Kotter-Grühn Dana, Scheibe Susanne, Blanchard-Fields Fredda, Baltes Paul B
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Psychol Aging. 2009 Sep;24(3):634-44. doi: 10.1037/a0016359.
Sehnsucht (life longings), the intense desire for optimal (utopian) states of life that are remote or unattainable, was recently introduced into life-span psychology as a concept of self-regulation (P. B. Baltes, 2008; S. Scheibe, A. M. Freund, & P. B. Baltes, 2007). The authors propose that as a compensatory strategy to deal with nonrealizability and loss, life longings may develop out of blocked goals. Individuals would cease to invest behavioral effort into its attainment and instead maintain the goal target in imagination. In a sample of 168 middle-aged childless women, the present study investigated the circumstances under which the wish for children emerges as a goal or life longing and whether the representation of the wish for children as a life longing is beneficial for well-being. The wish for children was expressed as a goal when participants rated this wish as currently intense and attainable. In contrast, it was expressed as a life longing when participants rated it as highly intense and long-standing. The pursuit of the wish for children as a life longing was positively related to well-being only when participants had high control over the experience of this life longing and when other self-regulation strategies (goal adjustment) failed.
向往（对生活的渴望），即对遥远或无法实现的理想（乌托邦式）生活状态的强烈渴望，最近作为一种自我调节的概念被引入到毕生发展心理学中（P. B. 鲍尔特斯，2008年；S. 谢贝、A. M. 弗罗因德和P. B. 鲍尔特斯，2007年）。作者提出，作为应对无法实现和损失的一种补偿策略，对生活的渴望可能源于受阻的目标。个体将停止在行为上为实现该目标投入努力，而是在想象中维持目标对象。在一个由168名中年无子女女性组成的样本中，本研究调查了想要孩子的愿望作为一种目标或对生活的渴望出现的情况，以及将想要孩子的愿望表征为对生活的渴望是否对幸福感有益。当参与者将想要孩子的愿望评定为当前强烈且可实现时，该愿望被表达为一个目标。相反，当参与者将其评定为非常强烈且持久时，它被表达为对生活的渴望。只有当参与者对这种对生活的渴望的体验有高度控制，且其他自我调节策略（目标调整）失效时，将想要孩子的愿望作为对生活的渴望来追求才与幸福感呈正相关。
