Goal Motives, Well-Being, and Physical Health: Happiness and Self-Realization as Psychological Resources Under Challenge

Alkoholihaimatulehdus voi olla henkeä uhkaava ja alkoholin käytön lopettamista pidetään keskeisenä keinona ehkäistä uudelleen sairastumista. Tässä yhdeksän vuoden laadullisessaseurantatutkimuksessa kuvataan ensimmäiseen alkoholihaimatulehdukseen sairastuneiden (n=43) alkoholin käytölle asettamia tavoitteita, niiden toteutumista sekä kokemuksia muutokseen vaikuttaneista tekijöistä. Muutosta kuvataan kulkemisena erilaisilla poluilla (raittius, lähes raittius, kohtuus, kivikko). Raittiustavoitteen alussa valinneilla oli vähemmän runsasta alkoholin käyttöä ja enemmän raittiutta, vaikka heistä vain kolmannes säilytti raittiustavoitteen koko seurannan ajan. Myös juomisen vähentämisen valinneilla käyttö väheni ja lähes puolet heistä pysyi kohtuudessa seurannan ajan. Terveysongelmat koettiin keskeiseksi syyksi raittiuteen sitoutumiseen ja halu elää normaalia sosiaalista elämää syyksi raittiuden tavoittelusta luopumiseen. Pelko haimatulehduksen uusimisesta voi hillitä alkoholin käyttöä myös pitkällä aikavälillä vaikka henkilö ei haluaisi tai pystyisi sitoutumaan raittiuteen. Vuosittaiset seurantakäynnit sairaalassa saattoivat muistuttaa sairastumisesta ja siten edistää tavoitteen saavuttamista. Jatkossa tarvitaan lisää pitkän aikavälin tutkimusta alkoholiongelmasta selviytymiskeinoista alkoholihaimatulehdukseen sairastumisen jälkeen.

Studies conducted hitherto on English education for Chinese non-English major postgraduates have preponderantly focused on themes such as learning motivations, teaching or learning strategies, and various examinations. Yet little attention has been paid to the issue of curriculum design. In order to explore the correlations amongst curriculum design, linguistic competence and self-actualization, the author has carried out a survey on the English curriculum design for non-English major postgraduates in Yunnan Normal University by applying Maslow's theory of self-actualization. The survey reveals that postgraduates' reading abilities hold low correlation with self-actualization, thus priority should be given to improve their speaking proficiency as well as listening abilities. Besides, as a basic requirement for all postgraduates, academic writing receives the most attention since the quality of their graduate dissertation is considered as the ultimate indication of their self-actualization. Apart from providing concerning suggestions on the curriculum design according to the above findings, the author also holds that curriculum design is an autonomous, flexible and dynamic process. Hence, instead of sticking to the long-adopted uniform English curriculum for all non-English major postgraduates in China, more flexible curricula and requirements should be introduced in order to fulfill the self-actualization of postgraduates from different universities, different majors, and different regions.

University (n ¼ 175) and high school (n ¼ 162) students rated their commitment to three personal projects self-identified as central to their lives, the extent to which each project generated experiences of relatedness, competence and integrity, and how much approval it received from significant others. This study compared the 'life' (hobbies, fitness, church, life transitions, intrapersonal, etc.) and education projects of participants who spontaneously generated an example of each (98 university and 70 high school participants). Integrity and competence received higher ratings than relatedness and were the most important predictors of commitment to both types of project. For both groups, education projects received more family/adult approval than life projects and there was much greater variation in approval ratings for the latter. The results suggest that, at least for young people in New Zealand, feeling that you are good at a project and it fits with your values, is almost a proxy for commitment. It is possible that social factors play a less direct role, perhaps by influencing the choice of interpersonal settings in which to carry out important projects.