Parents’ beliefs as a family environment factor

Abstract

Recent research on parents’ beliefs (expectations) about psychological characteristics and future of their children are analyzed. The main features of beliefs, defined in the theory-based studies, are presented. The role of parents’ beliefs in self-fulfilling prophecies, intelligence self-esteem, family systems, causal attribution and achievement motivation (according to expectancy-value model) is reviewed. The main methods of parents’ beliefs evaluation are described.