Are attachment to parents and self-efficacy linked with emerging adults' values of future expectations?

Abstract

The instability and unpredictability of Western societies challenge how individuals plan their life courses shaping the expectations that emerging adults develop in their future. Although there is a well-established interest in studying emerging adulthood, there is limited information regarding the role of family and individual contexts on how emerging adults perceive their futures. The current study examined the association between attachment to parents and emerging adults' values of future expectations (optimism, pessimism, and hope) and self-efficacy's mediating role in that association. The sample was composed of 676 emerging adults, aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 23.04; SD = 3.37). Results showed that attachment to parents and self-efficacy is associated with values of future expectations of emerging adults, and self-efficacy mediates the following links: from the quality of the emotional bond with both parents and the separation anxiety regarding the mother to values of future expectations. These findings are discussed based on attachment theory.