2003 Volume 48 Issue 4 Pages 421-438
The purpose of this study was to examine parental influence on children's cognitive and effective attitude to competitive sports, focusing particularly on parental daily behavior from the viewpoint of the "message from parent to child". The subjects included junior soccer players belonging to a lower branch of the J League and their parents (553 families). All completed questionnaires. The result of the first analysis revealed a structure of the "message" from parents to children composed of "reinforcing self-confidence", "indirect approval", "support", "control", "value", "emotional appreciation" and "oriented result". The next analysis examined the relationship between the "message" and children's cognitive and affective attitude in terms of "intrinsic motivation", "competence", and "fear of significant other". Both the children's perception of the "message" and the parent's self-reported one were evaluated. The most significant findings were : 1) There was no relationship between parent's self-reported "message" and children's attitude, although children's perception was significantly related to children's attitude. 2) Some aspects of the "message" were related to children's positive attitude, and to other other aspects to a negative attitude. However, "emotional appreciation" and "control" were related to a positive and a negative attitude.
