Attributes and person types admired by Greek emerging adults: Relative prevalence, differences by gender and socio-economic status
Abstract
Admiration is a social emotion that has implications for behavior, such as leading to a desire to emulate the admired person. This study extends previous findings about admired attributes among emerging adults, by investigating the same topic in Greece and also exploring the relationship between admired person types and admired qualities, gender, and socio-economic status. A total of 198 participants aged 18 to 25 (mean age = 19.46 years; 50% women) provided written descriptions of five attributes that they admire in a non-fictional person. A hybrid coding scheme was used. The most prevalent categories were Drive and Determination, Care and Generativity, and Resilience and Positivity. Some prevalence differences were found by person type, gender and socio-economic status. The findings extend the understanding of admiration in new directions by supporting a high level of cross-cultural consistency in admired attributes, but also some features that are unique to the Greek context.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Algoe S. B., Haidt J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The “other-praising” emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802650519
Arnett J. J. (2013). The evidence for generation we and against generation me. Emerging Adulthood, 1(1), 5–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696812466842
Arnett J. J. (2014). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens to early twenties. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309379.001.0001
Arnett J. J. (2016). Does emerging adulthood theory apply across social classes? National data on a persistent question. Emerging Adulthood, 4(4), 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815613000
Bartoș S. E., Russell P. S., Hegarty P. (2020). Heroes against homophobia: Does elevation uniquely block homophobia by inhibiting disgust? Cognition and Emotion, 34(6), 1123–1142. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2020.1726292
Benson J. E., Elder G. H. (2011). Young adult identities and their pathways: A developmental and life course model. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1646–1657. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023833
Billari F. C. (2004). Becoming an adult in Europe: A macro (/micro)-demographic perspective. Demographic Research, 3, 15–43. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2004.S3.2
Crocetti E., Tagliabue S., Sugimura K., Nelson L. J., Takahashi A., Niwa T., Sugiura Y., Jinno M. (2015). Perceptions of emerging adulthood: A study with Italian and Japanese University students and young workers. Emerging Adulthood, 3(4), 229–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815569848
Cushion M. L., Johnson M. E., Smith N. D., Candidate S. S. (2019). The association between admiration of antisocial peers and past 30-day opioid misuse among justice-involved children. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 28(4), 259–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828x.2020.1735598
Donder G. M. (1997). Mentors: Beacons of hope. Adolescence, 32(128), 881–886.
Dubow E. F., Boxer P., Huesmann L. R. (2009). Long-term effects of parents’ education on children’s educational and occupational success: Mediation by family interactions, child aggression, and teenage aspirations. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 55(3), 224–249. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.0.0030
Ferrera M. (1996). The ‘Southern model’ of welfare in social Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 6(), 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/095892879600600102
Fessler D. M., Haley K. J. (2003). The strategy of affect: Emotions in human cooperation. In Hammerstein P. (Ed.), The genetic and cultural evolution of cooperation (pp. 7–36). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3232.001.0001
Fredrickson B. L. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 300–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.300
Galanaki E., Leontopoulou S. (2017). Criteria for the transition to adulthood, developmental features of emerging adulthood, and views of the future among Greek studying youth. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 13(3), 417–440. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i3.1327
Galanaki E., Sideridis G. (2019). Dimensions of emerging adulthood, criteria for adulthood, and identity development in Greek studying youth: A person-centered approach. Emerging Adulthood, 7(6), 411–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696818777040
Galloway A. (2005). Non-probability sampling. In Kempf-Leonard K. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social measurement (pp. 859–864). Elsevier.
Hamilton S., Hamilton M. A. (2006). School, work, and emerging adulthood. In Arnett J. J., Tanner J. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 257–277). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11381-011
Hofstede G. (2022, May). Dimension data matrix. https://geerthofstede.com/research-and-vsm/dimension-data-matrix/
Hofstede G., Hofstede G. J., Minkov M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind - Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional.
Hudson N. W., Fraley R. C. (2015). Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), 490–507. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000021
Immordino-Yang M. H. (2010). Toward a microdevelopmental, interdisciplinary approach to social emotion. Emotion Review, 2(3), 217–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073910361985
JASP Team. (2020). JASP (Version 0.14.1) [Computer software].
Kelan E., Mah A. (2014). Gendered identification: Between idealization and admiration. British Journal of Management, 25(), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2012.00834.x
Landberg M., Lee B., Noack P. (2019). What alters the experience of emerging adulthood? How the experience of emerging adulthood differs according to socioeconomic status and critical life events. Emerging Adulthood, 7(3), 208–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696819831793
Lazarides R., Viljaranta J., Aunola K., Pesu L., Nurmi J. E. (2016). The role of parental expectations and students’ motivational profiles for educational aspirations. Learning & Individual Differences, 51, 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.08.024
Liu J., Lummaa V. (2019). Whether to have a second child or not? An integrative approach to women’s reproductive decision-making in current China. Evolution and Human Behavior, 40(), 194–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.11.004
Martinez-Berman L., McCutcheon L., Huynh H. P. (2021). Is the worship of celebrities associated with resistance to vaccinations? Relationships between celebrity admiration, anti-vaccination attitudes, and beliefs in conspiracy. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 26(9), 1063–1072. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2020.1778754
McCutcheon L., Green T. D., Besharat M. A., Edman J. L., Wenger J. L., Shabahang R. (2021). Values of college students in Iran and the United States who admire celebrities. Psychological Reports, 124(1), 299–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119898119
Meng-Lewis Y., Xian H., Lewis G., Zhao Y. (2021). “Enthusiastic admiration is the first principle of knowledge and its last”: A qualitative study of admiration for the famous. SAGE Open. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211006730
Miles M. B., Huberman A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage.
