Rural Adolescents’ and Mothers’ Discourse about Motives for School and Work: Considering Fit with Current Theory and Recent Trends

Background: Motivation influences the types of goals people pursue and the amount of effort put into achieving those goals. Understanding how goals are discussed and supported within families can help us understand why and how people pursue success. We were interested in how rural central U.S. adolescents and mothers and adolescents discussed life stories and family stories where involving topics of personal goals and family supports about school and work. Method: We recruited three mother-daughter dyads from rural communities in the central U.S. Dyads completed interviews about past experiences from school and work and goals for personal success. We rated responses for multiple themes and dimensions of motivation and reasoning (i.e., mentions of parent influences for personal goals; mentions of intrinsic and extrinsic motives; expressions of agentic reasoning). Results: Mothers mentioned multiple intergenerational influences—including their embrace or rejection of earlier parenting approaches—as they encouraged school success for their daughters. Mothers’ and daughters’ discourse highlighted differing emphases for intrinsic and extrinsic motives with classwork, grades, and career prospects. Mothers expressed more complex agentic reasoning and assertiveness in life stories about school and work. Discussion: Our findings fit with broader theories of development and motivation, and findings bring an important focus with discourse among rural families. Our findings highlight the value of studying personal, family, and community shifts that impact how adolescents pursue demands for school and career.