Literature Review 1

Literature Review blog post #1 

Source: Parent Autonomy Support, Academic Achievement, and Psychosocial Functioning: a Meta-analysis of Research 

Authors: Ariana C. Vasquez & Erika A. Patall & Carlton J. Fong & Andrew S. Corrigan & Lisa Pine

• Ariana Vasquz is from the University of Pittsburgh and works in the Department of Psychology and Education. She has a PhD and has written many papers specifically about autonomy including “Supporting and Thwarting Autonomy in the High School Science Classroom” and “A Meta-Analysis of Negative Feedback on Intrinsic Motivation”. 
• Erika Patall has a Ph.D and works in the University of Southern California in the Rossier School of Education. She has over 51 publications and is an expert in achievement and motivation, teaching and learning, and adolescent development. 

Citation:

Vasquez, Ariana & Patall, Erika & Fong, Carlton & Corrigan, Andrew & Pine, Lisa. (2015). 

Parent Autonomy Support, Academic Achievement, and Psychosocial Functioning: A 

Meta-analysis of Research. Educational Psychology Review. 28. 

10.1007/s10648-015-9329-z. 

Visual: This is a diagram from the article explaining the correlation between PAS and the listed positive outcomes.

Summary: This article covers the study of the relationship between parent autonomy support (PAS) and child outcomes. Ultimately, parents who exhibited PAS tended to have children with better psychological support and academic functioning. PAS parenting is about nurturing children and their inner motivational resources, communicating more flexibly with their child, and explaining why it might be useful for their child to act a certain way. The authors talk about self-determination theory which I think could be useful for my paper. 

Key Terms: 

• Self-determination theory: the idea that there are three universal psychological needs that underlie human motivation and achievement: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. 
• Autonomy: when one feels like their actions are their own 
• Competence: a ready approach to a task or new environment 
• Relatedness: the need to be attached to a community, group or family 

3 Quotes:

1. “...evidence suggests that children who form a strong, trusting, and warm relationship with their parents exhibit greater curiosity, flexibility, and self-reliance in the classroom, as well as higher self-esteem and fewer behavioral problems” (606).
2. “In an interaction about homework, for example, an autonomy supportive parent might ask for the child’s input, try to understand their child’s perspective on approaches for solving the homework assignment, and encourage their child to work in their own way. On the other hand, a controlling parent might tell the child exactly how to do the homework and ask for little, if any, input from the child in the discussion (606).
3. “...research has suggested that parental autonomy support may be related to...more positive attitudes toward school and reduced extrinsic motivation” (607).

1. Visual.  A picture of the book or (only if such a picture is not available or if it is an article) a relevant picture, such as a photo of the author or something related to the subject.  An embedded video (such as of an author interview) can also fulfill this requirement. Feel free to have multiple images if they are useful.
2. Author(s).  Give some information on the author(s).  What makes him/her/them knowledgeable on the topic

Value: I think that this article can be valuable to me particularly because it gives me more of an idea of what autonomy is and I can use self-determination theory as a framework. I think that the idea of relatedness can help me when I break down the idea that Asian American students can feel misunderstood by their parents and may feel a lack of a sense of community. I think also this idea of competence relates to Diana Tsui’s article in The Cut since she talks about constantly questioning herself when she’s making decisions at work. I am also interested in considering this definition of autonomy: the idea that your actions are your own. I think originally I thought about how autonomy can be economical or adaptable in certain situations. I didn’t think about it as something you believe in. However, I can see that this definition has value because when your tiger parents stop telling you what goals to go after, you don’t know what your own identity is which can lead to lack of ability to make one’s decisions. I also want to expand upon this idea of extrinsic motivation being reduced with PAS because I think tiger parenting is very externally based. I could change my theoretical framework more to the self-determination theory instead of simply autonomy since that can play into the way tiger cubs tend to be deprived of all 3  basic needs: relatedness, autonomy, and competence.