Possible Selves and Future Orientation:

Abstract

To explore the structure and function of the aspirations of Latino boys and girls, theoretical and methodological approaches of future orientation and possible selves were integrated. In interviews with 38 students, the content, priority, optimism, internality, temporal extension, and specificity of students’ hoped-for selves were assessed. Students showed high educational and occupational aspirations and high rates of optimism and internal control across five domains of hoped-for selves. The occupational domain was a greater priority for boys than for girls. Girls reported more constrained views of their futures than did boys. Students reported global fears in the domain of personal well-being, and limited specificity within occupational and educational domains. The combination of limited specificity and global fears might result in an imbalance between hoped-for and feared selves. The imbalance might have negative repercussions for students’ future academic motivation and highlights the possible need for further research and possible educational reform.