Sychev, O.A.

Background. The study examines the role of control and autonomy support as two of the most important factors in parenting. A scientific analysis of the consequences of parental control and support for autonomy is necessary both to deepen theoretical understanding of the role of autonomy in relations between parents and children and to develop sound practical recommendations.

Objective. The goal is to analyse the direct and indirect (through academic motivation) links of autonomy support and parental control in childhood with the academic achievements of students.

Study Participants. Russian university students (N = 281, MA = 19.8, SD = 2.01, 78% female).

Methods. Parenting style in childhood (P-PASS), academic motivation, including scales of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation, and average academic performance were assessed.

Results. The main hypothesis about the positive association between parental autonomy support in childhood and the academic achievements of students, mediated by intrinsic academic motivation, was confirmed. It has been shown that the controlling style is a predictor of external motivation and amotivation, which in turn are negatively related to intrinsic motivation.

Conclusion. Results of the study indicate the important role of parental practices, differentiated within self-determination theory for the students’ (de) motivation and academic performance. In particular, the importance of autonomy support and the negative contribution of parental control are shown at much later stages of socialization, the stage of emerging adulthood.

In this study we tested the hypothesis about advantage of academic motivation profile with dominating intrinsic motivation over another profile with equally high intrinsic, self-esteem and controlled types of motivation (and low level of amotivation). Latent class analysis confirmed the suggestion that these two profiles are most typical in university students. Students with high and dominating intrinsic motivation showed highest curiosity, consistency of interests, perceived academic control and academic achievements but didn’t differ from students with high controlled motivation by the perseverance of effort that was high in both types. Generally the results show that high extrinsic controlled motivation is a disadvantageous factor that decreases student motivational potential. The results are discussed from the point of view of self-determination theory and need model of motivation.

The Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI) is a measure to assess individuals’ beliefs about their capacity to savor positive life experience. Studies showed positive association of savoring with happiness and well-being. The Russian adaptation of the SBI will help to expand research in the fields of psychological well-being and emotion regulation.

Objective. The present study aimed to validate the Russian version of the SBI and determine its factorial structure.

Method. The participants were 490 adults mainly from Moscow. The following measures were used: the Russian version of the SBI, the life orientation test, the attributional style questionnaire, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the gratitude scale, the positive and negative affect scale, the satisfaction with life scale, the subjective happiness scale, and the Riff’s scale of psychological well-being.

Results. Confirmatory factor analysis has supported the theoretically expected three-factor structure of the measure. Three factors of savoring the moment, anticipation and reminiscence were moderately related. The validity of the methodology is confirmed by correlations of savoring with indicators of psychological well-being, happiness, dispositional optimism, optimistic attributional style for positive events, gratitude, positive affect, life satisfaction and self-esteem. All three subscales of savoring and total savoring score showed high level of internal consistency. The convergent and structural validity of the method was proved.