Ruey-Lin Lin

One of the most essential functions of family is the socialization of the young. Although in modern society there are many different sources of socialization, the family continues to be a critical agency by virtue of the ascribed status it provides. In particular, for people who live in rural, isolated regions where children are more "insulated" from the intrusion of modern society and its related social consequences, the family probably is the most important socialization source. As a consequence of the socialization experience in a particular family environment, the world perspective of the young is shaped by the set of values and norms that the family transmits. The acquired perspective provides a mental structure upon which thinking and behavioral patterns of the young develop.

The effects of family socialization can be seen from the findings that members of different racial backgrounds, or social classes, experience somewhat different conditions of life, come to see the world somewhat differently, develop different notions of social reality, and are prepared for somewhat different careers. For example, from the perspective of cultural deprivation, the major contributing factors to unequal school performance between minority and White students have been regarded as resting on cultural differences in home environment. It has been assumed in past studies that the basic problem of the under-performance of the disadvantaged minority students is that they were brought up in homes that were deprived of the kinds of rich and stimulating environments that White middle-class parents provided for their children. In other words, under-achieving minority children were seen not only as materially deprived, but even more importantly, culturally deprived (Hum, 1985:140-171).

Without affirming the validity of cultural deprivation thesis, the importance of family in the process of socialization cannot be disputed. Since family value orientation provides a foundation out of which the socialization process proceeds, it is instructive to investigate the effects of different value orientations on the development of a person’s behavioral patterns. In particular, it would be most revealing if the relationship between family value orientations and patterns of behavior relating to educational matters could be uncovered.

A given family’s value orientation has been categorized as either traditional or modern. A traditional family is generally considered to be more "authoritarian" and "parent-centered" than a "modern" family because discipline is emphasized. It is also considered to be more "work-centered." In contrast, a modern family is considered to be more "permissive" and "child-centered" than a traditional family. It is characterized by freer expression of affection in the family (Nye & Berado, 1973:381-389). The purpose of the study is to examine relationships between the perception of family background as either traditional or modern and the characteristics of students’ personal behavior.

In Spring quarter of 1987, a cooperative effort was made by Eder, LaCounte, and Lin to collect data from students in a predominantly White, mid-size, four-year state college of approximately 4,000 students in Montana. The purpose was to compare and contrast American Indian and White students with regard to factors that affect academic performance. The survey was administered to regular classes. In an effort to increase the representation of American Indian students in the survey, questionnaires were handed out at the Indian Career Service Center where a sealed questionnaire return box was also placed. Details of the survey instrument and demographic distribution can be found in a previously published paper (Lin, LaCounte, & Eder, 1988). A list of questions used in the analysis is appended.

In order to examine the effects of family value-orientation, 17 Likert-type questions relating to the student perceptions of their family characteristics, general behavioral patterns, and education-related variables were selected from the questionnaire. Using SPSSx, analyses on Pearson correlation were undertaken to uncover the relationship between the value orientation and the selected variables. T-tests were run to test if differences existed between those students who perceived their families as traditional and those who perceived their families as modern. Because the sample size for Native American students was relatively small (87) and because small sample size increases the probability for type II error, I decided to use A 0 as the significance level in reporting the results instead of the conventional .05.

TABLE 1
Zero-order Correlation Coefficients between Perception of Family
Conservatism/Modernism and Other Family Background Variables

In terms of general behavioral patterns, there was a positive correlation between traditional family background and task- and achievement-orientation. Students’ being self-starters and willing to learn from others also correlated positively with traditional family backgrounds. In other words, those from traditional families tended to be more task- and achievement-oriented, to perceive themselves as self-starters, and to be more willing to learn from others, than those from modern families. On the other hand, students from more modern families were more trusting of other people than students from traditional families.

TABLE 2
Zero-order Correlation Coefficients between Perception of Family
Conservatism/Modernism and General Behavioral Variables

In terms of behavioral patterns relating to education, grade point averages (GPA’s) and hours spent doing homework con-elated positively with traditional family backgrounds. That is, the more traditional the family backgrounds, the higher the GPAs and the more time persons spent doing homework. On the other hand, the more modern the family backgrounds, the more persons cared about professor’s opinions, and the more classes they skipped.

TABLE 3
Zero-order Correlation Coefficients between Perception of Family
Conservatism/Modernism and Educational Variables

In order to compare and contrast those students who perceived their families as traditional with those who perceived their families as modern, the values of I and 2, and 4 and 5, in the Likert scale for the question of traditional/modern family background were recombined into two categories. Group one was traditional while group two was modern. T-tests were run to investigate any difference between the two groups regarding their family characteristics, general behavioral patterns, and behavioral patterns specifically relating to education.

As can be seen from the report on Table 4, the results generally confirmed the above-reported correlational analysis. In almost all respects, students from traditional family backgrounds were distinctively different from students from modern backgrounds. Students from modern backgrounds were less likely than those from traditional backgrounds to feel their education created conflicts with their families. Students with modern backgrounds shared values with their parents, and felt supported and encouraged in their education by their parents who themselves were better educated than traditional-family parents.

TABLE 4
T-test between Traditional (Group 1) and Modern Families
(Group 2) on Family Background Variables

Tables 5 and 6 also report similar findings uncovered from the correlational analysis. As a group, students from traditional families were more task and goal-oriented, considered themselves to be self-starters, and were more willing to learn from others than those from modern families. They also spent more time doing homework and acquired higher GPAs. In contrast, students from modern family backgrounds were more trusting of people, saw the importance of professor’s opinions of them, and were more oriented to expressiveness. They also skipped more classes.

