Children's achievement moderates the effects of mothers' use of control and autonomy support.
Two studies investigated the effects of parents' control and autonomy support on low- and high-achieving children. In Study 1, mothers' (N=110) involvement with children (7 to 10 years old) in the context of a challenging task was observed. During this interaction, mothers' control predicted diminished engagement and their autonomy support predicted enhanced performance for low-achieving children more than for high-achieving children. In Study 2, mothers' (N=121) responses to children's (9 to 12 years old) failure were assessed with a daily checklist. Children's grades were obtained at this time and 6 months later. Mothers' controlling responses predicted decreased performance and their autonomy-supportive responses predicted increased performance over time for low achievers more than for high achievers.
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Florrie Fei-Yin
FF
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, 61820, USA.
Kenney-Benson
Gwen A
GA
Pomerantz
Eva M
EM
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012944:Social Support; D014743:Videotape Recording