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31. [Article] Conscience orientation in children and parental attitudes toward independence granting and achievement inducement
This study focused on the relationship between parental attitudes and the conscience orientation of children, testing the hypotheses that (1) parents who had children with an external conscience orientation would ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- Conscience orientation in children and parental attitudes toward independence granting and achievement inducement
- Author:
- Draper, Henry E.
This study focused on the relationship between parental attitudes and the conscience orientation of children, testing the hypotheses that (1) parents who had children with an external conscience orientation would show significantly greater disparity between their independence granting and achievement inducement attitudes than parents whose children had conventional or humanistic orientations, (2) that parents who had children with a humanistic conscience orientation would show significantly less disparity between their independence granting and achievement inducement scores than parents whose children had external or conventional conscience orientations, and (3) that parents whose children had conventional conscience orientations would show a disparity between independence granting and achievement inducement scores which would fall midway between the parents of children with external or humanistic conscience orientations. Fifteen students representative of each of three conscience types were identified from 325 sixth grade children from various school districts in central and south eastern Utah. The identification and measurement of conscience orientations was achieved with a projective story completion battery adapted from a measure developed by Hoffman. Parental attitudes toward independence granting and achievement inducement were obtained by means of an interview, using the Parental Developmental Timetable, a paper and pencil instrument designed for this purpose by Torgoff . These instruments provided a single independence granting and single achievement inducement score for each parent. The achievement inducement score of each parent was divided into the independence granting score to obtain a ratio of these two variables (the I/A ratio). To determine if there was a significant difference in the I/A ratio scores of parents whose children held different conscience orientations, the parental data were treated by an analysis of variance. Using raw score data no differences were found in the I/A ratios between the three parental groupings, and the three hypotheses stated above were rejected. A derived score transformation technique of handling the data was then developed which permitted a more precise method of determining the difference between the relationship of independence granting to achievement inducement. The rationale permitted a high score theoretically to represent parents whose children had a humanistic conscience orientation, a low score to represent parents whose children had an external conscience orientation, and the scores in between to represent parents whose children had a conventional conscience orientation. When an analysis of variance was applied to these data, the hypotheses were again rejected. The data also were tested to determine the influence of the parental independence granting and achievement inducement variables independently on the conscience orientation of children. This analysis also revealed a lack of relationship between independence granting or achievement inducement orientations on the part of parents and the conscience orientation of children. It was concluded, within the limits of these data, that the independence granting and achievement orientations of parents are unrelated to the conscience orientations of sixth grade children from selected school districts in Utah. In an effort to account for the negative findings corning from the study, an examination of the sampling procedures, the measurement procedures, and the conceptual framework was undertaken. In spite of weakness in the sampling procedure, and the limitations of measurement, it is the opinion of the investigator that the major factor accounting for the negative findings was the inadequacy of the conceptual framework. Had a conceptual framework been developed which included a three-dimensional model, taking into account the influence of parental warmth in relation to the ratio of independence granting and achievement inducement, results in the direction predicted may have occurred.
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32. [Article] The effect of nursery school observation on mothers' understanding of behavior in preschool children
The purpose of this study was to compare the level of behavioral understanding of preschool children of mothers who had observed in the nursery school with the level of behavioral understanding of mothers ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- The effect of nursery school observation on mothers' understanding of behavior in preschool children
- Author:
- Goldman, Allene Townsend
The purpose of this study was to compare the level of behavioral understanding of preschool children of mothers who had observed in the nursery school with the level of behavioral understanding of mothers who had not observed. "Behavioral understanding" was defined as a mother's degree of awareness of the factors and forces which contribute to the actions and/or responses of a child in given situations. The hypothesis to be tested was that observing in the nursery school does not affect the mothers' understanding of the behavior of preschool children. Twenty-two mothers who had a child enrolled in the nursery schools at Oregon State University participated in this study. The mothers were randomly divided into two groups, a control and an experimental group. The experimental group observed in the nursery school for a period of three weeks, a total of six hours of observation. At no time during the study were the mothers in the control group allowed to observe. During the course of the study no mother in either group was allowed to discuss with the teachers or students