Patterns of middle-class parenting and adolescent underachievement.
To test the hypothesis that the random independent variable of four different patterns of middle-class parenting (e.g., upward striving, overprotective, indifferent, and conflicted) would be reflected in academic achievement, eighty-seven 11th and 12 graders completed a questionnaire concerning their attitudes toward their parents. Upward-striving patterns of parenting were significantly associated with underachievement. Apparently, the prodding and pressuring of these adolescents aroused reactions of anger, resentment, and rebellion. These findings are discussed in terms of adolescents' awareness of the dynamics of parental aspiration and self-performance.
Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, State University of New York, Buffalo 14260.
K
K
Metcalf
E L
EL
Gaier
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D002657:Child Development; D002668:Child Rearing; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012649:Self Concept; D012923:Social Class; D014477:Underachievement