3-178 - Social, emotional & self-regulatory influences on children’s mastery strivings, from different countries & perspectives

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

In this symposium, research from different perspectives and 4 countries examines social, emotional, and self-regulatory processes in children’s mastery strivings. In presentation 1, Israeli mothers’ achievement-oriented parental conditional regard (PCR) toward their toddlers is studied longitudinally in relation to children’s later (4.5 years) emotional and behavioral responses to impossible puzzles and parent-reported mastery motivation (MM). Children whose mothers used more PCR during toddlerhood were more likely to be classified as helpless versus mastery-oriented, based on emotions and behaviors. In presentation 2, Dutch children’s social (self vs. other) versus temporal (current vs. past self performance) comparisons were experimentally manipulated and related to children’s self-feelings and goals. Positive social and temporal comparisons increased children’s pride, but temporal comparisons also increased desire to improve/master; whereas, social comparisons increased desire for superiority. In presentation 3, 5-year-old Hungarian children’s persistence and emotions on challenging tasks (MM), and executive functions (EF) were studied using tablet tasks. Interestingly, although the correlation between MM and EF on the same tasks was close to zero, both MM and EF significantly predicted pre-academic skills. In Presentation 4, American preschoolers’ emotions and persistence during a puzzle task, two computer search tasks, and a parent-report measure were interrelated and related to temperament and participation measures. Interestingly, parent-reported sadness to difficult tasks and temperamental sadness were related positively to children’s persistence on challenging tablet tasks, but parent-reported anger to difficult tasks was associated with greater persistence on challenging puzzles. Thus, symposium papers highlight the importance of social and emotional processes in mastery motivation.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Karen Barrett, Colorado State University

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Achievement-Oriented Conditional Regard with Toddlers Longitudinally Predicts Preschoolers' Poor Mastery Motivation - Presenting Author: Avi Assor, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israe; Non-Presenting Author: Ortal Bhoknik Atzil, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Noa Herschkovitz, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Lotem Oz, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Judy Auerbach, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC); Non-Presenting Author: Patricia A Smiley, Pomona Colege

• Better Than My Past Self: Temporal Comparison Raises Dutch Children’s Pride Without Triggering Superiority Goals - Presenting Author: Çisem Gürel, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Eddie Brummelman, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Constantine Sedikides, University of Sourhampton; Non-Presenting Author: Geertjan Overbeek, University of Amsterdam

• Children's mastery motivation and executive functions on the new FOCUS app - Presenting Author: Karen Barrett, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Krisztián Józsa, University of Szeged; Non-Presenting Author: George Morgan, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Alyssa Gibbons, Colorado State University

• Persistence & emotion on 4 approaches to measuring mastery motivation - Presenting Author: Pei-Jung Wang, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Karen Barrett, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Angela Roybal Lewis, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Krisztián Józsa, University of Szeged; Non-Presenting Author: George Morgan, Colorado State University