Original scientific paper
To Whom Can the Children of Yugoslav Workers Temporarily Employed in F. R. Germany Be More Easily Compared by Their Latent Personality Structure: Peers in Yugoslavia or Those in Germany
Ante Fulgosi
; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ljerka Fulgosi
; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Zvonko Knezović
; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Rea Masnjak
; Faculty of Special Education, Zagreb, Croatia
Anđelka Metzing
; Faculty of Education, Osijek, Croatia
Predrag Zarevski
; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In earlier studies on the psychosocial aspects of maturation among children of Yugoslav migrant workers temporarily employed abroad, Fulgosi et al. (1984, 1985) claimed that in terms of their cognitive and conative development the children concerned lagged behind their peers in the home country as well as behind those at the place of schooling (F. R. Germany).
Included in the sample were 1,311 children divided into three groups by place of residence: Yugoslav children in F. R. Germany and comparable peer groups in the home country and in Germany, classified by three age levels: as 5th, 7th and 9th-form pupils. The same sample of respondents were analysed to find out who the children of our workers in Germany could be more easily compared to by their latent personality structure: their peers in the home country or German children. Latent structure was determined for each group by factor analyses of latent variables (intelligence tests and personality questionnaires). Latent structures were then compared at each age level.
In the 5th and 9th-form pupils (that is, the 1st-form of secondary school in Yugoslavia) a greater deal of similarity is found between the Yugoslav samples, whereas Yugoslav 7th-form children in F. R. Germany are more similar to German children. Such empirical findings indicate that the development of the whole personality of Yugoslav children in Germany is discontinued at the ages from 10–11 to 15–16 years, when environmental influences at large have a strong impact on the formation of the individual's whole personality.
In view of the earlier findings (Fulgosi et al., 1984, 1985), namely that cognitive efficiency is decreased and emotional instability is increased concurrently with Yugoslav children's age and length of residence outside the homeland, it may be concluded that the children concerned do not mature in an environment that will optimize a balanced and full development of a whole personality.
Keywords
children of migrants; latent personality structure; F. R. of Germany
Hrčak ID:
128776
URI
Publication date:
28.11.1986.
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