Comparison of Academic Motivation, Social Competence and Academic Identity of Children of Single-parent Families and Nuclear Families

Subject Areas : curriculum

raheleh shukuhi ¹ , leyla bizhanikashkak ² , fatemeh khazaeipool ³

1 - Department of Educational Sciences, Chalous Branch, Islamic Azad university, Chalous, Iran.
2 - M.Sc. Student of Curriculum Planning, Islamic Azad University, Chalous Branch, Chalous, Iran
3 - Bachelor of Primary Education, Islamic Azad University, Chalous Branch, Chalous, Iran

Received: 2022-01-29 Accepted : 2022-06-22 Published : 2022-07-23

Keywords: Academic motivation, social competence, Academic identity, single-parent family, nuclear family,

Abstract :

The purpose of this study was to compare academic motivation, social competence and academic identity of children of single-parent families and nuclear families. Using purposive sampling method, this cross-sectional study was carried out on 50 children of single-parent families and 50 children of nuclear families who were homogeneous in terms of their age. The study made use of the inventory of school motivation (ISM) (McInerney & Sinclair, 1992), adolescent multidimensional social competence questionnaire (AMSC-Q) (Gómez-Ortiz & et al., 2017) and academic identity status questionnaire (AISQ) (Wass & Isaacson, 2008). In this study, Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used for data analysis. The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is a difference between academic motivation, social competence and academic identity among children of single-parent families and nuclear families. In this way, the children of single-parent families have lower scores in academic motivation, social competence and academic identity (achievement) than the children of nuclear families. The results also show that children of single-parent families have higher scores in academic identity (moratorium, diffusion and foreclose) than children of nuclear families. These results have important implications for family structure for their children's academic functions. Accordingly, educational psychologists and educational counselors can benefit from the results of the present study to improve the educational problems of single-parent children.