Cross-Generation Perceptions of Academic Competence

Abstract

This study examined the role of parents acting as a social influence on adolescents’self-knowledge about competence at academic activities. The participants were adolescent boys and girls (N = 115) between the ages of 11 to 16 and their mothers and fathers. A proposed model of parental perceptions as mediating influences of past performances on adolescents’self-perceptions was evaluated for variations in content and social context. Adolescent self-disclosure to parents about academic achievement was also explored. Results indicated that parent-adolescent agreement was stronger with mothers than fathers and for aspects of self-knowledge that make direct inferences about abilities (performance, talent) rather than indirect inferences (effort, task difficulty) in both Mathematics and English. Results were similar in coed and single-sex contexts. Adolescent self-disclosure to parents suggested an important addition to the model of family influences on the adolescents’sense of academic achievement.