James Eison

Patterns of parental reaction to student grades

Factor analysis of questionnaire responses produced by over 6,000 individuals revealed parental reactions to good and bad grades grouped themselves into five categories: (1) Grades are important to me; bad ones lead to negative consequences; (2) Good grades are important to me, but I will support you regardless of grade; (3) Bad grades make me mad; (4) Do your best, but there is more to life than grades; and (5) Grades are important; you will know how I feel on the basis of a joking comment. When these patterns were related to reports of specific student actions in college, such as getting good grades, dropping a course, or cheating on an examination, results indicated only a few significant negative correlations, and only for students whose parents reacted to bad grades in a negative emotional way; i.e., in terms of categories 1 and 3. More benign reactions - categories 2, 4, and 5 - did not correlate either positively or negatively with student actions or grades. Results were taken to suggest that parental reactions to grades are not only attempts at changing student behavior but also may be viewed as emotional responses expressing personal needs and values.