1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«To date, few studies have examined how childhood experiences influence one’s motivation to legitimize authority and the government. Drawing on both [Relational Model Theory] RMT and Self-determination Theory (SDT), we suggest that people’s schema of authority is shaped by how their parents treated them.» (p. 348-349)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We posit that children who experience their fathers (as compared with mothers) as understanding, empathetic, and supportive will develop a positive schema of authority figures and hold a positive attitude towards authority. Specifically, we expected that father autonomy support would be positively associated with positive perceptions of the government and with attitudes towards maintaining the system.» (p. 349)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«We tested our hypothesis in Malaysia concerning protests for clean elections and in Quebec, Canada concerning protests for accessible education following a planned raise in tuition fees.» (p. 349) The Malaysia sample was composed of 163 participants and the Quebec sample was composed of 529 participants.

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«First, perceived mother autonomy support was associated with a negative view of the government’s response in the Asian sample but not in the Western sample. This may be due to Malaysia being a more conservative culture where husband–wife relationships are usually hierarchical and roles are clearly distinguished and enforced. Thus when a child experiences the lower powered spouse as autonomy supportive, the child might be more sympathetic towards other low powered individuals and more likely to side with the underdog. Second, even though we found support for our hypothesis in both cultures, the effect sizes were larger in Malaysia than in Canada. This might reflect the close family structure in a collectivistic culture such as Malaysia, where by the child is more influenced by significant others. This might also be due to Canada having greater political freedom as compared with Malaysia, such that attitudes and actions towards the government are less influenced by significant others and more influenced by personal choices.» (p. 351)