Niemiec R. M. (2012, summer) Cinematic elevation and cinematic admiration: Can watching movies positively impact you? The Amplifier, 4, 10–11.
Nowell L. S., Norris J. M., White D. E., Moules N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
Onu D., Kessler T., Smith J. R. (2016). Admiration: A conceptual review. Emotion Review, 8(3), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915610438
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2021). Trust in government. https://data.oecd.org/gga/trust-in-government.htm
Petrogiannis K. (2011). Conceptions of the transition to adulthood in a sample of Greek higher education students. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 11(1), 121–137.
Reiffman A., Colwell M. J., Arnett J. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: Theory, assessment and application. Journal of Youth Development, 2(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2007.359
Roberts B. W., Walton K., Viechtbauer W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1
Robinson O. C. (2021). Thematic analysis for brief texts: The structured tabular approach. Qualitative Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000189
Robinson O. C., Dunn A., Nartova-Boschaver S., Bochaver K., Asadi S., Khosravi Z., Jafari S. M., Zhang X., Yang Y. (2016). Figures of admiration in emerging adulthood: A four-country study. Emerging Adulthood, 4(2), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815601945
Schindler I., Paech J., Lowenbruck F. (2015). Linking admiration and adoration to self-expansion: Different ways to enhance one’s potential. Cognition and Emotion, 29(2), 292–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2014.903230
Schindler I., Zink V., Windrich J., Menninghaus W. (2013). Admiration and adoration: Their different ways of showing and shaping who we are. Cognition and Emotion, 27(1), 85–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2012.698253
Schlenker B. R., Weigold M. F., Schlenker K. A. (2008). What makes a hero? The impact of integrity on admiration and interpersonal judgment. Journal of Personality, 76(), 323–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00488.x
Schwartz S. H., Lifschitz T. R. (2006). Sex differences in value priorities: Cross-cultural and multimethod studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 1010–1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.1010
Shin H. (2020). Who are popular, liked, and admired? Longitudinal associations between three social status and academic-social behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(), 1783–1792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01222-0
Skoe E. E., Pratt M. W., Matthews M., Curror S. E. (1996). The ethic of care: Stability over time, gender differences, and correlates in mid- to late adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 11(2), 280–292. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.11.2.280
Söchting I., Skoe E. E., Marcia J. E. (1994). Care-oriented moral reasoning and prosocial behavior: A question of gender or sex role orientation. Sex Roles, 31(), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01547711
Sweetman J., Spears R., Livingstone A. G., Manstead A. S. R. (2013). Admiration regulates social hierarchy: Antecedents, dispositions, and effects on intergroup behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 534–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.10.007
Van Cappellen P., Saroglou V., Iweins C., Piovesana M., Fredrickson B. L. (2013). Self-transcendent positive emotions increase spirituality through basic world assumptions. Cognition and Emotion, 27(8), 1378–1394. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.787395
Van de Ven N. (2017). Envy and admiration: Emotion and motivation following upward social comparison. Cognition and Emotion, 31(1), 193–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1087972
Vauclair C.-M., Hanke K., Huang L.-L., Abrams D. (2017). Are Asian cultures really less ageist than Western ones? It depends on the questions asked. International Journal of Psychology, 52(2), 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12292
Vleioras G. (2021). What is adulthood? A comparison of the adulthood criteria of Greek emerging adults and their parents. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 182(6), 495–500. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2021.1957761
Vleioras G., Robinson O. (2022). Data for: Attributes and person types admired by Greek emerging adults: Relative prevalence, differences by gender and socio-economic status. Mendeley Data, V1. https://doi.org/10.17632/zf3jtjrwdx.1
Waggoner E. B. (2022). Impact of disclosure videos and self-understanding imagined interactions on emotions and homophobia. Journal of Homosexuality, 69(1), 169–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2020.1815427
Woods R. A., Noftle E. E., Nartova-Bochaver S., Robinson O. C. (2013, January). Cross-cultural similarities and differences in future expectations and desires for personality change. Paper presented at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
Zeelenberg M., Nelissen R. M. A., Breugelmans S. M., Pieters R. (2008). On emotion specificity in decision making: Why feeling is for doing. Judgement and Decision Making, 3(1), 18–27.
Zhang X., Pomerantz E. M., Qin L., Logis H., Ryan A. M., Wang M. (2018). Characteristics of likability, perceived popularity, and admiration in the early adolescent peer system in the United States and China. Developmental Psychology, 54(8), 1568–1581. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000544
Zukauskienė R. (2015). (Ed.). Emerging adulthood in a European context. Routledge.
Biographies
Georgios Vleioras is an Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology at University of Thessaly. He completed his PhD in Developmental Psychology at University of Groningen in 2005. His research interests include parenting, creativity, and the transition to adulthood. Most of his research takes place in Greece but he is open to international collaborations.
Oliver C. Robinson is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Greenwich and author of Development through Adulthood: An Integrative Sourcebook. His research explores the key transitions and psychosocial developmental challenges of early adulthood and how these impact on identity, emotions, and well-being.
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: June 23, 2022
Issue published: April 2023
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Article usage*
Total views and downloads: 167
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Altmetric
See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 0
Crossref: 0
There are no citing articles to show.
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
SSEA members can access this journal content using society membership credentials.
SSEA members can access this journal content using society membership credentials.
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
