A Four-Category Achievement Goal Model based on Generativity, Stagnation and Parenting Styles

The present study aimed to identify the interrelationship among generativity, stagnation and parenting styles in order to provide a four-factor achievement goal model. The subjects included 370 high school girls of four districts in Qom metropolitan area along with their working parents (mostly fathers) who had completed at least four years of high-school and were between 40-60 years old. The subjects were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling method. The instrumentation comprised generativity, stagnation, parenting styles (for parents) and four-factor achievement goal orientation (for students) questionnaires. Path analysis resulted in designing four models for the four dependent variables of achievement goal orientation (dominance, tendency, avoidance, confusion). The first model which was based on the dependent variable of dominance achievement goal showed direct and indirect impacts of generativity on dominance achievement goal and the direct effect of authoritative style as well as the indirect effect of stagnation on the aforementioned variable (model coefficient of determination: 0.53). The second model which was based on the dependent variable of tendency achievement goal showed direct impacts of generativity and authoritarian style on tendency achievement goal, the direct effect of permissive style and the indirect impact of stagnation on tendency achievement goal (model coefficient of determination: 0.38). The third model which was formed based on the dependent variable of confusion achievement goal orientation showed direct and indirect effects of generativity on confusion orientation, direct impact of authoritative style and indirect influence of stagnation on confusion orientation (model coefficient of determination: 0.44). The fourth model which was designed based on the dependent variable of avoidance achievement goal was indicative of the direct effect of authoritarian style and the indirect impact of stagnation on avoidance achievement goal orientation (model coefficient of determination: 0.40).