Is Autonomy-Supportive Parenting Beneficial Only to Adolescents With an Autonomous Personality? Two Meanings of Goodness of Fit

Abstract:Although autonomy-supportive parenting yields manifold benefits for adolescents’ development, there is a dearth of research addressing the question of whether adolescents reap the benefits of this parenting style, irrespective of their personality. Accordingly, this study examined whether associations between perceived maternal autonomy support and adolescent well-being depend on adolescents’ dispositional motivational orientations. Further, we examined whether associations between perceived maternal autonomy support and well-being are accounted for by adolescents’ subjective experiences of goodness of fit. A multi-informant three-wave longitudinal study (N = 198 at T1, 51% female, M age = 15 years) was used, allowing for an analysis of the associations both at the level of between-person differences and within-person changes. Adolescents’ motivational orientations did not moderate associations between maternal autonomy support and well-being. Multilevel structural equation modeling showed that experiences of goodness of fit played an intervening role in associations between maternal autonomy support and adjustment. The discussion focuses on different meanings of the goodness-of-fit concept.