The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between early home environmental variables and self-concept development at various age levels and to explore the stability of self-concept. The data used in this study were the longitudina...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between early home environmental variables and self-concept development at various age levels and to explore the stability of self-concept. The data used in this study were the longitudinal data set collected by the Korean Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences (KIRBS) since 1975 to date. The research problems to be investigated were as follows :
(1) What are the relationships between the early home environmental variables and self-concepts at various age levels?
(2) What is the most influential factor among the early home environmental variables for the self-concept development, and does it vary as time goes by?
(3) Does one's self-concept reciprocally interact with his school achievement?
(4) How does one's self-concept develop and change in process of time and through the surrounding environment?
The participants of the KIRBS study were 115 children born in 1975. The variables to analyze in this study were self-concepts measured at ages of 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 26, school achievement in the 1st, 4th, and 8th grade, psychological home environment (press for achievement motivation, press for language development, and parent's affective support for children) measured at age of 3, and child rearing style. Five sub-factors of the child rearing style were
① feeding style (from birth to 6 months), ② weaning (at 12 months), ③ toilet training (at 18 months), ④ eating style (at 36 months), and ⑤ parent's reward/punishment style on child behaviors (at 48 months). The major findings in this study were as follows :
1. The correlation coefficients between early home environmental variables and self-concepts ranged from positive to negative: there were positive correlations until age 10, and from ages 10 to 16, the correlations became lower or negative ones, and at 26, the correlations became positive again.
2. The squared multiple Rs of self-concept with early home environmental variables were .39 at age 10, .15 at age 13, and .14 at age 16. A linear structural equation model analysis revealed that parent's rearing style was the most influential variable and had both direct and indirect impact on self-concept development of children. Among the parent's rearing style variables, the most highly positive effect on self-concept was weaning factor, and the most negative one was the feeding style factor.
3. It was found that there was the existence of reciprocal interaction between self-concept and school achievement. The closer the two variables were, the more they correlated with each other.
4. A longitudinal case study on self-concept development revealed that favorable home environment was very important for both the positive development and early stability of self-concept. Although the two boys in this case-study had the mostly same early home environment at birth, they had different self-concepts at later years. The boy reared in better home environment showed more positive self-concept at age 26, and had a relatively stable self-concept than the other one.
On the basis of the findings of the present study, the following conclusions were made :
First, the correlations of early home environmental variables with self concept vary in degree as children grow. There is a strong relationship between the two variables at early ages, but the relationships become weaker at later ages. Second, the weaning and feeding factors in parent's child rearing style are the most influential factors for the self-concept development. Third, it seems that one's self-concept become stable around age 16. Fourth, there is a reciprocal interaction between self-concept and school achievement.