Parenting and family factors related to adolescents` personal agency beliefs, school achievement, and career outcomes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Rainer K. Silbereisen
• Subject Area: Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Term: from 1999 to 2002
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5190188

The importance of the development of positive personal agency beliefs lies in the idea that believing positively about one`s own capabilities and the supportiveness of the environment has protective and adaptive qualities for individuals. Having positive beliefs motivates the individual to set goals, to persevere, and to ultimately achieve what is needed in order to successfully adapt to his or her life circumstances. These kinds of beliefs are the main focus of our research program. We intend to utilize an archival, longitudinal data set spanning pre- and postunification Germany in order to investigate parenting and family variables that relate to the development of adolescents`positive personal agency beliefs which, in turn, will enable them to succeed in academics and, later in life in their occupational training and career. Previous research has examined how personal agency beliefs relate to adolescent outcomes, however, there is a lack of research that focuses on the antecedents to the development of personal agency beliefs, and, moreover, that takes a longitudinal perspective.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants