Childhood Environment, Intrinsic Goals, and Parental Autonomy Support in Chinese College Students

The pursuit of intrinsic goals plays a pivotal role in enhancing an individual's overall psycho-social well-being, health, and more (Deci & Ryan, 2000). As such, understanding the factors that influence the formation of intrinsic goals is essential. This study tests hypotheses about the relationship between childhood risk environments and intrinsic goals, focusing on childhood unpredictability and harshness as independent variables, with Chinese university students serving as the subjects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2,355 students from three universities in China, using four measurement tools: the Childhood Unpredictability Questionnaire, Childhood Harshness Questionnaire, Parental Autonomy Support Questionnaire, and Desire Index Scale. Data analysis was carried out with SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0 software. The results reveal that childhood unpredictability, rather than harshness, is negatively linked with students' intrinsic goals. Childhood harshness shows a positive predictive link to intrinsic goals when unpredictability is high, and a negative link when unpredictability is low. Furthermore, when parental autonomy support is low, childhood harshness positively correlates with intrinsic goals. Additionally, childhood unpredictability and harshness indirectly relate to intrinsic goals by diminishing parental autonomy support. These findings underscore the detrimental relationship between childhood unpredictability and intrinsic goals, while also highlighting the protective role that parental autonomy support can play in fostering intrinsic goal development.