Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Brad Bell

Abstract

Researchers have long been concerned in documenting the nature of associations between parenting styles and academic achievement in adolescents. Social learning theory has shown how domains such as individualism, collectivism, and ethnicity are associated with parent behavior. Research suggests compatibility between individualism and authoritative parenting and collectivism with authoritarian parenting styles, which could have critical implications in the relationship between parenting styles and academic achievement. Despite the robust research on parenting styles, no research has investigated the moderating roles of individualism and collectivism. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the associations between parenting style and academic achievement and whether some of the associations were moderated by ethnicity, individualism, and collectivism. The sample consisted of 225 parents who were recruited via an online newsletter sent by school personnel. Parenting styles were measured by the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire while individualism and collectivism variables were measured by the Self-Construal Scale. Correlation coefficients calculated the associations between parenting styles and academic achievement, while the regression analyses addressed the moderator hypotheses. Authoritative parenting had a significant positive correlation with GPA, while both authoritarian and permissive parenting styles had a significant negative correlation with GPA. Within the moderator hypotheses, neither ethnicity nor individualism and collectivism served as a significant moderator between parenting styles and GPA. These findings may inform parents and educators of the importance of parenting styles on education, beyond the explanatory power of ethnicity or value system.

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