| This study explored maternal factors and children's motivational resources on children's school achievement and adjustment in three countries, a developing (i.e., Indonesia) and in a developed (i.e., South Korea) Asian culture, and an industrialized Western culture (i.e. the United States). The study aimed to shed light on how maternal contexts, as influenced by cultural norms impact children's motivation as a way to bring together distal effects of society and proximal effects of mothers' parenting practices on children's motivation and behavior.; More specifically, the study tested a model in which the school achievement and adjustment of children in the three countries were predicted from the motivational variables of positive coping, perceived cognitive competence, and academic control understanding in the children. These motivational variables were predicted from the maternal behaviors of supporting autonomy, involvement, empathic concern, and perspective taking. These parenting behaviors were predicted from culturally relevant maternal orientation toward overall modernity, child centeredness, and obedience, and from mothers' education levels.; The child motivation variables were derived from self determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985a) and the model of school engagement (Connell, 1990), and the variables indexing maternal child-rearing practices were also suggested by these same theories. Inkeles' and Smith's (1974) overall modernity model, Schaefer and Edgerton's (1981) modernity in child rearing and education model, and Hoffman's (1987) model of the value of children to mothers represent the maternal modernity variables. Finally, demographic variables include family make up as well as family education, occupation, ethnicity, and religion.; The study was conducted in three cultures that vary in demographics and in maternal beliefs, attitudes, and values, so analyses was done to explore intercultural differences as well as similarities. The model was tested in a sample of 329 Indonesian fifth and sixth graders and their mothers, 129 Korean fifth and sixth graders and their mothers, and 120 American fifth and sixth graders and their mothers.; Although the present study yielded some different findings in the three countries, the children's motivational resources were generally significant predictors of school achievement and adjustment. Although positive coping predicted only teacher-rated adjustment, children's felt competence and control understanding predicted both school grades and teacher rated adjustment in various countries. Of the parenting practice variables, Perceived Maternal Autonomy Support was the strongest predictor of children's motivation and school behavior, significantly predicting at least one motivation variable in each country and significantly predicting school behavior in Indonesia and South Korea. There was also evidence of some mediation by motivational resources of the relations between maternal parenting behaviors and children's school behaviors. Finally, mothers' educational level and culturally relevant modernity beliefs influence their parenting behaviors. |
