A Cross-Cultural Study of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Parents’ Expectations and Efficacy as Associated with Adolescents’ Motivation and Behaviors

Abstract

Parent-child relationships continue to be important as teenagers enter adolescence and develop independence and autonomy. Parents’ expectations and values for their adolescents are associated with multiple aspects of adolescents’ behaviors and are predicted by parents’ personal and cultural values. Previous studies have investigated how adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ expectations play a role in adolescents’ development, particularly in the academic domain. Less is known about the role of perceived parents’ expectations in other domains important to adolescent development, such as externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors; also, no studies have investigated what role adolescents' perception of parental efficacy (APPE) plays in the associations between perceived parental expectations/values, and adolescents’ motivation and behaviors. In the current study, I measured late adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ expectations and adolescents’ motivation and behaviors. Participants were 66 U.S. and 189 Chinese 18-year-olds in high school. Data in both countries were collected through an online survey. The results showed that there were country and gender differences in perceived parents’ expectations, adolescents’ motivation and behaviors, APPE, and cultural values. Adolescents’ perceived parents’ expectations positively correlated with adolescents’ motivation and behaviors in four domains: externalizing, internalizing, prosocial behaviors, and STEM motivation. Country, gender, APPE, and cultural values moderated the associations between perceived parents’ expectations and adolescents’ motivation and behaviors in one or more domains. The findings of the present study further enrich our understanding of the associations between adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ expectations and their own motivation and behaviors across cultures.