Parental Autonomy Support and Student Learning Goals: A Preliminary Examination of an Intrinsic Motivation Intervention

In a seven week quasi-experimental study, parents (n = 15) of elementary school students (n = 15) learned autonomy supportive communication techniques that included helping their children set learning goals for homework
assignments. Treatment vs. comparison group (n = 30) ANCOVA analyses revealed that the parents in the treatment group perceived their children as becoming more autonomously
motivated relative to the comparison group, F(1, 26) = 7.69, p < .05. Children in the treatment group reported increased positive affect toward homework relative to the comparison group,
F(1,26) = 5.35, p < .05. Children did not significantly improve on general measures of self reported academic intrinsic motivation or relative
autonomy. These preliminary findings suggest that autonomy supportive parenting styles may improve parent’s perceptions of
their children’s autonomous motivation and children’s subjective experience of positive affect surrounding homework. In order
to draw firmer conclusions about the effects of the intervention, more rigorously controlled studies will be needed in the
future.