Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between "possible selves" of adolescents and juvenile delinquencies. Possible self, which is directly related to inducements of (or incentives for) future behavior, means positive or negative aspirations (or expectations) for the future. It was hypothesized that in the conventional domains, more involvement with delinquencies would lead to decrement of positive possible selves and increment of negative possible selves, whereas in the non-conventional domains, the situations are totally reversed. This hypothesis was based on the previous studies on possible selves and delinquency (Oyserman & Markus, 1990). Control groups consisted of 51 second grade students in junior high school, 49 first grade students in high school and 49 freshmen in college, and delinquent groups were sampled from Family Court (n=39), Probation Office (n=53), Juvenile Detention Center (n=99). They were asked to complete a questionnaire which assessed positive and negative possible selves both in the conventional domains (vocational achievement, evaluation of others, life style) and the non-conventional domains (physical attractiveness, personality, general ability). The result showed that, as opposed to the hypotheses, negative possible selves increased in both domains as the involvement with delinquencies increases. Positive possible selves also increased in both conventional and non-conventional domains except for the vocational domain. In the balance between positive and negative possible selves scores, as the involvement with delinquencies increases adolescents and the youth have more pessimistic viewpoint to the future. The necessity and possibility of the further studies are intentively discussed.