PARENTING STYLES, MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATIONS, AND SELF-PERCEIVED ACADEMIC COMPETENCE - A MEDIATIONAL MODEL

A mediational model is examined that stipulates motivational orientati ons as mediators between parenting styles and self-perceived academic competence. Three separate pathways were hypothesized: authoritarian p arenting leading to extrinsic motivation, authoritative parenting to i ntrinsic motivation, and neglectful parenting to amotivation. These di fferent motivational orientations were in turn related to self-perceiv ed academic competence. The participants of this study were 404 Grades 8 and 9 high school students of both sexes in Hong Kong. Testing by m ultiple regression and structural equation modeling largely confirmed our mediational model. One significant modification to the original mo del was an extra pathway from authoritarian parenting to amotivation, suggesting that the former had a more generalized negative impact on m otivation.