An Exploration of Parental Encouragement as an Intervening Variable in Occupational- Educational Learning of Children.

Recent research has shown that a specific family process - parental encouragement (PE) - mediates between social class and the child's aspirations for the future. Based upon data from a random sample of families a typology of PE techniques was tested and two predominant types were found. A three-way analysis using comparable data from both parents and the ninth grade son reveals considerably less than one-to-one correspondence on reported PE attempts. There is more agreement on PE types in any family dyad versus the family triad, indicating that validity of PE types as mediating between parent and son is moderate at this age level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]