RELATIONSHIP OF PERCEIVED PARENTING STYLES, LOCUS OF CONTROL ORIENTATION, AND SELF-CONCEPT AMONG JUNIOR-HIGH AGE STUDENTS

Relationships between adolescents' perceptions of their parents' respo nsiveness and demandingness, adolescents' locus of control orientation , and adolescents' self-concept ratings were investigated. Participant s included 198 students in grades eight and nine who were administered the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents, and the Perceived Pare nting Styles Survey. Participants who perceived their parents as being Authoritative had a significantly more internal locus of control orie ntation than subjects who perceived their parents as either Permissive or Authoritarian. Self-Concept scores were significantly higher for t he Authoritative group than for the Permissive or Authoritarian groups in several areas. The findings indicate that an Authoritative style o f parenting may contribute to the development of self-adequacy by bein g associated with internal locus of control orientation and stronger s elf-concept, while Permissive and Authoritarian styles of parenting ma y be associated with negative patterns of social-emotional development . (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.