FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE: LONGITUDINAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MULTILEVEL PROCESSES Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this dissertation is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This dissertation does not include proprietary or classified information. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Pan Chen Certificate of Approval: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Brian E. Vaughn Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Chair Professor Professor Human Development and Human Development and Family Studies Family Studies –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Thomas A. Smith David Shannon Associate Professor Professor Human Development and Educational Foundations, Family Studies Leadership, and Technology –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– George T. Flowers Dean Graduate School FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE: LONGITUDINAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MULTILEVEL PROCESSES Pan Chen A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama August 10, 2009 FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE: LONGITUDINAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MULTILEVEL PROCESSES Pan Chen Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this dissertation at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. ______________________________ Signature of Author ______________________________ Date of Graduation iii VITA Pan Chen, daughter of Wangheng Chen and Xiaoxiang Li, was born July 2, 1980, in Changsha, Hunan, China. She graduated from Affiliated High School of Wuhan University in 1998. And attended Wuhan University in Wuhan for seven years, where she graduated in July of 2005, with a Master degree in Sociology. In August of 2005, she entered Graduate School at Auburn University pursing a doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Studies under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander T. Vazsonyi. She married Geng Bang Jin, son of Biao Sheng Jin and Xian Xiang Jin, on January 26, 2007. iv FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE: LONGITUDINAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MULTILEVEL PROCESSES Pan Chen Doctor of Philosophy, August 10, 2009 (M.A., Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China 2005) 151 Typed Pages Directed by Alexander T. Vazsonyi Using a sample of over 14,000 adolescents from 145 schools of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the current work tested the longitudinal relationship between future orientation and deviance while considering the impact by both impulsivity and the school context. Two interrelated and complimentary studies were conducted, each with a unique set of hypotheses. Based on hierarchical regressions, the first study tested the independent and interactive longitudinal relationships between future orientation, impulsivity, and deviance. The study also tested the effects by different domains of future orientation (education, life, and marriage) as well as developmental changes (early/middle versus late adolescence) in the links between future orientation, impulsivity, and deviance. Findings provided evidence of a negative longitudinal relationship between future orientation and deviance, net any v effects by background variables and impulsivity. In addition, future orientation moderated the effect by impulsivity on deviance. Future orientation in the education and life domains had a stronger relationship with deviance than marriage future orientation, and only education future orientation moderated the link between impulsivity and deviance. Finally, no developmental differences were found in the relationships between future orientation, impulsivity, and deviance. The second study investigated the independent longitudinal effects by future orientation and school context (school size, school location, school SES, and school-level future orientation) on adolescent deviance as well as potential moderation effects by school context on the future orientation- deviance link using a multilevel modeling strategy. Again, the effects by impulsivity were considered, although in this study, the variable was conceptualized as a control variable. Individual-level future orientation had a negative relationship with deviance, net any effects by control variables or level-2 school context constructs. In addition, the study provided evidence that school size and school-level future orientation predicted individual-level deviance. Finally, school-level future orientation moderated the relationship between individual-level future orientation and deviance. In conclusion, findings from the current work not only provided novel insights about the longitudinal relationship between future orientation and deviance, but also highlighted the importance of taking impulsivity into account in future work on future orientation. In addition, the findings also provided a number of insights into the effects by the school context on deviance, and therefore the ongoing debate regarding school effects. vi ACKNOWLEGMENTS The author would like to thank Dr. Alexander Vazsonyi for his continuous guidance, Drs. Brian Vaughn, Thomas Smith, and David Shannon for their feedback. I am also indebted to all my research lab group members and my family. vii Style manual or journal used: American Psychological Association’s Publication Guidelines Computer software used: Microsoft Word 2007, SPSS 16.0 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xii CHAPTER 1. A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK ...........................................................1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................................6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESES ..........................................................30 CHAPTER 2. FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE: A LONGITUDINAL MODERATION MODEL ..............................................................35 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................35 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................36 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES .................................................43 METHOD ................................................................................................................45 RESULTS ................................................................................................................50 DISCUSSION .........................................................................................................63 CHAPTER 3. FUTURE ORIENTATION AND DEVIANCE: A MULTILEVEL STUDY ..............................................................................................................................73 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................73 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................74 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES .................................................82 ix METHOD ................................................................................................................84 RESULTS ................................................................................................................93 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................105 CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................113 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................121 APPENDIX: FUTURE ORIENTATION, IMPULSIVITY, AND DEVIANCE MEASURES .....................................................................................138 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Prototypical Plot for Moderation Effect by Future Orientation on Impulsivity-Deviance Link .......................................................................57 Figure 2.2. Prototypical Plot for Moderation Effect by Education Future Orientation on Impulsivity-Deviance Link ...................................................62 Figure 3.1. Prototypical Plot for Moderation Effect by School-Level FO on Individual-Level FO-Deviance Link ................................................101 Figure 3.2. Prototypical Plot for Moderation Effect by Individual-Level FO on School-Level FO-Deviance Link .....................................................104 xi LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Descriptive Information for Background Variables ........................................51 Table 2.2. Information for Deviance, Impulsivity, and Future Orientation Measures .........................................................................................................52 Table 2.3. Correlation between Deviance, Impulsivity, and Future Orientation ..............54 Table 2.4. Multiple Regression Predicting Wave II Deviance by Wave I Impulsivity and Future Orientation .................................................................55