Reproducing Inequality: The Role of Self-Control, Social Support, and Maternal Education in the Development of Human and Economic Capital.

摘要

The development of human and economic capital in the transition to adulthood may set individuals on different life trajectories as the skills, knowledge, and income developed during this period may be foundational to their later life outcomes. Self-control (the deliberate regulation of impulses, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) in adolescence may be related to the development of these forms of capital as it may help individuals to pursue long-term goals, create stable relationships, and engage in employment. It is likely that higher self-control helps individuals find, obtain, and maintain employment because it lowers the potential for distraction and disengagement from the job search process and may allow individuals who are currently employed or in school to regulate their behavior to meet the demands of those contexts. However, recent research on self-control shows that contextual factors (e.g., social relationships and environments) may alter whether and to what extent self-control relates to developmental outcomes. In particular, the relation between self-control and human (e.g., skills, knowledge, and capabilities) and economic (e.g., money) capital may be mediated by whether youth feel supported by family and friends. These perceptions of support may relate to greater earnings and lower receipt of welfare dollars as parents and friends may transmit economic, social, and human capital to the individual. Furthermore, in a time of growing inequality the relation between education and outcomes is strengthened. Maternal education levels may enhance or constrain the resources available to her children, initiating processes of cumulative advantage and disadvantage that lead to differences in human, social, and economic capital for her children; and moderating the relation of self-control and perceptions of social support to these outcomes.;Drawing on data from the Project for Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), for my dissertation research, I used structural equation modeling to answer three research questions. First, I examined the relation between self-control in adolescence and income in the transition to adulthood. Second, I asked whether and to what extent the relations between self-control and income were mediated by perceptions of social support from family and friends. Third, I investigated whether and how this relation was moderated by maternal education levels using multi group methods. Finally, I examined individuals' experiences during the transition to adulthood (e.g., school, work, disconnection). These experiences during the transition to adulthood reflect young adults' human capital development as they may be engaged in activities (e.g., school) that that may differentially influence their later life outcomes but that are not reflected in measures of income.;Results indicated that self-control in adolescence did not predict income during the transition to adulthood, with a notable exception of the model among children of mothers with less than high school/some high school education only. Furthermore, findings suggested that perceptions of support from family and friends did not mediate this relation. Analyses further indicated that there were differences in young adults' income and participation in human capital generating activities (e.g., working, in school) by maternal education levels. Finally, results suggested that differences in these processes were raced and gendered. This dissertation adds to the literature by examining under what circumstances and for whom self-control relates to positive developmental outcomes and furthers understandings of how inequality is reproduced.