any subject relevant to children and their behavior. A measure of the mothers' level of understanding was determined by The Film Test for Understanding Behavior (FUB). The purpose of the test is to give an objective measure of: (1) understanding of guidance principles as they relate to specific behavior, (2) knowledge of expected behavior and development in three-and four-year-old children, and (3) sensitivity to the feelings of children. The test consists of ten one-minute episodes of behavior of three-and four-year-old children which were filmed in the nursery school. Specific items have been developed for each episode and the response to each item is given in terms of a five point agreement-disagreement continuum: Agree, Agree with hesitation, Uncertain, Disagree with hesitation, and Disagree. The scores range from + 2 for the most correct to - 2 for the least correct response. The FUB was administered twice to both groups of mothers: (1) before the experimental group began their observations and (2) after the experimental group completed their three-week period of observation. The scores for each test were computed by two different procedures. First, a total score was computed which showed the scores for the three subscales of the test: (1) knowledge of guidance principles, (2) knowledge of expected behavior and development, and (3) sensitivity to the feelings of children. Second, each test was scored by a procedure which discriminates between those having an extensive background in child development and psychology (medium-high scale) and those having limited academic work in these subjects (low-medium scale). The mothers having two or fewer courses in child development and psychology were considered to have limited academic course work and those mothers having three or more courses in these subjects were considered to have an extensive background. A t-test of significance was used to determine the difference of scores between the two groups before and after observation. The results did not show a significant difference of scores at the .05 level of confidence. This was true for both scoring procedures. These findings indicate a need for further research in establishing the reliability and validity of the FUB and in the use of observation as a method of parent education.
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33. [Article] A comparison of social class differences in adolescents' self-disclosure, parent-cathexis and self-cathexis
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between middle- and lower-class adolescents and the extent of their self-disclosure to their mothers and their fathers; and their feelings both ...Citation Citation
- Title:
- A comparison of social class differences in adolescents' self-disclosure, parent-cathexis and self-cathexis
- Author:
- Larsen, George Robert
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between middle- and lower-class adolescents and the extent of their self-disclosure to their mothers and their fathers; and their feelings both positive and negative toward their parents and themselves. The subjects consisted of 50 middle-class and 50 lower-class adolescents who were randomly selected from 297 sophomores and juniors attending the same high school in a rural town in Oregon. Hollingshead's Index of Social Position (1958), which uses the occupation and education of the father as criteria for social class, was used to classify the adolescents by social class. Sex comparisons were also analyzed for differences between the middle- and lower-class adolescents. In attempting to realize this purpose, two major hypotheses were tested: Hypothesis 1: There are no differences between these middle-class and lower-class adolescents in the extent of self-disclosure to their parents. Hypothesis 2: There are no differences between these middle-class and lower-class adolescent's in the extent of positive and negative feelings toward their parents and themselves. The extent of self-disclosure was measured by Jourard's Self-disclosure Questionnaire (1964). This 60 item instrument which permits the subjects to indicate the extent to which they are willing to talk to another person about themselves on the following six categories: A attitudes and opinions, B tastes and interests, C work or studies, D money, E personality, and F body. Total scores from the questionnaire were used in testing Hypothesis 1. The results indicated that the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Comparison of middle- and lower-class males and middle- and lower-class females also did not indicate any significant differences on total scores from the Self-disclosure Questionnaire. The extent of the adolescents' positive and negative feelings toward their parents and themselves was measured by the use of Jourard's Cathexis Questionnaire. This instrument consists of 40 personality traits such as: sense of humor, philosophy of life, temper, and happiness. Total scores from the questionnaire were used in the test of Hypothesis 2. Once again, the results of the test indicated that the null hypothesis could not be rejected. In addition analysis was made of differences between middle- and lower-class males and middle- and lower-class females on total scores from the Cathexis Questionnaire for mothers, fathers and themselves. No significant differences were found for the social class differences for the middle- and lower-class males and females. The items within each questionnaire were then analyzed for significant differences between the middle- and lower-class adolescents. To test for significant differences between social classes for each item within the questionnaires, Chi Square and the Kolmogrov- Smirnov Test were used. Sixteen of the 60 items on the Self-disclosure Questionnaire were found to be significantly different between the middle- and lower-class adolescents, with the middle-class adolescents talking more extensively to their parents than did the lower-class adolescents. More specifically five items were significantly different for both mothers and fathers which were: attitudes on drinking, feelings about how work is appreciated, feelings about people at work, trouble controlling feelings, being attractive to the opposite sex or not. While