Crane, Caroline

							                                 Crane, Caroline
                                Living Well, A Pilot Study

                      Faculty Mentor: Ivan Beutler, Home and Family Living

Money attitudes may help us better understand potential vulnerabilities of youth in a growing
culture of materialism. Today’s American child is immersed in the consumer marketplace to a
degree that dwarfs all other historical experience (Schor, 2004). For many teens success
revolves around financial status, social recognition, or appealing appearance (Roberts and Jones,
2001). Extrinsically focused individuals frequently depend on financial resources to achieve the
favorable reactions of others in defining themselves. Modern industrialized society has
transformed adolescence from a developmental era defined by production to one mainly of
consumption where earning and spending money has become one of the most prominent features
of the period (Steinberg and Cauffman, 1995).

However, there is evidence that this materialism leads to a less satisfying life compared to an
intrinsic emphasis on affiliation (relatedness), building community (helpfulness), physical fitness
(health), and self-acceptance (growth) (Kasser & Ryan, 1996). A notable developmental change
of late adolescence is a diminishing amount of social comparison as one’s own ideals are
established (Harter, 2001). Dr. Ivan Beutler and his staff are involved in a research project in the
BYU Family Studies Research Center under the project name Spending Well. This larger project
examines the extent to which the Spending Well curriculum helps high school students make
progress from using money to live high towards using it to live well. As part of the project,
Kasser and Ryan’s (1993) Aspiration Index is used to measure the progress a students makes
from participating in the Spending Well curriculum. The Aspiration Index provides a
quantitative measure that can indicate the extent to which the desired progress is or is not made.

To evaluate the validity of the Aspiration Index responses from 184 Utah high school students
were compared to responses from 187 Utah middle school students. Respondents were asked to
envision themselves in the future “living well” and to describe what they saw in terms of
themselves, and their car, home, and activities. Their answers were coded and evaluated using
Grounded Theory Methodology (LaRossa, 2005).

My main responsibility on the project was evaluating the pre and post survey responses from the
middle and high school students. The Aspiration Index has two categories, which are intrinsic
and extrinsic. Concepts that were categorized as intrinsic: self family, self fulfill, car needs,
home family, activities actualizing, activities family, and activities civic. Concepts that were
categorized as extrinsic: self “I”, self personal attributes, self status, car status, home status, and
activities status.

The main goal of my research was to find out if the Aspiration Index can be used for middle and
high school student responses. At this point in time the validity is not conclusive. However, my
project was still able to make a valuable contribution to the research team.
As I coded and then charted the student responses, we were able to see that there is development
between middle (Fig. 1) and high school students (Fig. 2). While the high school students are
still highly extrinsic, they described themselves less often in terms of fame, status, money &
physical attributes. This does demonstrate a natural growth maturation. Many of the high school
students’ responses reflect personal beliefs, values, and moral standards that have become
internalized or constructed from their own experiences.

My experience as a member of the Spending Well research team was excellent. My mentoring
experience with Dr. Beutler changed the course of my education. His guidance has helped me
truly make the most of my undergraduate education. I recently graduated and am planning on
going to graduate school next year. Both the research and teamwork skills that I gained will be
invaluable to me as I pursue the next level of education. Additionally, working on this research
project has helped me determine what I want to study in graduate school.


Figure 1—This chart compares the responses of the Middle and High School students. Concepts that
were categorized as intrinsic: self family, self fulfill, car needs, home family, activities actualizing,
activities family, and activities civic. Concepts that were categorized as extrinsic: self “I”, self personal
attributes, self status, car status, home status, and activities status.


                                      180
                Number of Responses




                                      160
                                      140
                                      120
                                      100                                                                                                                              Middle School
                                       80                                                                                                                              High School
                                       60
                                       40
                                       20
                                        0
                                                                                                                                                               Civic
                                                                                Fulfill
                                            I




                                                                                                                             Actualizing
                                                                                                   Needs
                                                Family


                                                                       Status


                                                                                          Status


                                                                                                           Status
                                                                                                                    Family


                                                                                                                                             Status
                                                                                                                                                      Family
                                                          Attributes




                                                         Self                               Car            Home                            Activities