Mother's parenting-attitudes and children's perceived competences

어머니의 양육태도와 아동의 자기역량지각

The purpose of this study is to examine, according to sex and grade, the relationship and difference between mothers' parenting attitudes and self-perceived competences of their children. 197 children of the 4th through the 6th grade were selected from an elementary school in Daejeon area. We used the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (Harter, 1982) to measure their self-perceived competence and the Mother's Parenting Attitudes Scale (1990, Lee & Park) to measure parenting attitudes of their mothers. Major findings are as follows: First, there were significant differences in the children's self-perceived competence according to their perception of parental warmth and control. Children with more perception of parental warmth and consistent control considered themselves higher in cognitive and social competences and in self-worth. Boys perceived higher mother's consistent control and positive participation in parenting-attitudes than girls. Girls perceived themselves higher than boys in global self-worth. Next, Out of the three grades the 4th graders indicated more perception of attachment, authoritarian control, and positive participation in parenting attitudes. There was statistically no difference in self-perceived competences of children according to their grades. Finally, there were correlations between mothers' parenting attitudes and perceived competences of their children. Children with more perception of parental warmth, attachment, positive participation, and consistent control showed higher level of physical competence, social competence, and global self-worth.