Parental antecedents of children's beliefs in internal-external control of reinforcements in intellectual achievement situations.

This report summarizes two studies on the influence of parent behaviors on the development of their children's beliefs that they (the children), rather than external agents, cause and are responsible for the reinforcements they receive. Children's beliefs in internal control were correlated with ratings of the mother's behaviors when she was in interaction with the child (study A, with 41 children and their mothers), interview data from mothers and fathers on the parent-child relationship (study B, with 40 children and their parents), and a questionnaire which assessed parents' positive and negative reactions to their children's achievement behavioi-. Findings indicated that various aspects of the parent-child relationship are significant antecedents, especially in the relationship between mother and child. The more protective, nurtural and loving the mother, the greater was her child's behef in internal control. Parental dominance and relection appear to discourage girls' beliefs in internal control. A trend was also found for mothers' accelerational attempts to relate positively to their sons' (but not their daughters') beliefs in internal control. On the questionnaire measure, paternal praise generally correlated positively with children's beliefs in internal control, and paternal criticism related negatively to such beliefs. (Author/MS)