Continuity and change in parenting possible selves: A longitudinal follow-up

The concept of possible selves was used to investigate the impact of parent ing on adult self-development. Possible selves are one's hopes and fears fo r the self in the future and are hypothesized to motivate one's current beh avior (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Continuity in parenting possible selves was assessed in a longitudinal follow-up of participants who were parents of ei ther infants or preschool children at Time 1. Phi coefficients indicated co ntinuity in hoped-for and feared parenting possible selves across the total sample. An examination by gender indicated particularly strong continuity in hoped-for parenting possible selves for mothers. Chi-square analyses res ulted in no significant group or gender differences in Time 2 hoped-for par enting possible selves. As in the Time I study (Hooker, Fiese, Kotary, Morf ei, & Schwagler, 1996), mothers had significantly more feared parenting pos sible selves than did fathers. We discuss the importance of the contributio n of this study to a relatively small literature on the effects of parentin g on adult self-development.