父母努力信念對兒童學習投入之預測效果：以兒童知覺父母與自身努力信念為中介

The Predictive Effects of Parents' Beliefs about Effort on Their Children's Learning Engagement: Two Mediated Models

本研究從文化心理學的角度，探討華人於學習時強調的兩種努力信念：「努力義務觀」與「努力進步觀」。「努力義務觀」是指：相信努力用功是學生的義務；「努力進步觀」是指：相信努力可以增進自身的能力。本研究之目的為瞭解「父母努力信念」對「兒童學習投入行為」之預測效果，並以兒童「知覺父母努力信念」以及兒童自身的努力信念作為中介。本研究採親子配對式問卷法，參與者為台灣十所國小的高年級學童（男性135人，女性131人）及其家長，共266對。本研究之學習投入行為指標包含四項學習行為：準備考試、準時交作業、積極發問與專心聽講。結構方程模式分析結果顯示：（1）兒童「知覺父母努力義務觀」完全中介「父母努力義務觀」對「兒童努力義務觀」的效果；（2）兒童「知覺父母努力進步觀」完全中介「父母努力進步觀」對「兒童努力進步觀」的效果；（3）「兒童努力義務觀」正向預測四項學習投入行為；（4）「兒童努力進步觀」與各項學習投入行為皆無顯著關聯。

For decades, East Asian students in Confucian heritage cultures (such as Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea) have outperformed their Western counterparts in international assessments of academic achievement (e.g., Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS] and Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA]). Studies show that teenage students in these East Asian countries have relatively low interest in what they learn, but experience high expectations from their parents. How can it be that East Asian students outshine their Western counterparts in academic achievement when these conditions should, according to Western theories of learning motivation, have a negative effect on academic learning? According to the Chinese achievement goals framework (Chen et al., 2009), the academic performance of students in Confucian societies is motivated by intrinsic motivation as well as parents' expectations. People in Confucian societies emphasize the value of studying hard, not only because they believe that exerting oneself improves one's abilities, but also because they believe that making an effort to learn is a role obligation of students. Previous studies showed that Taiwanese undergraduates' beliefs about effort predict their affective, cognitive and behavioral attitudes after academic failure (Chen et al., 2019). In addition, high-school teachers' beliefs about effort predict their attitudes towards both smart and struggling students (Chen et al., 2016). We recapitulated the Chinese achievement goals framework and argued that people in Confucian societies emphasize two kinds of beliefs about effort. The first is an obligation-oriented belief about effort (OBE), which assumes that exerting effort is a student's role-obligation. The second is an improvement-oriented belief about effort (IBE), which assumes that effort can overcome limitations in natural ability. Because Confucian teachings emphasize the virtuous and practical value of exerting effort in learning, these beliefs are part of family socialization. To date, no study has investigated children's effort beliefs and their parents' influence on those beliefs. We examined the predictive effects of parents' effort beliefs on primary school children's learning engagement with the children's own effort beliefs and their perception of their parents' effort beliefs as the mediators. We surveyed 266 parent-child pairs, consisting of 266 fifth and sixth grade children (131 females and 135 males) and their parents (200 mothers and 66 fathers). Children and their parents participated in the study separately and did not know the responses of their counterpart. Neither the child nor parent sample indicated a gender difference in effort beliefs. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the reliability and validity of the effort belief scales. Structural equation modeling showed that (1) children's perception of their parents' OBE mediated the effect of their parents' actual OBE on their own OBE; (2) children's perception of their parents' IBE mediated the effect of their parents' actual IBE on their own IBE; (3) children's OBE was positively correlated with their learning engagement (i.e., exam preparation, turning in homework on time, actively asking questions in class, and listening attentively to the teacher in class); and (4) children's IBE was not correlated with their learning engagement. These results support the Chinese achievement goals framework and contain some theoretical implications. First, children are aware of their parents' obligation-oriented and improvement-oriented beliefs about effort. Second, children's perceptions of their parents' effort beliefs positively predict their own effort beliefs. In other words, parents' beliefs about effort are transmitted to their children via family socialization. Furthermore, children's OBE positively predicts their learning engagement. The relationships between children's effort beliefs and their engagement behavior in this study are consistent with the findings of a previous study with an undergraduate sample (Chen et al., 2019). In sum, we verified family socialization of beliefs about effort and the predictive effects of those beliefs on the learning engagement of primary school children. According to the Chinese achievement goals framework, a practical implication of this study with respect to the high achievement-low motivation paradox of learners in Confucian societies is that it may be important to find a way to maintain a positive relationship between a student's effort beliefs and engagement behaviors while enhancing intrinsic motivation for learning.