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Family socioeconomic status and youth leadership potential: Serial mediating effects of parental rearing behaviors and youth self-esteem

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Abstract

To understand the origins of “the seeds of leadership”, the present study explored the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and youth leadership potential. Specifically, we proposed and tested a path model illustrating the mediating effects of parental rearing behaviors and youth self-esteem on the link between family SES and youth leadership potential. In total, 692 Chinese middle school students (316 male and 376 female) from the seventh to ninth grades (aged approximately 12–15 years old) completed measures of family SES, parental rearing behaviors, youth self-esteem, and youth leadership potential. The results fully supported the proposed serial mediation model. Family SES was indirectly related to youth leadership potential via two kinds of parental rearing behaviors (warmth and rejection) followed by youth self-esteem. The serial mediation model obtained in this study sheds light on the origins of leadership potential and benefits the design of youth leadership interventions. The theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation [Grant Number 9202009]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 71971028]; and the Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education at Beijing Normal University [grant number 27900–110631111].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai St., HaiDian District, Beijing, 100875, China

    Yue Yuan, Xiaomin Sun & Zhenzhen Liu

  2. Yunnan Provincial Natural Gas Co., Ltd, 616 Rixinzhong Road, XiShan District, Kunming, 650228, China

    Qing Chen

  3. Department of Public Administration, National Academy of Governance, 6 Changchun Road, HaiDian District, Beijing, 100080, China

    Gang Xue

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  1. Yue Yuan
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  2. Xiaomin Sun
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  3. Qing Chen
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  4. Zhenzhen Liu
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  5. Gang Xue
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Yue Yuan and Xiaomin Sun; Material preparation: Qing Chen and Xiaomin Sun; Data collection: Qing Chen; Data analysis and interpretation: Yue Yuan and Zhenzhen Liu; Writing - original draft preparation: Yue Yuan; Writing - review and editing: Xiaomin Sun, Yue Yuan and Gang Xue; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaomin Sun.

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Yuan, Y., Sun, X., Chen, Q. et al. Family socioeconomic status and youth leadership potential: Serial mediating effects of parental rearing behaviors and youth self-esteem. Curr Psychol 41, 2034–2044 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00728-x

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