Children's Beliefs about Control, Means-ends, and Agency: Developmental Differences during Middle Childhood

Abstract

A new action-theoretical conceptualisation was used to study developmental differences in children's generalised perceived control. According to this conceptualisation, controland action-related beliefs are multidimensional and may include not only (1) expectancies about the extent to which an agent (e.g. the self) can obtain desired outcomes (referred to as control beliefs), but also (2) expectancies about the extent to which certain causes or means produce outcomes (means-ends beliefs), as well as (3) expectancies about the extent to which the agent possesses the potential means (agency beliefs). Cross-sectional age differences in these three sets of beliefs were studied in 240 boys and girls from age 7 to 12. The results of age comparisons in mean level indicated that: (1) perceived control of positive events is greater than that of negative events at all ages; (2) the categories of means-ends beliefs (i.e. for the causes effort, attributes, powerful others, luck, unknown) are increasingly differentiated from each other as to their level of perceived effectiveness; (3) agency beliefs for effort, attributes, and powerful others are high across middle childhood. The increase in the perceived accessibility of powerful others is an especially noteworthy finding. Surprisingly few sex differences were found, with the exception that boys rates the cause "attributes" as more effective than girls. The pattern of age differences in control, means-ends, and agency beliefs not only adds to our understanding of the development of generalized expectancies involving control and action across middle childhood, but also holds promise for future research on the origins of these beliefs and on how they influence children's behaviour and action.