Achievement motivation,socialization, and hypnotic susceptibility among youths from four Israeli subcultures

Based on London's theoretical model, results of a developmental study of Israeli children from four subcultures are reported. The impact of child-rearing practices on achievement motivation, hypnotic susceptibility, and brain wave patterns of subjects from Eastern European, Kurdish, Yemenite, and Moroccan backgrounds was tested and compared according to age level. Subjects were 15 children from each subcultural group. Five in each subcultural group were between 7 and 9 years old, five between 9 and 11, and five between 11 and 13. Instruments included a combined EEG-hypnotic scale, six measures of achievement and nAch, and the Winterbottom questionnaire. Subjects of European background, presumably with the highest nAch, had the lowest mean score in hypnotic susceptibility, while children of Moroccan descent, presumably the lowest achievement group, had the highest mean susceptibility score among the four subgroups as expected. It was also found, consistent with previous developmental studies of American children, that hypnotic susceptibility increases significantly with age regardless of subcultural grouping. While the four subgroups differed significantly in their school performance as expected, they did not differ in their need achievement scores. Findings in regard to EEG data are presently not reported because of technical difficulties encountered during recording. Implications for future research pertaining to methodological and theoretical issues involved in testing the model cross-culturally are discussed.This research was supported by the research committee of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and by National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. 53-4873-6748.Received B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.S.W. from New York University, and doctorate and subsequent postdoctoral training from the University of California, Berkeley. From a theoretical-historical perspective, is interested in the impact of the Protestant ethic on Western conceptions of deviance. His research focuses on various psychophysiological aspects associated with deviant conduct.Received B.A. from Yeshiva University, M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University Teachers College. His wide research interests can be summed up under the heading of voluntary behavior, ranging over behavior modification, psychophysiological correlates of behavior, and the ethical implications of psychological treatment.Received B.S. and M.S. from the Brigham Young University, and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Among his research interests are hypnosis and suggestibility, learning theory, statistics and psychometrics, and hypnotherapy.