Abstract

A moderation-mediation model was constructed to examine relationships among family background, individual characteristics, proximal learning settings and adolescents' aspirations. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of Australian youth (3779 boys and 4001 girls). The findings from moderation-mediation investigations and from regression surface analyses suggest that: (a) the predictors combine to have large associations with adolescents' educational aspirations and small relationships with occupational aspirations; and (b) there are family country-of-origin differences in the linear and curvilinear nature of the relationships among individual characteristics, proximal learning settings and adolescents' aspirations. The investigation indicates the need to examine between-group family differences for a more complete understanding of family background variations in students' school outcomes