Childrearing Practices, Birth Order and the Development of Achievement-Related Motives

Abstract

The influence of parental demands and sanctions on the achievement-related motives of 31 boys (ages 8 to 10) is examined. The findings of an earlier study by Winterbottom were not replicated. However, boys with high as compared with low Need for Achievement were more often first-born ( p < .005); their mothers more often expressed disappointment with unsatisfactory behavior ( p < .03), less often told them how much they loved them as a reward ( p < .05), and reported making fewer demands for achievement and independence ( p < .05). Age of demands was unrelated to Need for Achievement. Boys with high as compared with low test anxiety had lower IQs ( p < .01), lower grades ( p < .05), later birth order ( p < .05), and higher teacher-ratings of dependence ( p < .05). Their mothers tended to make later demands for independence ( p < .10) and to praise their sons' behavior less often ( p < .10).