A cross-cultural perspective of parental influence on adolescent females’ achievement beliefs and behaviors in sport and school domains

Little is known about the sport socialization processes for participants from different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to examine parental influence on self-perceptions, values, and achievement behaviors in Anglo and East Indian sport participants using Eccles et al.’s (1983) expectancy-value model as a framework. Twelve Anglo and nine East Indian female adolescents were interviewed about parent influence on expectancy-value constructs for sport and academic domains. Two inductive content analyses were performed to identify lower-order and higher-order themes for relevant concepts. Similarities and differences emerged for the two groups in both domains. Anglo participants identified bi-directional socialization while East Indian girls discussed bringing honor to the family and parental ambivalence. Findings point to cultural variations in parental influence for adolescent girls involved in sport and physical activity and extend research using the expectancy-value model.