelnis, K., & Yu, X. (2022). Life satisfaction in China, 2010-2018: Trends and unique determinants. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17(4), 2311–2348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-10031-x.
Zhu, X., & Shek, D. T. (2021). Problem behavior and life satisfaction in early adolescence: Longitudinal findings in a Chinese context. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22(7), 2889–2914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00346-1.
Acknowledgements
We thank the school principals, teachers and students whose support made this study possible. We express our gratitude to the Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China Normal University for their support. Additionally, we extend our appreciation to the reviewers and editor for their valuable feedback and insightful suggestions, which have greatly contributed to the improvement of our work.
Funding
This work was sponsored by the National Social Science Fund of China (Education) (Grant No. CEA210260).
Data Sharing and DeclarationThe datasets utilized in this study can be accessed through the website of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) at http://www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/en/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
S.F. conceived of the study, performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; J.Z. participated in its design, provided suggestions about the statistical analysis, helped to draft and refine the manuscript, and funding acquisition; L.Z. participated in the interpretation of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval
The data collection process for the China Family Panel Studies was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Biomedical Ethics Committee of Peking University (No. IRB00001052-14010).
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the China Family Panel Studies.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Fan, S., Zhang, J. & Zhang, L. Life Satisfaction Trajectories During the Transition from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood and the Role of Gender and Achievement Attribution: A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Youth. J. Youth Adolescence 53, 1244–1257 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01934-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01934-z