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How Are Parental Psychological Control and Autonomy‐Support Related? A Cluster‐Analytic Approach
Author(s) -
Soenens Bart,
Vansteenkiste Maarten,
Sierens Eline
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00589.x
Subject(s) - promotion (chess) , psychological control , psychology , autonomy , developmental psychology , independence (probability theory) , control (management) , social psychology , cluster (spacecraft) , sample (material) , statistics , chemistry , mathematics , management , chromatography , politics , political science , computer science , law , economics , programming language
This study addresses the hypothesis that the relationship between parental psychological control and autonomy‐support depends on how autonomy‐support is conceptualized, that is, in terms of promotion of independence or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning. Questionnaires tapping into psychological control and these two types of autonomy‐support were administered to a sample of 495 emerging adults. Cluster analysis revealed that, whereas parental promotion of independence may or may not co‐occur with psychological control, high parental promotion of volitional functioning systematically goes together with low psychological control and vice versa. Differences between clusters in terms of adjustment were mainly driven by differences in psychological control and promotion of volitional functioning and to a lesser extent by differences in promotion of independence.