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There is ongoing debate about the universal or culture-specific role of controlling parenting in children’s and adolescents’ development. This study addressed the possibility of cultural variability in how controlling parenting practices are perceived and dealt with. Specifically, we examined Belgian ('N' = 341) and Chinese ('N' = 316) adolescents’ perceptions of and reactions towards a vignette depicting parental guilt-induction, relative to generally controlling and autonomy supportive vignettes. Whereas Belgian adolescents perceived guilt-induction to be as controlling as generally controlling parental behavior, Chinese adolescents’ perception of guilt-induction as controlling was more moderate. Belgian and Chinese adolescents also showed some similarities and differences in their responses to the feelings of need frustration following from the controlling practices, with compulsive compliance for instance being more common in Chinese adolescents. Discussion focuses on cross-cultural similarities and differences in dynamics of controlling parenting.

Research increasingly demonstrates that associations between autonomy-relevant parenting and adolescent adjustment generalize across cultures. Yet, there is still an ongoing debate about the role of culture in these effects of autonomy-relevant parenting. The current study aimed to contribute to a more nuanced perspective on this debate by addressing cultural variability in micro-processes involved in autonomy-relevant parenting and, more specifically, in adolescents’ appraisals of and responses to parental behavior. In this vignette-based experimental study, involving 137 South-Korean adolescents (54% female, mean age = 16 years), we examined whether individual differences in vertical collectivism affect the association between descriptions of potentially autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting practices and (a) appraisals of these practices (in terms of perceived autonomy support and control and experiences of autonomy need satisfaction and frustration), and (b) anticipated responses to these practices (i.e., negotiation, submissive compliance, and oppositional defiance). Participants in the autonomy-supportive condition reported more perceived autonomy support and autonomy satisfaction and lower perceived control and autonomy need frustration than participants in the controlling condition. Collectivism moderated between-vignette effects on perceived control and autonomy need frustration such that the differences between the autonomy-supportive and controlling vignettes were less pronounced (yet still significant) among adolescents scoring higher on collectivism. Collectivism did not moderate effects of the vignettes on the responses to parenting, but yielded a main effect, with collectivism relating to more submissive compliance and less oppositional defiance. Overall, the results suggest that both universal and culture-specific processes are involved in autonomy-relevant socialization.

