Psychology

Antecedents and consequences of mothers' autonomy support: an experimental investigation.

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This study examined the effects of contextual and individual differences on mothers' autonomy support versus control on homeworklike tasks. Sixty mothers and their third-grade children worked on map and poem tasks, with mothers in either an ego-involving (high pressure) or a non-ego-involving (low pressure) condition. Later, children worked on similar tasks themselves. Mothers in the high-pressure condition were more controlling on the poem task. For the map task, mothers who came in with controlling styles and received the high-pressure manipulation were most controlling. Children whose mothers interacted in a more controlling manner wrote less creative poems when alone. Results suggest the importance of context, children's competence levels, and mothers' styles in determining levels of autonomy support.

Publication Title

Developmental psychology

Publication Date

2002

Volume

38

Issue

1

First Page

143

Last Page

155

ISSN

0012-1649

DOI

10.1037/0012-1649.38.1.143

Keywords

contextual & individual differences, autonomy support vs control, ego involvement, mother-child interaction, parenting style, homeworklike task completion

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