Abstract
Inner compass (IC) is a schema composed of values, interests and goals that can guide the individual to make life choices that are congruent with their authentic self and basic needs. Past research has shown that having an IC predicts adolescents’ optimal functioning, contributing to positive outcomes such as identity formation, resilience against negative peer influences, and well-being. The current research explored the role of parents on Chinese adolescents’ having an IC. Specifically, we hypothesized that children were more likely to have an IC if their parents (1) demonstrated inherent values (IVD) in their behavior to children, (2) supported an open exploration and examination of values (SVE) in children, and (3) fostered an inner valuing (FIV) in their children based on authentic values and interests, especially when confronted with difficult situations and social pressure. We also hypothesized that attachment avoidance may attenuate the parenting effects, especially for FIV and SVE, which are more direct parental influences. Results supported our hypothesis, showing significant positive effects of all three parenting styles on having an IC, and that these effects were weaker when children have high attachment avoidance with parents. The current research contributes to the integration of attachment theory and self-determination theory.
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Notes
According to factor analysis research (e.g., Marsh et al. 2009; Muthén & Asparouhov 2012), traditional independent-cluster factor analysis model is overly strict. It is very commonly expected in CFA models that the covariances between items cannot be solely explained by the underlying substantive factors; other exogenous variables, such as wording similarity, may also lead to covariance patterns that cannot be explained by the substantive factors. In fact, Correlated residuals (between items of the same construct) are one of the most common modifications to CFA models (Brown 2014). When reasonable, it is not only acceptable, but actually necessary to estimate these correlated errors, because it leads to more accurate CFA solutions (Brown 2014). In our case, modification indices indeed pointed to additional correlations between several residuals of items under the same parenting scale. For example, the highest modification index for residual correlation was between the first item (“My parents have values and goals that are really important to them”) and the second item (“There are values and morals my parents really care about”) of IVD: χ2 = 110.81. These two items both ask about parental IVD that manifest in the realm of values. Therefore, we freed up these within-subscale residual correlations.
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Yu, S., Deng, Y., Yu, H. et al. Attachment avoidance moderates the effects of parenting on Chinese adolescents’ having an inner compass. Curr Psychol 40, 887–894 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0007-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0007-4