1. Introduction

Learning motivation is a psychological phenomenon that drives individuals to engage in learning activities, sustain their involvement in such activities, and direct their behavior towards specific learning objectives. Learning needs and learning expectations are the two fundamental elements of learning motivation, and they work together to create a learning motivation system. As a result, it will influence whether students give up or keep trying as well as whether they reflect on their own learning. According to Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., and Ryan, R. M. [1]. Students are less likely to provide complex answers to questions the more deeply motivated they are to participate in an activity. Simply defined, strong and adaptable critical thinking abilities are developed through intrinsic desire. Amotivation and only external chances, on the other hand, result in a lack of interest in learning. Anderman, E. M., and Patrick, H [2]. Creativity and critical thinking can be fostered through motivation. Students are essentially encouraged to view learning as a game. As a result, individuals are more inclined to view learning from a fresh angle. Although motivated students are not always smarter than disinterested students, answering a question or mastering a subject is necessary to advance their thinking. In 2000, Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. Self-confidence and resiliency can be developed through motivation. Students who focus on a task have less cognitive and emotional capacity to focus on social connection. Wigfield, A., and Eccles, J. S [3]. The drive to learn can be stimulated through motivation. Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L [4]. Initiative can be summed up as the motivation and independence to pursue objectives. The notions of initiative and motivation are intimately interconnected, as an individual's increasing drive to achieve a certain objective leads to the development of a heightened sense of purpose in channeling their efforts towards that objective.

What is the potential impact of parental involvement on children's motivation? There exist four distinct approaches for fostering positive psychological development, specifically, cultivating a growth mindset, promoting self-efficacy, normalizing the experience of adversity, reducing the emphasis on competition, and establishing goals that are optimally difficult and oriented towards mastery. To begin with, it is advisable to engage in the cultivation of a growth mentality. Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., and Deci, E. L. [5]. The cultivation of a growth mindset encourages students to consistently engage in self-challenging activities and engage in reflective practices to assess their development. Even a marginal enhancement has the potential to foster pupils' excitement. Subsequently, fostering self-efficacy. Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., and Deci, E. L. [5]. As a result, parental comments regarding student effort serve to foster a perception of competence, while simultaneously emphasizing the student's advancements in their educational journey. When students see that their ability is highly valued, they are more inclined to approach learning with a playful mindset, embrace the possibility of making mistakes, and demonstrate a willingness to take risks. Furthermore, creating an authentic portrayal of the conflict. Vansteenkiste, Lens, and Deci [5] conducted a study. Students may give up because they mistakenly think that it would be simple for them to achieve. By giving examples of setbacks that well-known people overcame on their path to success, parents can dispel this misunderstanding. Stressing the importance of seeking assistance may stop students from falling behind and losing interest in the subject. Ryan argued in favor of minimizing competition when there is just one correct response in order to increase children's motivation. Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L [4]. Except in situations where both students are confident in their talents, the pressure of competition tends to sap motivation. Vansteenkiste, Lens, and Deci [5]. Differentiating assignments to make them suitably difficult can maintain students' optimum involvement. Students will be drawn in by their want to learn and encouraged by their conviction that they can learn when they work within the boundaries of their current ability. Parents can help children to set actual learning objectives rather than just expressing them. For practice, students might write weekly, monthly, or long-term goals to use studying language [1].

Just as author Ryan said, parenting is a significant process in children's growth. Parenting has a certain influence on students' learning motivation. According to the ecosystem theory, children's development occurs through the complex interaction between children and his or her environment [6]. The environment that children are exposed to encompasses various systems. The micro-system, which consists of the family, school, and neighborhood, directly influences children's development. The intermediary system, which involves the interaction between the family and school, such as parents' active involvement in school activities, also plays a significant role. Additionally, the external system, which includes the social context of parents' workplace, exerts a more direct influence on children. The macrosystem has indirect effects on children via cultural values, customs, and regulations. By introducing the process-person-context-time (PPCT) model, Bronfenbrenner and Morris [7] improved the original concept. This paradigm emphasizes the interconnectedness of micro- and macro-systems, highlighting their profound effects on children. Families and schools can influence the resilience and adaptability of students [8]. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the cultural process has the potential to permeate the dynamics of the parent-child relationship. This is because cultural values are frequently reflected in the parenting beliefs of parents, and the objectives of socialization can have a substantial effect on both parental practices and the developmental progress of children [9]. Parents' participation in children's education is a part of the intermediate system connecting the family and the school system. Parenting practice and parents' participation may affect the outcome of children through their views on the quality of parent-child relationship. Many studies have shown that children with authoritative parents (high temperature and high control) tend to be more capable, better adapt to emotions, participate in schools, and show less problem behaviors in western and China cultures [10].

