Abstract
Studied the adjustment of vocational aspirations when being confronted with developmental deadlines in German adolescents. Completed questionnaire were attained for 301 10th-graders (mean age 17 years). Variables included school achievement, vocational aspirations, motivational disposition, and demographic characteristics. Students' adjustments of vocational aspirations were examined based on their descriptions of their aspirations as their "dream job" versus "vocation I am interested in." The results showed that as subjects approached the deadline of school graduation, they increasingly adjusted their vocational ideals to more realistic vocational preferences. Furthermore, the social prestige of apprenticeships chosen by students corresponded with their school achievement. High levels of achievement and vocational aspiration were observed in students whose motivational disposition contradicted gender prototypes.
Heckhausen, Jutta