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Maternal attitudes towards children and family as a factor in underachievement Richardson, Janice Marie

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in attitude towards children and family between mothers of achieving children and mothers of underachieving children at the grade one and two level, and what the nature of this difference might be. Subjects identified as achievers for this study were a self-selected intact group who had achieved a grade level' score of 2.5 or higher on the Gates McGinite Reading Test, level A, in June, 1982. Underachievers were defined as those who attained a "no score" at this level. The instrument used in this study was a revised form of the PARI, developed by Schaeffer and Bell (1958), and incorporating Reversed Scale items developed by Zuckerman (1958). A letter was sent home to mothers requesting their voluntary participation in the study. No statistical analysis was possible due to the limited sample size. However, scale.means were established for each group. Mothers of male underachievers had high scores.on the scales for Fostering Dependency, Excluding Outside Influences, and Martyrdom. These scales were examined for the possibility of existing trends. Mothers of female achievers attained low scores on the scales, for Fostering Dependency, Excluding Outside Influences, Martyrdom, and Acceleration of Development. These scales were examined for the possibility of existing trends in mothers of female achievers.

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