Overbearing parents who aim too high for their children, exceeding realistic expectations for their educational outcomes, can have a negative impact on their children’s results, researchers have found.

A Reading University study confirms previous research that children of parents with higher hopes do better academically than those whose parents aspire less. Critically, however, those aspirations have to be realistic, otherwise parents run the risk of damaging their children’s academic outcomes.

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Researchers analysed data from a five-year German study (2002 to 2007) of 3,530 11- to 16-year-olds and their parents. They looked at pupils’ annual maths tests and parallel parental questionnaires assessing aspiration: how much they wanted their child to get a certain grade, and expectation, and how much they believed their child could get that grade.

The lead researcher, Kou Murayama, from Reading’s school of psychology and clinical language sciences, said the results were striking. “Our aim was to see if parental aspiration that exceeds realistic expectation could have negative effects on children’s academic performance.



“Children of parents with higher hopes achieved statistically better test scores compared to those who aspired less. This is consistent with previous findings that high parental aspiration is good for children.

“However, when we examined the parents whose aspiration exceeded realistic expectation, children’s academic performance was damaged. This could be due to children experiencing anxiety, low confidence and frustration brought on by pressure from overbearing parents – but more research is needed.”

Researchers compared their findings with data from a two-year study of 12,000 15-year-olds in the US and their parents, and found the results matched the German study.

Murayama continued: “Until now, the message for parents has seemed straightforward – aim high for your children and they will achieve more. In fact, getting parents to have higher hopes for their children has often been a goal of programs designed to improve academic performance in schools.



“Our study does show that parental aspiration can help children achieve better results at school, but only if it is realistic. Simply raising aspiration to improve educational success could be a dangerous message for parents.”

The Reading study, entitled Don’t Aim Too High for Your Kids: Parental Over-Aspiration Undermines Students’ Learning in Mathematics, is published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