TABLE 5
T-test between Traditional (Group 1) and Modern Families
(Group 2) on General Behavioral Variables

It is generally assumed that students from educationally oriented modern families should perform better academically than those from traditional families. However, this study reveals that, in terms of academic performance, youngsters who are from better educated families do more poorly than those from less educated families. Students from better-educated families do not spend as much time doing homework, nor are they as willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to achieve preset goals. Despite the fact that they perceive more support and encouragement from their families, they do poorer academically as reflected in their lower GPAs.

TABLE 6
T-test between Traditional (Group 1) and Modern Families
(Group 2) on Educational Variables

It seems likely that one of the most important modernizing effects of the family socialization is that youngsters from modern families are taught to be more people oriented than those from traditional families. They learn to understand and accept the importance of the effects of human relations. Those from modern families are more likely to trust people, to be more expressive (valuing friendship in contrast to valuing tasks), to see that success is not everything, and to realize the importance of the relationship between professors and students.

Despite their lack of support and encouragement for education from their families, students from traditional families nevertheless out-perform those from modern families. This finding confirms the importance of the value orientation toward tasks and achievements. Though important to traditional students, the effects of human relations on goal attainment are no substitute for hard work. Success in academic performance, like success in any goal-related human activity, requires dedication and sacrifices. Furthermore, the finding also establishes the general and abstract nature of the value orientation. Once internalized, the orientation toward task and achievement becomes an independent factor that is so powerful that it is able to overcome and transcend external limitations, such as lack of support and encouragement in educational pursuits.

With the debate between those who attribute poor minority academic performance to cultural deprivation and those who attribute it to racism and discrimination, it is informative to read the description of the characteristics of effective schools from the point of view of a Black educator who happens to disagree with the cultural-deprivation thesis:

Edmonds’ description of the "coercive" aspect of effective schools is a min-or image of a task-oriented family socialization. According to Edmonds, regardless of whether a student is situated in a family setting or in a school setting, success demands goal-orientation, determination and persistence from the student, and "it is not to be negotiable." For parents and/or educators who are interested in and concerned about educational performance, the significant effect of a value orientation characterized by task and achievement is obvious. In general, as a consequence of the educational process, more educated parents acquire a "broader" world perspective and become more "modern" in their family relations. Consistent with this "modern" perspective, parents create a "broader" value orientation in their families. By virtue of their broader orientation, parents are able to define "success" from more than a narrow, simple perspective of task accomplished to include the entire experiential process. They are also more willing to provide "justifications," or "excuses," for whatever their youngsters’ desire from avoiding hard work to lacking dedication to the tasks at hand. They very often "diffuse" their youngsters from "single-minded" pursuit of preset goals. As a consequence, they unknowingly transmit to their children value orientations that are counter-productive to achievement and excellence. From this perspective, the problem of poor academic performance might very well rest squarely on us as parents at home and as educators in educational settings.

Hum, C. (1985). The Limits and Possibilities of School: An Introduction to the Sociology of Education (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.

Lin, R.-L., LaCounte, D., & Eder, J. (1988). A study of Native American students in a predominantly White college. Journal of American Indian Education, 27 (3), 8-15.

Neisser, U. (Ed.) (1986). The School Achievement of Minority Children: New Perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Nye, F.I., & Berardo, F.M. (1973). The Family: Its Structure and Interaction. New York: Macmillan Co.

Pavlik, S. (1988). Beyond the common ground: Characteristics of effective Indian school administrators. Journal of American Indian Education, 27 (3), 16-23.

1. In terms of values, my family is considered to be:

(Very Traditional) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (Very Modern)

1. My family has always provided me with support and encouragement for my education:

(Very Little) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (A Great Deal)

2. Do you believe in much of the same things as your parents do, for example, religion and values?

(Very Little) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (A Great Deal)

3. 1 feel that my coming to school has created a lot of conflicts and tensions in my family.

(Very Little) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (A Great Deal)

4. 1 am worried that with college education my family and friends will perceive me as "having changed" and/or "becoming different."

(Disagree Strongly) -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (Agree Strongly)

5. Previously education was not as common as it is today, how many years of education did each of your natural parents complete:

(a) Father _______________________

(b) Mother ______________________

In general, I trust people:

-Always -Most times -Sometimes -Rarely -Not at all

2. 1 consider myself a self-starter.

(Disagree Strongly) -1 -2 -3 - .4 -5 (Agree Strongly)

3. After I set a goal, no matter how difficult it is I am willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

(Rarely) -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (Always)

4. In order to make progress, I am willing to learn from whomever holds the key to the necessary knowledge, even from those I regard as enemies of my group/culture.

(Disagree Strongly) -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (Agree Strongly)

5. If you are assigned a task, then you will do the task without letting any friend pull you away.

-Yes, I will do my task -Most times -Sometimes -Rarely

- No, friend comes first

If you are a straight A student, your grade point average (GPA) will be 4.0, what is your GPA? -Below 1 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 -3 -3.5 -4

On the average, how many hours PER DAY, including weekends, do you spend doing your homework?

-One hour or less -Two -Three -Four -Five hours or more

3. How important is getting good grades to you personally?

(Completely Unimportant) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (Very Important)

4. Do you care what professors think of you as a student?

(Very Little) - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5 (A Great Deal)

5. How often do you skip classes, excused or unexcused:

-A few times a week -About once a week

-A couple of times a month -Rarely -Never