The purpose of this program of research was to study how socialization agents can facilitate children's internalization of important but uninteresting activities. Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1980, 1985b, 1991, 2000) posits that autonomy is essential in fostering optimal (i.e. integrated) internalization. It was thus hypothesized that autonomy-support would facilitate internalization while offering rewards for compliance would thwart it. In the present thesis, two experimental studies and one longitudinal study compared the effects of autonomy-support and rewards on children's internalization and general functioning. In Study 1 and 2, we asked children to perform a tedious task in an autonomy-supportive manner or under a reward contingency. Children's affect, perception of the task's value, and free-choice engagement served as dependent measures. ANOVA results revealed positive effects associated with autonomy-support whereas no effect for rewards was found. Moreover, split-group correlational analyses showed that autonomy-support led to integrated self-regulation, whereas rewards were associated with behaviors incongruent from affect and value. / Study 3 examined the over-time impact of maternal autonomy-support on children's adjustment in school. Autonomy-support, rewards, and other parenting dimensions were measured when children were 5 years old. Regression analyses revealed that autonomy-support was positively related to teacher-rated adjustment and reading achievement when children were 8 years old whereas the use of rewards was unrelated to these outcomes. Supplemental analyses also revealed that autonomy-support was associated with children's greater integration across social and academic domains. Together, these results highlight the significance of autonomy-support in early childhood.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.84266 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Joussemet, Mireille |
| Contributors | Koestner, Richard (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002085445, proquestno: AAINQ98283, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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