Parental participation is an additional dimension of parenting that encompasses the engagement and dedication of parents towards their children. This involvement encompasses various aspects such as the allocation of time, energy, and financial resources, as well as fostering favorable interactions with educational institutions. Different levels of familial involvement will have varying effects on students' motivation to learn. According to Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, parents' involvement in their children's education requires two essential components: knowledge and skills, as well as time and effort. Parents may be constrained by their jobs and lack the energy to assist their children with assignments or participate in extracurricular activities.

According to the social role theory proposed by Eagly et al. [4], the allocation of gender roles in society leads to the emergence of unique functions and responsibilities for mothers and fathers. In a study conducted by Hallers-Haalboom et al., it was observed that mothers exhibit more levels of engagement, time investment, and sensitivity towards their children compared to fathers. However, it is well acknowledged that dads play a crucial and irreplaceable role in the development and well-being of their children [11]. Furthermore, it has been observed that the parenting methods of both fathers and mothers have discernible impacts on teenagers, as evidenced by studies conducted by Milevsky et al. and Padilla-Walker et al. For example, the study conducted by Padilla-Walker et al. found that there is a positive correlation between a mother's warmth and teenagers' prosocial behavior inside the family context. Conversely, the study also revealed that a father's warmth is positively connected with adolescents' prosocial behavior towards their peers.

However, the research on the relationship between paternal and maternal parenting and motivation development is insufficient, especially the cross sectional research in this field. In addition, in terms of motivation and achievement, the effectiveness of learning ability varies with the background of parents' upbringing. Because students have different parenting backgrounds when they enter school, their academic performance may be different from each other. The different parenting differences between paternal line and maternal line affect students' learning motivation. This study investigates the relationship between paternal and maternal parenting and motivation development in the upper grades of primary schools by means of questionnaire. Different parenting models have different effects on the improvement of primary school students' Motivation, so studying the influence of paternal line and maternal line on students' motivation can better help promote the development of primary school students' learning motivation and improve the learning effect.

2. Research Design

2.1. Methodological Approach

This study chose a quantitative research design to explore the influence of paternal and maternal parenting on the learning motivation of senior primary school students.

Quantitative analysis aligns itself with the positivist paradigm, employing numerical data and statistical methods to gain insights into communication phenomena. The primary objective of this research is to establish a connection and causality, so ensuring the accuracy and generality of its conclusions. This approach enables a comprehensive understanding of the macro-level aspects of a phenomenon or entity, enhancing its credibility.

2.2. Sampling & Participants

A purposeful sampling strategy will be adopted to select the subjects. In order to be eligible for this study, participants need to be students who are currently studying in the upper grades of primary schools. We selected students from the third grade to the sixth grade in primary school for investigation. This purposeful participant selection aims to ensure the diversity of age, gender, academic performance and family background. We also considered whether the subject was an only child or not. A total of 43 pupils will be recruited to participate in the study. The researcher's goal is to achieve an average distribution of boys and girls among the population in the upper grades of primary school. All participants need to have parental guidance. Participants will be recruited from primary schools in the city to gain a series of experiences.

2.3. Data Sources/Data Collection (Procedures)

The data will be conducted separately with each participant through a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire survey approach is distinguished by its simplicity, operational ease, time and cost effectiveness, and notable efficiency. This is due to the structured nature of the questionnaire survey, which entails fixed expression forms, question order, and response methods. Consequently, the results obtained from such surveys are easily quantifiable, facilitating convenient statistical processing and analysis. Furthermore, the questionnaire survey method is not restricted by the number of participants or the geographical scope, allowing for large-scale surveys to be conducted.

