When Family Functioning Matters: Conditional Process Analysis of Adolescents’ Self-Construal, Achievement Motivation, and Life Satisfaction

The present study examined the associations among self-construal, achievement motivation, and life satisfaction in the context of family functioning. Self-report data were collected from 436 adolescents (age = 16.01 ± 0.74). Conditional process analyses indicated that individual-oriented achievement motivation statistically mediated the association between independent self-construal and life satisfaction, whereas social-oriented achievement motivation did not statistically mediate the association between interdependent self-construal and life satisfaction. Family functioning showed distinct moderating associations across the two forms of self-construal. Under lower family functioning, the positive association between independent self-construal and individual-oriented achievement motivation was stronger (β = −0.127, 95% CI −0.206, −0.048). Under higher family functioning, interdependent self-construal showed a stronger positive association with life satisfaction (β = 0.114, 95% CI 0.037, 0.190). Overall, the findings suggest that well-functioning family may provide a context in which interdependent self-construal is more closely linked to adolescents’ life satisfaction.