Child‐rearing Attitudes of Mothers of Under‐, Average‐, and Over‐achieving Children

Abstract

SUMMARY.The relationships between child-rearing attitudes of mothers and levels of academic achievement of their 1 1-year-old (grade six) elementary school children were examined. The sample included 191 mothers (103 mothers of sons and 88 mothers of daughters). Maternal attitudes were assessed by the Parental Attitude Research Instrument. The criterion of academic achievement for the children consisted of objective achievement test scores in reading plus mathematics. Level of academic achievement was defined in terms of the relationship between expected and actual achievement using the regression-equation method. Those items of the Parental Attitude Research Instrument, which discriminated significantly between mothers of under-, average-, and over-achievers, were subjected to factor analysis. The test data of the mothers of sons and mothers of daughters were processed separately. Four factors were identified for the mothers of sons and also four factors for the mothers of daughters. The results indicated that, compared with the mothers of average-and over-achievers, the mothers of under-achieving sons are more dominant, rigid, and restrictive in the sense of being possessive and intrusive, while the mothers of underachieving daughters are more dominant, rigid and restrictive in terms of being protective.INTRODUCTION THE objective of this study was the examination of the relationships between the child-rearing attitudes of mothers and the academic achievement levels of their 1 1-year-old (grade six) elementary school children. The important components of this study, compared with earlier research on this subject, pertain mainly to three crucial methodological issues. First, the level of academic achievement of the children was not defined simply as a grade or score of a certain absolute magnitude, but in terms of the relationship between each child's actual academic achievement and the achievement expected on the basis of his measured intelligence, using the regressionequation method. Second, the criteria of academic achievement consisted of objective achievement test scores in reading plus mathematics, instead of the frequently used grades on report cards. Third, the test data of the mothers of sons, and the mothers of daughters, were processed separately, on the grounds that maternal attitudes which are associated with under-, average-or over-achievement of children may not necessarily be the same in relation to boys and girls. Sex as a significant differential variable in the relationship between personality and academic achievement in children has been clearly demonstrated by, among others, Entwistle and Cunningham (1968).Martin (1975), in his comprehensive review of research on parent-child relations, points out that mothers of high-achieving boys reported that they had expected various behaviours indicative of both independence and achievement at a younger age and also that they had given larger and more frequent reinforcements when their sons performed independently and successfully. For females, intellec...

Personal Experiences and Adjustment of Dutch Adults with Dyslexia

“…We were impressed by the warm appreciation most respondents expressed about their relationships with their parents in the past and even more so at the time of the interview. In the research literature, the family lives of children with learning disabilities are sometimes found to be demanding, more rigid and restrictive, more stressful, and less affectionate than those of nondisabled children (Banner, 1979;Morrison & Zetlin, 1992;Pearson & Chan, 1993). On the other hand, Waggoner and Wilgosh (1990) reported similarly positive experiences of parents.…”

Structuration éducative parentale et fonctionnement cognitif des jeunes enfants

“…s'intkressant au niveau conceptuel des enfants, montre que ceux qui ont un plus haut niveau conceptuel (Cvalut avec une tiche de completement de phrase) proviennent de familles democratiques et ceux qui ont un niveau conceptuel plus bas proviennent de familles auto~ratiques.~ Pour sa part Goldschmid (1968) ne trouve pas de relation entre I'attitude dominante de la mtre et le QI de I'enfant rnais trouve une correlation negative avec la reussite de I'enfant aux tpreuves de conservation. Les rksultats que presente Nichols (1964) montrent que I'attitude contrblante de la mtre est corrClCe negativement avec la crtativite des enfants Banner (1979). trouve que les meres qui sont restrictives, dominantes, intrusives, et intolerantes avec leurs fils ou dominantes, protectrices, autoritaires, et directives avec leurs filles ont des enfants qui reussissent moins bien acadkrniquement.…”

Η Διδασκαλια Με Τη Βοηθεια Υπολογιστη Στη Δημοτικη Εκπαιδευση Ως Μεσο Μειωσης Των Εκπαιδευτικων Ανισοτητων Με Εμφαση Στη Διδασκαλια Του Μαθηματος Της Ε' Δημοτικου "Ερευνω Το Φυσικο Κοσμο"

“…-του «οικογενειακού κλίματος» όπου τα οικογενειακά χαρακτηριστικά εμφανίζονται ανεξάρτητα από κοινωνικά χαρακτηριστικά (π.χ. Miller, 1971), -της ιδεολογικής επίδρασης των γονέων προς τις «αξίες της επιτυχίας» (Rosen, 1956), -της μορφής που παίρνει η γονε'ίκή εξουσία, όπου η «μετριοπαθής» πατρική εξο\»σία, έχει συνδεθεί θετικά με τη σχολική επιτυχία (Elder, 1963, Longuet, 1980, ενώ η κτητική προς τα αγόρια και υπερπροστατευ τική προς τα κορίτσια μητρική συμπεριφορά έχει συνδεθεί αρνητικά με τη σχολική επιτυχία (Banner, 1979).…”