Parent-adolescent Conflicts on Self-esteem, Achievement Motivation, Risk-taking Attitude and Behavior of Adolescents

Description

Page: 288-293

Mousumi Mayra, Riya Rajak, Nirupam Sarkar, and Moumita Deogharia (Department of Psychology, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal)

Parent-adolescent relationships take many forms, which include closeness, communication, conflict, and autonomy. As teenagers don’t necessarily hold the same beliefs and values as their parents, frequent parent-adolescent conflict may arise from a discrepancy between their expectations regarding proper behavior. This study aimed to explore the impact of parent-adolescent conflict on self-esteem, achievement motivation, risk-taking attitude, and behavior of adolescents and also to identify the significant gender difference among the aforesaid variables. A descriptive survey research design was used with random sampling. Total of 400 (male – 200 & female – 200) adolescents, age group of 14-18 were selected in this study. The data were collected through a survey method by visiting the high schools in the urban areas of Purulia and Bankura district, West Bengal, India. Four tools were used for the study namely Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ- Adolescent version); State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES); Adolescent Motivation for Educational Attainment Questionnaire (AMEAQ); Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire (ARQ). Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find out the relationship among the selected variables. Regression analysis was used to predict the impact of mother-father conflict on the previously mentioned variables. The inferential statistic is used to find out the mean differences between adolescents of different genders in each of the research variables. Results indicated that parent-adolescent conflict has a significant negative impact on the self-esteem, academic achievement, and risk-taking behavior of adolescents. Significant gender differences are found in the dimensions of father-conflict and risk-taking attitudes and behaviors of adolescents.