Social Psychological Variables and Their Relevance to the Status Attainment of Teenagers

Abstract

In order to examine the role of social psychological variables in the status transmission process, we collected data from 400 teenagers and their parents. The variables considered included the youth's self-concept of ability, the valuation of self-direction/conformity, the preferences of the parents, the father's occupational status, the occupational and educational aspirations, and the educational attainments of the teenager. The model develop suggests some necessary revisions to the basic "Wisconsin model" of status attainment in order to indicate the important roles played by both self-concept of ability and parental aspirations as intervening social psychological variables in this process.