these five items were significant for both mothers and fathers the following eight items were of significance for mothers: attitudes on racial integration, tastes in music, style of house, how much money is made, to whom money is owed, amount in savings, aspects of personality that are disliked, and feelings about one's appearance in the past. The following three items were significant for fathers: tastes in food, source of income, and ideals of overall appearance. In addition analysis of differences between middle- and lower-class males and females on the items within the Self-disclosure Questionnaire with the lower-class adolescent indicating no self-disclosure in contrast to the middle-class adolescents extensive self-disclosure. Slightly more items were significantly different on self-disclosure to the parent of the same sex than to the parent of the opposite sex. The items of significance for males to fathers were: religion, food, social gatherings, feelings about people at work, and adequacy in sexual behavior. The items of significance for females to mothers were: style of house, present work, ambitions and goals, choice of a career, people at work, things that makes one furious, and adequacy in sexual behavior. The items of significance for the males to mothers were: appreciation of work, amount of savings, and being attractive to the opposite sex. The items of significance for the females to their fathers were: how much money is made and trouble controlling feelings. For the Cathexis Questionnaire there were three target persons: mother, father, and self. Only four of the 40 items in this questionnaire were significantly different between middle- and lower-class adolescents. The lower-class adolescents indicated negative feelings toward their fathers and themselves in contrast to the positive feelings expressed by the middle-class adolescents. Of the four items three were for fathers' general knowledge, intelligence level, and philosophy of life. The only significant item for the adolescents' feelings about themselves was their ability to control emotions. An additional comparison was made for differences between the middle- and lower-class males and females for feelings about their mothers, fathers and themselves. There were only two significant items for the sex comparisons for the items from the Cathexis Questionnaire. The lower-class males indicated negative feelings toward their fathers' general knowledge in contrast to the positive feelings of the middle-class males. The lower-class females indicated negative feelings for their fathers' intelligence level in contrast to the positive feelings of the middle-class females. An extension of the analysis of the differences between the extreme ends of the social class continuum was done by going back to the original 297 subjects and taking all of those in Classes I and II (N = 20) and all of those in Class V (N = 23). The two hypotheses were again tested by using the Self-disclosure and Cathexis Questionnaires. Total scores from the two questionnaires were used in the test of Hypothesis 1 and 2. The results of the t-test indicated that the null hypotheses could not be rejected, for both Hypothesis 1 and 2. The sex comparisons for the two hypotheses also indicated no significant differences on total scores from the two questionnaires. The analysis of the differences in the extent of self-disclosure between the extreme ends of the social class continuum provided a pattern which was the reverse for the random sample of middle- and lower-class adolescents. For the random sample there were more items of significant difference for mothers than for fathers, while there were more items of significant difference for fathers than for mothers for the extreme ends of the social class continuum. The lower socio-economic adolescents indicated no self-disclosure for the significant items in contrast to the upper socio-economic adolescents' extensive self-disclosure to their parents. The three items which were significantly different on self-disclosure to mothers were: attitudes toward other religious groups, satisfaction from present work, and who owes me money. The nine items which were significantly different on self-disclosure to fathers were: religion, standards of beauty, tastes in food, present work, ambitions and goals, who owes me money, different parts of the body, physical measurements, and adequate sexual behavior. The analysis of the differences in the extent of self-disclosure between the males and females of the upper and lower extremes of the social class continuum showed no significant difference. The analysis of the differences between the extreme ends of the social class continuum on the items within the Cathexis Questionnaire indicated one item for mothers and six items for fathers. For all of the items the lower socio-economic adolescents indicated negative feelings in contrast to the positive feelings of the upper socio-economic adolescents. The one significant item for feelings about mothers was her general knowledge. The six significant items for feelings about fathers were his: general knowledge, intelligence level, capacity to work, ability to meet new people, and business sense. The sex comparisons of the extreme ends of the social class continuum of the items within the Cathexis Questionnaire found two items of significant differences. The lower socio-economic females indicated negative feelings about fathers' general knowledge and intelligence level, while the upper socio-economic females indicated positive feelings on these items. The items within the questionnaires which indicated significant differences agreed with the literature on social class which suggests that there is more communication between middle-class parents and their children than for lower-class parents and their children, and that the lower-class adolescents report more negative feelings toward their parents than do the middle-class adolescents. The findings of this study suggest the necessity of additional studies of social class differences in rural settings and comparisons of rural and urban samples which use the same criteria for measuring social class and which use the same instruments for measuring differences among the social classes.