Decade differences in rural adolescents' views of life possibilities

In a small-town high school ninth-graders were administered the same research instrument in 1967 and 1979. They listed events they thought would happen to them in the future, occupations, free-time activities, and people known, and answered questions related to perceptions of autonomy and family decision making. Except for the time span of future events, which remained between four and five years ahead, the later group showed many significant increases in cognitive possibilities, especially for occupations and free-time activities. Boys in 1979 perceived less family cohesiveness and girls more autonomy than their 1967 counterparts. Content analyses showed expansion of the girls' possibilities into formerly male-stereotyped occupations and an increase in perceptions of sexual and possibly antisocial activities, particularly among boys.