Academic libraries continue to face challenges communicating their value. One dimension of this challenge is in demonstrating how information literacy relates to important measures of student learning, like course grades and motivation. This study documents the development and exploratory pilot testing of the Informed Learning scale--which is intended to produce data for institutional reporting purposes at scale in alignment with contemporary IL theory, specifically Informed Learning. Preliminary findings include small correlations between the Informed Learning scale and course grades and moderate correlations between the scale and student perceptions of their learning climate and self-determined motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research increasingly demonstrates that associations between autonomy-relevant parenting and adolescent adjustment generalize across cultures. Yet, there is still an ongoing debate about the role of culture in these effects of autonomy-relevant parenting. The current study aimed to contribute to a more nuanced perspective on this debate by addressing cultural variability in micro-processes involved in autonomy-relevant parenting and, more specifically, in adolescents’ appraisals of and responses to parental behavior. In this vignette-based experimental study, involving 137 South-Korean adolescents (54% female, mean age = 16 years), we examined whether individual differences in vertical collectivism affect the association between descriptions of potentially autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting practices and (a) appraisals of these practices (in terms of perceived autonomy support and control and experiences of autonomy need satisfaction and frustration), and (b) anticipated responses to these practices (i.e., negotiation, submissive compliance, and oppositional defiance). Participants in the autonomy-supportive condition reported more perceived autonomy support and autonomy satisfaction and lower perceived control and autonomy need frustration than participants in the controlling condition. Collectivism moderated between-vignette effects on perceived control and autonomy need frustration such that the differences between the autonomy-supportive and controlling vignettes were less pronounced (yet still significant) among adolescents scoring higher on collectivism. Collectivism did not moderate effects of the vignettes on the responses to parenting, but yielded a main effect, with collectivism relating to more submissive compliance and less oppositional defiance. Overall, the results suggest that both universal and culture-specific processes are involved in autonomy-relevant socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese education is controversial: it is not only lauded for Chinese students’ high test achievements but also criticized for curbing students’ deep learning and development into well-rounded individuals. In the current paper, we propose that self-determination theory (SDT) serves as a useful framework for anatomizing Chinese educational ecology, especially understanding the fundamental developmental costs behind Chinese students’ high test scores. In the first part, we provide an up-to-date overview of SDT, which proposes that a growth-oriented motivation fueled by basic psychological needs underlies human development; hence, the role of education is to provide environmental support for these needs. After reviewing research evidence, we conclude that SDT serves as a valid theoretical framework for analyzing Chinese education. In the second part, we apply the lens of SDT to better understand the motivational dynamics that prevail in Chinese education. In doing so, we first primarily focus on the distal institutional level, thereby examining in detail how the high-stakes testing system headed by Gaokao fails to support—and may even thwart—basic psychological needs; we also address counterarguments favoring Gaokao, such as heightened involvement and alignment. We then scrutinize the pros and cons at the proximal level of the student environment—i.e., teachers and parents. Finally, we discuss existing reform attempts, which seemingly have very limited effectiveness. We propose that awareness of the problem and more holistic change are needed to realize more effective and sustainable change in Chinese education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese parents have been found to use more psychological control toward their children than Western parents. The present study examined whether Chinese, relative to Belgian, parents’ experiences of social pressure to be an achievement-promoting parent and their own unfulfilled dreams could account for this country-level difference in psychologically controlling parenting. In turn, the association of social pressure and unfulfilled dreams with parental psychological control was expected to be accounted for (i.e., mediated) by child-invested contingent self-esteem. In a cross-cultural sample consisting of 412 Chinese (209 mothers and 203 fathers) and 418 Belgian (209 mothers and 209 fathers) parents of 14-year-old adolescents, we found that social pressure and unfulfilled dreams were related positively to child-invested contingent self-esteem which, in turn, was related to psychologically controlling parenting. Moreover, the hypothesized between-country differences in psychologically controlling parenting and child-invested contingent self-esteem were largely explained by between-country differences in parents’ experiences of social pressure and unfulfilled dreams. Findings are discussed in light of the influence of the broader society on parents’ self-worth and parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in self-determination theory, the present study addressed the question whether the relation between satisfaction of the psychological needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy and well-being would be constrained by satisfaction of the need for safety. In Study 1, we investigated environmental safety in a sample of young adults ( N = 224) in South Africa, a country known for its low public safety. In Study 2, we focused on financial safety within a socio-economically deprived adult Chinese sample ( N = 357). Although safety satisfaction yielded a positive relation to well-being in both studies, satisfaction of the psychological needs contributed to well-being above and beyond safety satisfaction and its contribution was not dependent upon the level of safety satisfaction. Further, across both studies, individuals high in safety satisfaction desired less psychological need satisfaction. Supplementary analyses in Study 2 indicated that whereas financial safety yielded a positive relation to well-being, materialism yielded a negative association. Together, these results point to the important role of basic psychological need satisfaction beyond safety satisfaction in the prediction of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated whether satisfaction and frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence, as identified within Basic Psychological Need Theory (BPNT; Deci and Ryan, Psychol Inquiry 11:227-268, ; Ryan and Deci, Psychol Inquiry 11:319-338, ), contributes to participants' well-being and ill-being, regardless of their cultural background and interpersonal differences in need strength, as indexed by either need valuation (i.e., the stated importance of the need to the person) or need desire (i.e., the desire to get a need met). In Study 1, involving late adolescents from Belgium and China (total N = 685; Mean age = 17 years), autonomy and competence satisfaction had unique associations with well-being and individual differences in need valuation did not moderate these associations. Study 2 involved participants from four culturally diverse nations (Belgium, China, USA, and Peru; total N = 1,051; Mean age = 20 years). Results provided evidence for the measurement equivalence of an adapted scale tapping into both need satisfaction and need frustration. Satisfaction of each of the three needs was found to contribute uniquely to the prediction of well-being, whereas frustration of each of the three needs contributed uniquely to the prediction of ill-being. Consistent with Study 1, the effects of need satisfaction and need frustration were found to be equivalent across the four countries and were not moderated by individual differences in the desire for need satisfaction. These findings underscore BPNT's universality claim, which states that the satisfaction of basic needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence represent essential nutrients for optimal functioning across cultures and across individual differences in need strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the parenting practice of inherent value demonstration ( IVD), involving parents' tendency to express their values in behaviours and appear satisfied and vital while doing so. Data from Chinese college students ( n = 89) confirmed the hypothesis that offspring's perception of their parents as engaged in IVD predicts offspring's subjective well-being ( SWB) through sense of self-congruence. Importantly, these relations emerged also when controlling for fundamental autonomy-supportive ( FAS) parenting practices such as taking children's perspective, minimising control and allowing choice. These findings are consistent with the view that parents concerned with their children's sense of autonomy may do well to engage in IVD in addition to more fundamental autonomy-supportive practices. Future research may examine the role of IVD in promoting authentic values that serve as an internal compass that guides children to act in ways that feel self-congruent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People whom the editor would like to thank for their assistance in the reviewing manuscripts for publication in the November 1, 2014 issue of "Child Development" are mentioned.

In contemporary research on autonomy development, autonomy has been defined as independence (vs. dependence) or as self-endorsed (vs. controlled) functioning. Analogously, perceived parental autonomy support involves either perceived parental promotion of independence (PI) or perceived parental promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). The primary aim of the present study among Belgian and Greek adolescents (N = 658; 58% girls; M age = 16.3 years) was to examine associations between the two types of parental autonomy support, on one hand, and the two types of adolescent autonomy, on the other hand. The secondary aim was to investigate the moderating role of various background variables (i.e., gender, country of residence, and age) in these associations. As hypothesized, perceived parental PVF was related to adolescents’ self-endorsed (vs. controlled) motives. The relation between perceived parental PI and adolescent independence was qualified by an interaction with perceived parental PVF. Finally, although mean-level differences in the study constructs were found across gender, country, and adolescent age, the structural associations among constructs were invariant across these demographic groupings. These findings provide further insights in the complex dynamics involved in adolescent autonomy development in multiple national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]