This proposal is for a five-year continuation of our current NICHD grant that has focused on: the development of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation over middle childhood; the relation of that motivational development to autonomous self-regulation (as assessed by our perceived autonomy questionnaire); the relation of adjustment; and the effects of social contexts (classroom and homes) on the development of autonomous self- regulation. The proposed work will employ laboratory experiments, field observations, and questionnaire studies to explore how the dynamic interaction of perceived autonomy (i.e., self-regulatory styles) and perceived control/competence influence motivated action patterns, referred to as engagement versus disaffection with school. (Engagement versus disaffection describes children's actual behavior and affect and is viewed as a mediator between self-perceptions and educational outcomes). The proposed work will also explore children's coping processes as the links between ongoing engagement and re-engagement following problems, and it will evaluate the effectiveness of five behavior-focused and five emotion- focused coping processes. Further, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses will be used to investigate: (1) social contextual influences on perceived autonomy, perceived control/competence, engagement versus disaffection, coping processes, achievement, and adjustment; (2) the reciprocal influence of active engagement and social contexts (as mediated by self-perceptions of autonomy and control/competence and by achievement and adjustment); (3) the individual developmental trajectories of children's engagement as influenced by the reciprocal interaction of context and action. The outcome of this research program would be an empirically tested, developmentally sensitive conceptual model that relates: the social-contextual dimensions of autonomy support, structure, and involvement; the self-perceptions of autonomy and control/competence; the differentiated conception of engagement and coping; and the educational outcomes of achievement and adjustment.
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