Parental Beliefs About Math and Verbal Ability Predict Self-Reported Behavior: The Role of Child Competence

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Learning and Motivation in Social and Cultural Contexts Poster Session 1

Abstract

Two studies examined whether the relationship between parents’ beliefs about the fixedness of their children’s abilities and their self-reported parenting strategies in math and reading is moderated by perceptions of their children’s competence in these domains. In general, the more that parents believed that their children’s math or reading abilities were fixed, the more likely they were to use performance-oriented strategies and the less likely they were to use mastery-oriented strategies when helping their children to complete a challenging math or reading task. However, parents’ use of performance- and mastery-oriented strategies also depended on perceptions of their children’s competence in math or reading, but only for the parents most likely to believe that their children’s abilities were fixed.

Authors

• Katherine Marie Muenks, University of Maryland

• David B. Miele, Boston College