At-risk and not at-risk primary school children: An examination of goal orientations and social reputations

Aims. The purpose of the present research was to examine whether at-risk an d not at-risk primary school aged students differ in two social and psychol ogical domains (future goal orientations and social reputation). Sample. A total of 886 years 5, 6 and 7 students from five primary schools in the Brisbane metropolitan area of Queensland, Australia, participated in the study. Method. The Children's Activity Questionnaire which constitutes three parts (demographic information, the Importance of Goals Scale, and the Reputatio n Enhancement Scale) was administered under standardised conditions. Results. A series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) and univari ate F-tests performed on each of the sets of dependent variables (goal orie ntations and reputation enhancement) revealed significant differences betwe en the at-risk and not at-risk participants on both goals and reputation. Conclusions. Not at-risk children sought to attain an Academic Image throug h education and interpersonal goals, whereas at-risk children sought a Soci al Image and attached greater importance to physical goals. In line with th is, children in the not at-risk group perceived themselves and ideally wish ed to be perceived as a conforming person, while at-risk children perceived themselves and ideally wished to be perceived as non-conforming. Significa nt gender differences were also found on both sets of dependent variables, Comment. The findings are compared to recent research conducted with high s chool adolescents.