1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Using SDT [Self-Determination Theory] (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and a model of parenting (Grolnick & Apostoleris, 2002), the present chapter seeks to understand what makes fathers and mothers autonomy supportive as well as to investigate the role of autonomy support for predicting adolescents’ academic perceived competence and autonomy.» (Chapter 6, pagination unavailable)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«These general objectives will be achieved by testing the [following] model [...], which is formed of two steps. In the first step, the model posits that external factors (i.e., marital status, annual income), internal factors (i.e., mothers’ and fathers’ perceived competence and autonomy), and characteristics of the adolescent (i.e., adolescents’ academic achievement level) foster adolescents’ perceptions of mother’s and father’s autonomy support. In the second step, the model proposes that adolescents’ perceptions of their mother’s and father’s autonomy support foster two important motivational resources: adolescents’ academic perceptions of competence and autonomy. The model that we will be testing elaborates on previous parenting research in three ways: (a) various contextual factors and adolescents’ characteristics are simultaneously taken into account; (b) parents’ internal resources are considered; and (c) contrasting adolescents’ perceptions of both mothers’ and fathers’ autonomy support, which is rare in the literature.» (Chapter 6, pagination unavailable)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
941 élèves québécois francophones de secondaire 1, 2 et 3, ainsi que 361 pères et 505 mères.

Instruments :
Questionnaires : ’The Perceived Competence Scale’ (Losier, Vallerand, & Blais, 1993), ’The Academic Motivation Scale’ (AMS; Vallerand et al., 1989), adaptation de ’The Interpersonal Behaviors Scale’ (IBS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, & Brière, 2001), etc.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Fred Guay and Julien Chanal [...] use Self-determination theory as the framework for examining the roles played by mothers and fathers in supporting the autonomy of their children. Autonomy supportive practices entail that the parents consider the child’s perspective, provide a rationale for requests, acknowledge children’s feelings and perceptions, provide children with information and choice, and minimize the use of pressure and control such as deadlines for a task, rewards contingent on performance, imposed goals for a given activity, and competition. Guay and Chanal sought to understand what makes fathers and mothers autonomy supportive or not by reviewing three categories of factors that may foster or undermine parental autonomy support: external pressure (e.g., marital status, education level); characteristics of adolescents (e.g., their academic achievement); and parents’ internal resources (e.g., motivational resources). Their results show that parents’ internal resources are related to adolescents’ perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ autonomy support such that higher perceived competence to help and importance placed on their child’s education predicted higher levels of adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy support. Furthermore, it appears that external pressure (marital status, parents’ level of education, and income) and characteristics of the adolescents (academic achievement levels) played only a marginal role in the prediction of adolescents’ perceptions of parental autonomy support. The results of their study indicate that any intervention program that focuses on modifying parental practices should pay careful attention to parents’ internal resources.» (Chapter 1, pagination unavailable)