Relationships among Family Attitude Dimensions and Child Motivation

Abstract A test designed to measure dimensions of intrafamilial attitudes was administered to the parents of 250 children. The children were tested on the School Motivation Analysis Test. Among the many relationships obtained the most consistent predictor of the child SMAT scores was that of interspouse hostility, which was positively related to the children's assertiveness and sex scores and negatively related to childrens' narcism, protectiveness, and superego scores. In the case of the child self-sentiment scores a reversal occurred, with the fathers' interspouse hostility being positively related and the mothers' negatively related. These results must necessarily stand as tentative pending cross-validation; and they are regarded by the authors as hypothesis generating rather than as hypothesis testing. Although the linear multiple regression model used is a powerful one, it would not be unreasonable to expect interactions among some of the family attitude factors and, further, interactions of these fa...