published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Zeng, Xihua. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-149). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes in Chinese.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Adolescence is a stage full of possibility, in which adolescents start exploring what is possible for them. Possible selves represent people’s self-concept pointing to the future, what they hope to be, what they expect to be and what they fear to be. These future oriented selves are closely related with adolescents’ behaviors, channeling their effort toward positive behavioral outcomes. The possible selves in Chinese context are less examined and adolescents in Hong Kong are facing a lot of challenges and uncertainties in the fast changing society. What are the possible selves among Hong Kong adolescents? How are parental influences associated with possible selves in the Chinese context? How proximal psychological associates, such as planfulness and self-esteem, relate with possible selves among adolescents? The current study was designed to answer the above questions. There were two phases in the research. Phase one adapted Possible Selves Questionnaire into Chinese (PSQ_C) with a translation and back-translation procedure and two pilot tests. Phase two conducted a large sample survey with secondary school adolescents. 3,078 participants, aged 12-20, were from 99 classes in 11 middle schools. The findings were presented with three themed papers. Research findings were presented in three journal papers with different foci. Paper one investigated the profile of possible selves among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong, including the content of possible selves, strategies of possible selves and perceived likelihood of possible selves. Gender and age differences were examined. Paper two examined the effect of parental support on possible selves. It was found that parental pragmatic support consistently predicted having at least one strategy and perceived likelihood of hoped-for and feared possible selves, while socio-emotional support was only associated with perceived likelihood of hoped-for possible selves. Paper three examined planfulness and self-esteem as proximal psychological antecedents of possible selves. It was found that both planfulness and self-esteem were positively associated with having at least one strategy and perceived likelihood of hoped-for and feared possible selves. Self-esteem was more related to perceived likelihood whereas planfulness was more related with having strategy. It was found that planfulness and self-esteem mediated the relationship between parental support and possible selves. The current doctoral study complemented the existing literature in terms of theory by exploring the external and proximal psychological antecedents of possible selves and establishing a mediation model to explain the interplay among parental support, planfulness, self-esteem and possible selves. It was the first possible selves study among Hong Kong adolescents. It not only contributed to the indigenous research on adolescents by providing a handy Chinese possible selves questionnaire, enriching the understanding about modern adolescents, but also by providing information for further setup of intervention using possible selves constructs. The limitations were discussed, along with directions for future studies, contributions and implications in terms of theory, research and intervention. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

本研究旨在探讨与青少年自我概念有关的三方面问题。首先是关于青少年自我概念的来源。在符号互动理论和依恋理论的指导下，已有研究揭示了他人的评价以及个体与他人的关系质量对自我概念的影响。但这些研究通常只关注父母、老师或者同伴之一对被试的评价或者与被试的关系质量对被试自我概念的影响。这使得父母、老师和同伴在自我概念形成过程中的相对重要性，以及他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用没有得到充分的研究。因此，本研究调查了父母、老师和朋友对青少年的评价及与青少年的关系对青少年多维度自我概念 （学业、社会、体育、外貌、行为）的影响。具体来说，我比较了父母、老师和朋友在各维度的自我概念形成过程中的相对重要性，并探索了他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用。其二，鉴于以往研究显示了多维度自我概念与总体自我价值感之间的紧密联系，以及这种联系可能存在的文化差异，我在一个尚未得到充分研究的群体，即，中国农村青少年，中探索了它们之间的关系。其三，鉴于以往研究对留守儿童自我概念发展的争论，我探索了留守儿童和与父母生活在一起的儿童在自我概念平均水平上及他人对自我概念的影响作用上可能存在的差异。 / 本研究调查了中国四川农村地区的799个7到12年级的中学生（其中包括175个留守儿童）。主要的研究结果如下：（1）在不同的理论视角下，父母、老师和朋友在自我概念的不同维度上所起作用不同。从符号互动理论来看，朋友的评价对各个维度的自我概念几乎都有着最重要的影响。从依恋理论来看，朋友关系质量对社会自我的影响最大，但对学业自我和体育自我没有特别的影响。师生关系质量对学业自我和体育自我的影响最大。他人评价与关系质量之间的交互作用具体有：与老师的关系越好，自己对外貌的评价便与老师的评价越相近；与朋友的关系越好，自己对行为的评价便与朋友的评价越接近。（2）对本研究中的中国农村青少年而言，在外貌和行为方面的自我概念与总体自我价值感之间的关系最紧密。（3）留守儿童与和父母生活在一起的儿童在自我概念的形成方面基本相似。不同之处在于：留守女孩与父母关系更差；留守儿童对自己外貌的评价与老师的评价联系更紧密，而与父母的评价联系更小。 / 本研究对于帮助我们更好的理解青少年自我概念的形成有一定的贡献。首先，它揭示了父母、老师和朋友在自我概念不同维度的形成过程中的相对重要性， 并且揭示了他人评价与关系质量之间可能存在的交互作用。其次，它揭示了在中国农村青少年中多维度自我概念与总体价值感之间的关系。再次，它在一定程度上澄清了前人关于留守儿童自我概念发展的争论。此外，它展示了同时从不同理论视角，研究多种社会情境对儿童发展的影响的优势。最后，它为提升自我价值感的项目和留守儿童相关政策的制定提供了理论依据和建议。 / This study aims to explore three aspects of adolescents’ self-concept development. The first and primary aspect concerns the potential influential factors of self-concept. Previous research built on symbolic interactionism or attachment theory suggests the effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality on self-concept respectively. However, usually either reflected appraisal or relationship quality alone was examined in single context (e.g., parent), thus, leaving their potential interactive effect and the relative importance of different contexts underexplored. This study, therefore, mainly focused on the concurrent relationship between reflected appraisal, relationship quality and the multi-domain self-concept (i.e., academic, social, athletic, appearance and behavioral) in multiple contexts (i.e., parents, teachers and peers). Specifically, relative importance of different contexts and the interactive effects of reflected appraisal and relationship quality in different domains were investigated. The second aspect considered the relationship between domain-specific self-concept and self-esteem. Previous studies suggested the effect of domain-specific self-concept, but the relative importance of different domains may vary across cultures. Thus, this study explored their relative importance in an underexplored culture, rural China. The third aspect concerned potential effect of left-behind status (left-behind children vs. children living with parents) on self-concept development. Since limited existing works provided inconsistent findings, I, specifically, tested the potential effects on mean-level self-concept and related factors (i.e., reflected appraisal and relationship quality) as well as their relationship. / A cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural areas of Si Chuan, China. Participants are 799 adolescents ranging from grade 7 to 12 (175 left-behind children). Major findings of this study were as follows: (1) The relative importance of parents, friends and teachers differed across domains of self-concept and theoretical perspectives. From the interactionism perspective, parents’, friends’ and teachers’ appraisals all could explain unique variance of self-concept in most domains but friends’ appraisals tended to be most important in all domains. From the attachment perspective, relationship quality with friends was most important in social domain but could not explain unique variance of self-concept in academic and athletic domain, where teachers are most influential. Significant interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality was found in peers’ context (in behavioral conduct) and teachers’ context (in physical appearance) but not in parents’ context. (2) Physical appearance and behavioral conduct domain were most predictive of self-esteem. (3) Left-behind children were similar to children living with parents except that left-behind girls had lower relationship quality with parents and left-behind children’s self-evaluation of physical appearance was more associated with parents’ appraisals than teachers’ appraisals. / Theoretically, this study contributes to our understanding of adolescents’ self-concept development by demonstrating (1) the relative importance of parents, friends and teachers in different domains of self-concept and the interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality; (2) relationship between domain-specific self-concept and self-esteem in a underexplored population, rural China; (3) left-behind status variation on self-concept development. It also underscores the merit of multi-context study and taking different theoretical perspectives. Practically, it provides evidence and advice for self-esteem enhancement programs and policies regarding left-behind children. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Hou, Yang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-101). / Abstracts and appendixes also in Chinese. / Abstract (English) --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.iii / Acknowledgement --- p.v / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.viii / List of Figures --- p.x / Chapter Chapter 1 --- : introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Self-concept --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Definition and measurement of self-concept --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- The value of self-concept in child development --- p.5 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Self-concept in adolescence --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- Potential influential factors of self-concept --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Symbolic interactionism perspective --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Attachment theory