Agency as the self in action and future time perspective among adolescent girls of Moroccan background in Italy: A mixed-methods study

Adolescent girls with a migration background often navigate educational and cultural expectations that differ between the family and the school context, which can make it challenging to plan educational and professional futures. In this context, the present study, focusing on adolescent girls of Moroccan background in Italy, addressed three research questions: RQ1: To what extent do these girls report short- and long-term future time perspective (FTP) toward school and professional careers? RQ2: To what extent do they exhibit disjoint, conjoint, or combined forms of agency? RQ3: How are agency and economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) related to FTP? Drawing on a mixed-methods design, the study combines quantitative and qualitative data to capture both patterns and the lived texture of these girls' experiences. t-tests indicated higher long-term than short-term FTP and a higher endorsement of independent than interdependent self-construal. The latter was interpreted as a prevalence of disjoint agency, with participants attributing choices mainly to personal control, achievement, and self-expression (conjoint agency was operationalized as interdependent self-construal). Regression analyses indicated that independent self-construal positively predicted long-term FTP, whereas interdependent self-construal negatively predicted it; ESCS and age were not significant predictors. The qualitative strand complicated and extended these findings, suggesting that disjoint and conjoint agency coexist in a hybrid configuration embedded in the relational context. In this sample, mothers were frequently described as supportive facilitators and fathers more often in terms of authority. Where family relationships were reciprocal, they appeared to support aspirations related to schooling and professional careers; where they were asymmetrical or hierarchical, personal goals were described as subordinated. These findings point to variability in how girls reconcile autonomy and relatedness, rather than to a uniform cultural pattern.