A need existed for instruments to measure status isomorphs for either income or political influence in the process of status attainment. To provide a base on which to build further work, instruments were developed in this project by which to measure youth's aspirations for and their significant others' expectations for the youth's future levels of…

This paper examines the unique characteristics of rural adolescents raised on farms. As part of a longitudinal study on rural youth development, semistructured interviews were conducted each year for 4 consecutive years with 87 adolescents from 4 rural high schools in upstate New York. This study focused on data from the 19 adolescents who resided…

As part of a larger effort to determine marital and procreative trends in the South, an historical comparison was made of two samples of Northeast Alabama high school seniors. Similar questionnaires were group administered to all seniors present on the prescribed contact day in 19 randomly selected high schools in 1966 and again in 1972. The study…

Seventeen adolescents from four rural high schools in upstate New York were interviewed while in the 12th grade and again a year later. Interviews focused on student perceptions of their community, school, and social life; values; and future plans. All participants graduated from high school, and most went on to college or moved to another…

Current developmental theory and research are inadequate in explaining the development of rural youth, but a mid-1970s study of adolescents from a small Maine community provided three patterns of growth and suggested four lessons for social service professionals who work with rural adolescents. The study of "Sawyer, Maine" (a pseudonym)…

The document tested the level of generalization of a recent conclusion from past research (see ED075156) on nonmetropolitan (NM) south and southwest Texas Mexican American teenagers: that these youths have predominantly high and strong status aspirations and expectations. Earlier findings on NM Mexican American youth supported Merton's thesis that…

Rural youth are a diverse group not only geographically, but socioeconomically, ethnically, and culturally as well. Historically, the rural student has not achieved as well as his urban counterpart in high school or in post secondary education. There is evidence that this is beginning to change and that rural students are doing as well or better…

Contrary to recent national trends, enrollments at colleges of agriculture have increased 181% between 1963 and 1976, with an ever increasing proportion of agricultural students coming from urban backgrounds. During the spring of 1977, mail questionnaire data were collected from 3,175 undergraduate "ag" majors (93.8% White and 6.2%…

This paper examines the influence of community context on the attitudes of rural and nonrural adolescents toward their own future geographic and social mobility. Part of a national sample in a longitudinal study of career development, the 1,060 subjects were public school students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 from 3 contrasting Illinois communities.…

A longitudinal study conducted in six southern states dealt with four population categories (poor youth, rural youth, black youth, and females) frequently neglected in status aspiration, career goal, and life plans research. The term "life plans" included educational and occupational aspirations as well as expectations of age at…

Career and career related preference expressed by a number of rural Southern high school youth were found to moderately predict their early adult behaviors. Preferences for post high school education were the dominant influence and single best predictor of subsequent educational attainment. Moderate linkages were also found to exist between…