The construct of parental control and its role in influencing children’s motivation in collectivistic cultures have been hotly debated. Two studies examined Hong Kong Chinese children’s perception of parental control and its relation with their academic motivation with sociocultural considerations. In Study 1, children (n = 24) were invited to participate in a focus group to report what parental control meant to them. The qualitative data obtained in the discussion were then used to construct questionnaires for investigating the perception of children from different income groups towards low and high level of parental controlling behaviors in Study 2. Children (N = 294) from lower and higher income groups were randomly assigned to complete the questionnaires consisting of either low or high control scenarios. Results indicated that children from different income families viewed parental control similarly. Mild forms of controlling behaviors were considered as signs of love and care, while intense forms were perceived as signs of control. Interaction effects were found for children’s perceived level of love and control towards the behaviors depicted in the scenarios and their mothers’ frequency of performing those behaviors in real life on their academic motivation. The present research provided a clearer conceptualization of the construct of parental control in Chinese societies and supported the applicability of the self-determination theory in the Hong Kong context. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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Pulling Tangled Strings: "The Puppeteer" and Other Stories is a collection of stories with strong thematic and emotional connections that includes an opening preface describing the process used when writing the stories. Each of the stories is united by a main character that desperately wants to gain control of his environment. From a character acting out a classic revenge tale on his friend to a comatose teenager victimized by an ambiguous tragedy, these are characters who have been put into difficult life situations and need to feel like they are pulling the strings in their lives again. In all cases, however, the characters come to find that control does not come easily and that the motivations for their behavior are never clear cut, even to themselves.

Numerous investigations with college students have found that mild depressives perceive environmental contingencies more accurately than do nondepressives. The present study explores this 'depressive realism' phenomenon in a hospitalized sample.

Twenty-four psychiatric staff, 24 clinically depressed inpatients, and 24 nondepresssed schizophrenic patients at a state psychiatric facility completed five tasks under either reward or punishment conditions. Each task consisted of 30 trials of pressing or not pressing a button to make a light appear. Monetary reinforcement was contingent on light onset for the final ten trials of each task. Cash incentives for judgment of control accuracy were added for Tasks 3, 4, and 5. Cognitive functioning was evaluated on each task by measuring expectancy, judgment of control, evaluation of performance, and attribution. Mood and self- esteem were measured before and after the procedure. No significant differences were observed across mood groups for expectancy of control or judgment of control accuracy. Subject groups also did not differ in the attributions they made or in how successful they judged their performances to be. They set realistic, attainable criteria for success which were consistent with relevant conditional probabilities. Subjects in reward gave themselves more credit for task performance than subjects in punishment gave themselves blame for comparable performances. Punishment subjects demonstrated more stable, external attributions than those in reward. Across tasks, subjects overestimated when actual control was low and underestimated when actual control was high. Contrary to the "depressive realism" effect described by Alloy and Abramson (1979), clinical depressives did not display more accurate judgments of control than did nondepressives. All subjects appeared to base their control estimates on reinforcement frequency rather than actual control. Subjects showed a type of illusion of control for high frequency, low control tasks. Presumably, success in turning the light on led them to assume that their actions controlled light onset. Comparison to previous subclinical studies suggests a possible curvilinear relationship between judgment of control accuracy and level of psychopathology, with mild depressives displaying relatively greater accuracy than either nondepressives or clinical depressives.

Internal-external locus of control was studied in relationship to the religious phenomena "glossolalia." Contrary to the main hypothesis formulated, glossolalics were found significantly more internal in locus of control than non-tongues speakers. Intercorrelations were studied between the variables of I-E, age, length of church membership, income level, educational level, and perceived control by God, for tongue-speaker and non-tongue-speaker groups. Chisquare comparisons were made between the groups on educational level, income level, and perceived control by God, with significant differences being found in educational level. Additional analysis was made between I-E and the variables of educational levels, income levels, and perceived control by God. Historical and current interpretations of the personality of glossolalics are challenged. The construct validity of the Rotter scale for use with religious populations is challenged.

by Cheng Tsan wah. / Bibliography: leaves 87-97 / Thesis (M.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1982

Applications of locus of control theory to weight loss programs have yielded inconsistent results. This study attempts to clarify "control" by looking at two different factors. Maximum control is the degree of perceived control inherent in the event itself, and personal control is the degree to which the event is perceived controllable by the individual. These two factors were also examined in two types of situations to determine whether individuals have one global outlook on control, or if they make a distinction between control in some situations as opposed to control in other situations. Seventy-four female subjects completed a 16 item questionnaire on their perceived control in weight-related and non-weight-related situations. Subjects demonstrated that attitudes of control are situation specific. The two separate attitudes, maximum control and personal control, operate independently. Some individuals who felt that events were highly controllable, still felt they had very little control. Converse perceptions were also demonstrated.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-80).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.