The Relationship Between Maternal Parenting And Junior Middle School Students’ Self-perceived Cognitive Competence,Theory Of Intelligence And Academic Achievement

Parenting refers to what parents commonly do to upbring or educate theirchildren.“Learning is the bounden duty of students”, parents will pay moreattentions on children’s learning, and use a variety of methods to encourage theirchildren to study, effective parenting will have positive effect on student’s learning.Autonomy support is reflected in parental encouragement of children’s individualexpression and decision making, Parents high in autonomy support allow children tomake choices about activities and behavior, and encourage the development ofindependence（Morris, Steinberg et al.,2001）.In contrast, parental control is viewed asa type of coercive, passive-aggressive, intrusive control that is characterized byhostility toward children（Silk et al.,2003；Barber,1996).Studies in China mainlyconcentrate on the style of parenting: authoritative style, authoritarian style, indulgentstyle, and neglectful style. Studies on autonomy support and control are mostly in theWest. Studies have found that the relationship between parenting and students’academic achievement is not direct, parenting may indirectly work through students’factors（Gonzelez-Pienda，et al，2002）. Self-perceived competence is individuals’self-evaluative judgment of their own ability to accomplish specific tasks(Harter,1985), it’s one type of expression of individual self-consciousness. Theory ofintelligence refers to individual’s understanding of whether ability or intelligence canbe changed or controlled. They both relate closely with students’academic function.Therefore, this study is to investigate the relationship between maternal parenting andstudents’achievement, and examine the effect of students’factors betweenparenting and academic achievement.The present study applies cross-sectional design, 514 students in grade seven,eight and nine from a junior middle school in Jinan are selected as participants.Self-report questionnaires are adopted, including Mother’s Learning-relatedAutonomy Support and Control Scale, Perceived Competence Scale for Children, Theory of Intelligence Questionnaire, and Family Background Questionnaire(i.e,family socioeconomic status), collecting data of maternal autonomy support andcontrol, self-perceived cognitive competence, theory of intelligence, as well asstudents’academic achievement. The main conclusion are as follows:1 For age difference, maternal autonomy support in grade seven is significantlyhigher than that of students in grade eight and nine, and there is no difference incontrol. Maternal autonomy of girls is significantly higher than boys, while thecontrol is significantly lower. Additionally, the higher the SES is, the more thematernal autonomy support is, but there is no significantly relationship between SESand maternal control.2 The self-perceived cognitive competence of students in grade seven issignificantly higher than that of students in grade nine ,and slightly higher than gradeeight. And there is no gender difference in self-perceived cognitive competence.3 Students’self-perceived cognitive competence could partly mediate theparenting effects. That is, mother’s autonomy support could enhance children’sacademic achievement partly through influencing students’self-perceived cognitivecompetence, and mother’s psychological control could reduce children’s academicachievement partly through influencing students’self-perceived cognitivecompetence.4 Students’theory of intelligence could moderate self-perceived cognitivecompetence effects on academic achievement. High perception about cognitivecompetence will promote students’academic achievement，who hold the incrementaltheory. What’s more, the mediative effect of students’self-perceived cognitivecompetence between parenting and academic achievement is moderated by the theoryof intelligence, that is, self-perceived cognitive competence is a moderated mediator.