| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10471129 | Journal of Research in Personality | 2013 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
We reasoned that children's books mirror the current motivational orientation (Zeitgeist) of a society. Based on the work of McClelland and other motivational psychologists, we assessed the current motivational orientation via the prevalence of achievement, power, and affiliation imagery in the most popular children's books of federal states in Germany. As expected, the achievement imagery was closely and significantly related to academic performance. Our assumption that power imagery was positively and affiliation imagery negatively related to youth crime (youth suspects) could not be supported. Thus, for the achievement domain, the findings provide strong evidence that children's books tell us an important story worthy of further exploration.
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Authors
Stefan Engeser, Ina Hollricher, Nicola Baumann,