Cross-generation perceptions of academic competence: Parental expectationsand adolescent self-disclosure

This study examined the role of parents acting as a social influence on ado lescents' self-knowledge about competence at academic activities. The parti cipants were adolescent boys and girls (N = 115) between the ages of II to 16 and their mothers and fathers. A proposed model of parental perceptions as mediating influences of past performances on adolescents 'self-perceptio ns was evaluated for variations in content and social context Adolescent se lf-disclosure to parents about academic achievement was also explored Resul ts indicated that parent-adolescent agreement was stronger with mothers tha n fathers and for aspects of self-knowledge that make direct inferences abo ut 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 suggest ed an important addition to the model of family influences on the adolescen ts' sense of academic achievement.