Family Structure and Achievement Motivation

Abstract

The relationship of four demographic factors-family size, ordinal position, mother's age, and social class-to the socialization process and their impact upon the development of achievement motivation is examined in a study of two independent samples of young boys and their mothers. The data were obtained by means of a projective test, personal interviews, and group administered questionnaires. An analysis of the data indicates that these demographic variables are relevant to the development of achievement motivation, but their effects are comlplex, intricately interconnected with one another, and difficult to assess individually. THIS paper is a study of the relationship of certain demographic factors to family structure and personality development. Specifically, it examines the ways in which family size, ordinal position, mother's age, and social class influence the quality and quantity of patterned parent-child interaction and their impact upon the development of achievement motivation. Achievement motivation has been defined