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Children’s perceptions of parental involvement and their academic motivation and well-being : a Singapore study
Author
Bendjenni Udiana Jamalludin
Supervisor
Liem, Gregory Arief D.
Luo, Serena Wenshu
Abstract
Trends in parenting research in Singapore (e.g., Ong & Cheung, 2016; Cheo & Quah, 2005) have focused on parental involvement in their children’s schooling and academic achievement. This is especially the case because academic achievement is highly prized and, as such, there is an increasing pressure on Singapore children to perform well in school. However, it is sensible to believe that the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation might negatively compromised by this academic pressure. Although past researchers (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Henderson & Mapp, 2002) found that greater parental involvement resulted in better children’s academic achievement, there is a lack of research looking into the role of parental involvement in the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. Further, while parenting practices have been widely researched on, there is not much research on parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs on how these two sets of parental-related factors are related to the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. As such, there is a need to investigate the links between parental aspirations, parenting motivational beliefs, and children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. In view of these gaps in the literature, the present study sought to examine Singapore children’s perceptions of their parental aspirations and parenting-related motivational beliefs, and investigate these factors’ relationships with the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Parental Involvement Framework and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) were used as the two main underpinning theories. Specifically, a total of 300 Primary 5, Primary 6, Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 children in Singapore were asked to report on their perceptions of their parents’ parental intrinsic aspiration, extrinsic aspiration, parenting efficacy, parenting task value, parental role construction, parenting enjoyment, parenting time, parenting effort, satisfaction of needs and academic motivation. Methodologically, this is a quantitative study in which the participants were asked to complete a set of questionnaire cross-sectionally. The Basic Psychological Needs Scale was used to measure the participants’ perceived satisfaction of their needs of autonomy, competency, and relatedness. The Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire was used to measure the children’s intrinsic, identified, introjected, and extrinsic motivation in their schoolwork. The Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Parental Involvement Scales, the Self-Determination Theory-derived Aspiration Index and Intrinsic Motivation Scale were used to measure the participants’ perceptions of the different aspects of parental involvement in children’s schooling lives. Findings showed that children’s perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs (parenting task value, parental role construction, and parenting efficacy) predicted parenting enjoyment, parenting time and parenting effort. Children’s perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs also predicted the children’s perceived satisfaction of needs and the intrinsic, identified and introjected types of academic motivation. Further, mediation tests showed that children’s perceptions of their parents’ parenting enjoyment, parenting time, and parenting effort mediated the relationships between their perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs and their perceived satisfaction of needs and intrinsic, identified, and introjected motivation. In conclusion, the study provided evidence that parental aspirations and motivational beliefs, as perceived by children, have a role in the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. The applied implications and recommendations of the findings for school-parent partnership are discussed.
Date Issued
2017
Call Number
LB1048.5 Ben
Date Submitted
2017