The Relationships between Knowledge Structures and Appraisals of Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents

Abstract

The study's objective was to test adolescents' self-regulation based upon Cervone, Shadel, Smith, and Fiori's (2006) knowledge and appraisal personality architecture model. Self-regulation was defined as the relationships between knowledge structures (enduring mental representations of the world) and appraisal processes (dynamic meanings constructed to evaluate various events). In our study, the knowledge variables were authoritarianism and locus of control while appraisal variables were categorized as personal orientation (coping, communication, self-esteem) and relational orientation (perspective taking, empathy, prosocial behavior tendency). The purpose of the study was to identify the relationships between these variables and compare gender differences for each indicator. The participants were 246 adolescents (125 males and 121 females) whose ages ranged between 12 and 15 and who were the inhabitants of a poor urban neighborhood in Ankara, Turkey. The results showed that external locus of control and authoritarianism were not related, while the former was negatively related to both personal and relational orientations and authoritarianism was positively related to only relational orientation. Boys' external locus of control was higher than girls', whereas girls' scores exceeded boys' in self-reliant coping with stress, open communication, and interpersonal reactivity. No gender differences were observed for authoritarianism, prosocial behavior tendency, and self-esteem.