TY - JOUR
T1 - Motivation, Legitimation, or Both? Reciprocal Effects of Parental Meritocratic Beliefs and Children’s Educational Performance in China
AU - OLIVOS, Francisco
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Sociological Association 2021.
PY - 2021/6/1
Y1 - 2021/6/1
N2 - Different research traditions have long held that parental beliefs motivate children’s performance. However, regarding meritocratic beliefs, sociologists often argue that meritocratic narratives legitimize and make sense of societal inequalities as justly deserved. Using the case of China, I tested these competing hypotheses of the relationship between parental meritocratic beliefs and children’s educational achievement. Parental beliefs about skills and hard work as predictors of higher grades were used. I analyzed data from the first and second waves of the China Educational Panel Survey. Autoregressive cross-lagged structural models indicated that parental meritocratic beliefs do not affect children’s educational performance but, rather, meritocratic beliefs are affected by academic results, suggesting their justificatory role. This pattern is much sharper in rural China, where traditional Chinese culture is preserved. The implications of meritocratic beliefs for a broader discussion of citizens’ beliefs about social inequalities and stratification are discussed.
AB - Different research traditions have long held that parental beliefs motivate children’s performance. However, regarding meritocratic beliefs, sociologists often argue that meritocratic narratives legitimize and make sense of societal inequalities as justly deserved. Using the case of China, I tested these competing hypotheses of the relationship between parental meritocratic beliefs and children’s educational achievement. Parental beliefs about skills and hard work as predictors of higher grades were used. I analyzed data from the first and second waves of the China Educational Panel Survey. Autoregressive cross-lagged structural models indicated that parental meritocratic beliefs do not affect children’s educational performance but, rather, meritocratic beliefs are affected by academic results, suggesting their justificatory role. This pattern is much sharper in rural China, where traditional Chinese culture is preserved. The implications of meritocratic beliefs for a broader discussion of citizens’ beliefs about social inequalities and stratification are discussed.
KW - China
KW - educational achievement
KW - meritocratic beliefs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100569642&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0190272520984730
DO - 10.1177/0190272520984730
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
AN - SCOPUS:85100569642
SN - 0190-2725
VL - 84
SP - 110
EP - 131
JO - Social Psychology Quarterly
JF - Social Psychology Quarterly
IS - 2
ER -