perspective --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Potential interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-worth --- p.20 / Chapter 1.4 --- Left-behind children --- p.24 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Self-concept of Left-behind children --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Social relationships of left-behind children --- p.26 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Reflected appraisals of left-behind children --- p.29 / Chapter 1.5 --- The current study --- p.30 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- : method --- p.33 / Chapter 2.1 --- Participants --- p.33 / Chapter 2.2 --- Procedure --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3 --- Measurements --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- : Results --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1 --- Descriptive statistics --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2 --- The relationship between reflected appraisals, relationship qualities and self-appraisals in five specific self-concept domains --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Academic competence domain --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Social competence domain --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Athletic competence domain --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Physical appearance domain --- p.51 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Behavioural conduct domain --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-concept --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3 --- Potential effect of left-behind status on children’s self-concept development --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- : discussion --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1 --- Potential influential factors of self-concept --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Age and sex variation on the effect of others’ appraisals and relationship qualities with others on adolescents’ self-concept --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Relative importance of parents’, peers’ and teachers’ effect --- p.63 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Interactive effect of reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2 --- Relationship between domain-specific self-concept and global self-worth --- p.72 / Chapter 4.3 --- Self-concept development of left-behind children --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Mean level difference in self-concept, reflected appraisal and relationship quality --- p.75 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Influence of parents, friends and teachers on left-behind children’s self-concept --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4 --- Limitation and future direction --- p.79 / Chapter 4.5 --- Conclusion --- p.81 / Chapter References --- p.83 / Chapter Appendix A --- : Self-Perception Profile for Children --- p.102 / Chapter Appendix B --- : Reflected appraisal scales --- p.104 / Chapter Appendix C --- : Relationship quality scales --- p.105

by Wai-Kei Yeung. / Questionnarie in Chinese. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-124). / Acknowledgments / Abstract / List of Tables / List of Figures / Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION / Background of Study --- p.1 / Purpose of Study --- p.8 / Chapter II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.10 / Physical Self-Concept --- p.11 / Models and Measurement of Physical Self-Concept --- p.14 / Physical Self-Concept and its Relation to External Criteria --- p.20 / Goal Orientations in Sport and Physical Education --- p.26 / Achievement Goals --- p.27 / Achievement Goals and Outcomes --- p.29 / Motivational Climate in Physical Education --- p.34 / Motivational Orientations in sport participation --- p.39 / Summary --- p.44 / Chapter III --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.46 / Definition of Variables and Instrumentation --- p.47 / Physical Self-Concept --- p.47 / Achievement Goal and Classroom Climate --- p.49 / Sport Participating Motivation in Secondary Physical Education Class --- p.51 / Conceptual Framework --- p.53 / Research Hypotheses --- p.60 / Subjects --- p.62 / Procedure --- p.63 / Statistical Analyses --- p.64 / Chapter IV --- RESULTS --- p.68 / Chapter V --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.100 / Limitations and Suggestions --- p.112 / Conclusion --- p.113 / REFERENCES --- p.117 / APPENDICES / Chapter A. --- Physical Self Description Questionnaire --- p.125 / Chapter B. --- Goal Orientations Inventory --- p.128 / Chapter C. --- Sport Participating Motivation Inventory --- p.129

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education