2.4. Data Analysis

The practice of characterizing or summarizing a set of data using statistical techniques is known as descriptive analysis, which is also known as descriptive analytics or descriptive statistics. Descriptive analysis, one of the main types of data analysis, is popular because it may draw conclusions from previously unintelligible data. Researchers will be familiarized with the data, create preliminary codes, look for themes, refine their results, and then identify and name the subjects that they find. To maintain objectivity and minimize variation, the analysis will be carried out independently by two researchers. It will also be regularly discussed to reach an agreement. This questionnaire investigates students' basic information, parents' participation in students' learning, and students' attitude and motivation to learn, so as to explore the differences between paternal parenting and maternal parenting in influencing students' learning motivation. Paternal parenting and maternal parenting will be determined by students' independent judgment and researchers' judgment respectively.

3. Result

3.1. Descriptive Statistics

In terms of parenting status, 20 students judged paternal parenting and 18 students judged maternal parenting, which was basically consistent with the results judged by researchers. From the children's self-judgment of paternal parenting and maternal parenting, there are 20 children with paternal parenting, 18 children with maternal parenting. The results judged by researchers are basically consistent with those judged by children. The statistical results show that the direction of paternal parenting is more inclined to mathematics, while that of maternal parenting is more inclined to Chinese and English. This is related to the stereotype that men are good at rational thinking and women are good at perceptual thinking. The statistical results show that the counseling time of paternal parenting and maternal parenting is almost the same, and most of them are less than one hour, which are 71.05% and 63.16% respectively, and they also show great help to children, and the proportion is greater than 55%. There are also five students who have never received family counseling, so they are not included in the observation range. In all samples, there are 25 boys and 18 girls. Among them, there are 22 only children and 21 non-only children.

3.2. Analyses of Relations between Learning Motivation and Paternal Parenting and Maternal Parenting

We classify students into four groups, namely, boys raised by paternal line, girls raised by paternal line, boys raised by maternal line and girls raised by maternal line. We observe the performance of these four groups respectively. Table 1 and Table 2 show the Comparison between different parental rearing patterns. In Table 1, like our previous stereotypes, paternal parenting is often more strict with children, and even ignores their learning situation. However, most of the matriarchal parents give priority to education, and a few take a critical approach. To sum up, we can see that paternal parenting usually adopts behaviorism and cognitivism, while maternal parenting usually adopts cognitivism and constructivism, and the way to treat children is more gentle.

Table 1: Comparison between different parental rearing patterns 1

In Table 2, paternal parenting pays more attention to children's learning through test scores, while maternal parenting pays more attention to children's usual homework to know whether they work hard or not. As expected, maternal parenting will reward children more often than paternal parenting. This reflects the gentleness of maternal parenting and the directness of paternal parenting.

Table 2: Comparison between different parental rearing patterns 2

Table 3 and Table 4 show the Performance of children's learning motivation under different parenting types. In Table 3, four children raised by the paternal line said they didn't like learning, while none of the children raised by the maternal line said they didn't like learning. However, compared with maternal parenting, most children under paternal parenting study hard for their ideals. The data shows that there are 18 children, accounting for 90% of the subjects under paternal parenting. Although most children are willing to study hard for their ideals in maternal parenting, they are not as remarkable as paternal parenting. Similarly, the proportion of paternal parenting who are willing to do homework voluntarily after returning home is higher than that of maternal parenting, up to 80%. The proportion of mothers who need their parents to urge them to write homework and write while playing is higher, both of which are 16.67%.

Table 3: Performance of children's learning motivation under different parenting types 1

In Table 4, In the face of teachers' questions, children with paternal parenting style have higher learning initiative, and will think about the questions themselves and raise their hands to answer them, which is as high as 70%. In this case, the children raised by the mother are more introverted. The results show that the proportion of children with paternal parenting style who get the pleasure of solving problems is 60%, which is higher than that of maternal parenting. However, among the children raised by the maternal line, everyone can feel the joy after solving the problem, which is not found in the children raised by the paternal line.

