Abstract
Identifying different conceptions of success and how these relate to wellbeing is an important area of research. These insights would be especially beneficial for young people who can be guided through school education to reflect on core values, life goals, and indices of success to promote aspirations that will be conducive to wellbeing. Through a systematic review of the empirical and grey literature, we identify and review 17 studies investigating secondary-school students’ (12–18 years) success conceptions and their association with various components of wellbeing. Results indicate that this area of research has received scant attention in the literature. Nevertheless, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that adolescents value intrinsic success such as self-actualisation, personal satisfaction, and connection and that particular patterns of success beliefs associated with personal development and goal striving relate positively to wellbeing. This is consistent with fulfilling the basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competency that are associated with internalised motivation and enhanced wellbeing. These insights can guide the content of education programmes focused on identifying life values and aspirations whilst concurrently fostering wellbeing. In addition, gender and developmental stage should be taken into consideration when developing success and wellbeing educational initiatives.
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It should be noted that there was also a change in the rating scale with this amended measure of success. In addition, the more recent data indicate the highest strength of agreement (that is, ‘very important’ to success whereas the previous years’ results appear to reflect the average of the top two scale points (‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’). Thus, the lower percentages (from 2001) for items that remained consistent (e.g. personal relationships, contribution) are largely reflecting these differences in data reporting.
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The authors would like to acknowledge Monique West for her valuable insights and willingness to share resources relating to adolescent success.
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Author DVB conceived of the study. Database searches and initial reference screening were conducted by authors AG and KTK. Quality analysis of included studies was undertaken by authors AG and DVB. All drafts and the final version of this manuscript were written by authors AG and DVB. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Gill, A., Trask-Kerr, K. & Vella-Brodrick, D. Systematic Review of Adolescent Conceptions of Success: Implications for Wellbeing and Positive Education. Educ Psychol Rev 33, 1553–1582 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09605-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09605-w