Table 4: Performance of children's learning motivation under different parenting types 2

3.3. Summary of Results and Effect Sizes

Based on the above experimental results, paternal parenting is more direct and absolute, while maternal parenting is more moderate and relative. Paternal parenting is more inclined to behaviorism and cognitivism, while maternal parenting is more inclined to cognitivism and constructivism. The results show that there is little difference in children's learning motivation under different parenting modes, but the differences are still significant. At the same time, it can also be reflected from the side that direct paternal parenting may be more conducive to the development of children's learning motivation and more effective in influencing children's learning behavior. Gentle maternal parenting may indulge children's laziness, resulting in a decline in learning motivation. However, on the whole, the parenting style with the characteristics of paternal parenting and maternal parenting is the best for children, combining rigidity with softness.

4. Discussion

Based on the aforementioned experimental findings, paternal parenting leans more toward behaviorism and cognitivism, whereas maternal parenting leans more toward cognitivism and constructivism. This is founded on three theories of learning. The notion of operant conditioning and the work of B.F. Skinner are the origins of behaviorism. Theorists of behaviorism believe that knowledge exists independently and independently of humans. They view the learner as a blank slate for whom the experience must be provided. The creation of associations between stimuli and responses, according to behaviorists, is the process through which new behaviors or modifications to existing habits are learned. The mental process that underlies behavior serves as the foundation for cognitive processing of information. Instead of simply reacting to stimuli, humans comprehend the information they acquire, according to this theory. Changes in behavior can be seen, but only as a sign of mental changes taking place in the learner. The learner's mind might be compared to a mirror that reflects new information and abilities. Cognitive information processing is used when a learner actively tries to understand, process, and relate new knowledge to what has previously been stored in memory. Learning theories are said to have been conceptualized by Jean Piaget. The foundation of constructivism is the idea that each of us may create our own worldview based on our unique experiences and internal knowledge. Learning is based on how someone understands and gives meaning to their experiences. Learning is individual and diverse for each person since each person has a different set of experiences and perspectives. The results show that there is little difference in children's learning motivation under different parenting styles, but the difference is still significant. At the same time, it can also be reflected from the side that direct paternal parenting may be more conducive to the development of children's learning motivation and more effectively affect children's learning behavior. Gentle maternal parenting may condone children's laziness and lead to a decline in learning motivation.

In actuality, how parents raise their children has some bearing on how motivated they are to learn. The ecosystem theory states that children's development happens as a result of their complex interactions with their surroundings [6]. Children's environment includes micro-system (such as family, school and neighborhood), intermediary system (such as family-school interaction, such as parents' participation in school), more direct social background of external system (such as parents' workplace) and indirect influence of macro-system, including cultural values, customs and laws. Traditional Chinese culture is deeply founded in Confucianism and places a premium on social hierarchy. Academic achievement is viewed as the primary path to upward mobility and is closely related to professional success [12]. Furthermore, the division of gender roles and gender socialization in Chinese families causes parents to interact differently with boys and girls and perform different roles in the family. In China, for instance, parents incline to support girls more than boys. This occurrence has been passed down from generation to generation, as the Chinese adage "Be strict with boys and care for girls" indicates. The involvement of parents in their children's education (e.g., communicating with instructors and volunteering) constitutes a component of the intermediary structure connecting the family and the school system.

Likewise, when considering the transactional nature of the parent-child connection, it is evident that parents and their children both play active roles as participants. It is common for parents to employ distinct parenting approaches when raising sons and daughters. For instance, research conducted by Lamby and Lindbergh and Mascaro et al. [13] suggests that parents tend to exhibit greater warmth and empathy towards their daughters compared to their boys. Additionally, these studies indicate that parents find it comparatively simpler to accurately perceive and understand their daughters' emotional experiences as opposed to those of their sons.

Unfortunately, this study did not examine the interaction between children's gender and parents. Just like the stereotype that boys are preferred to girls in China traditional culture, the gender of children will definitely play a role in the differences in parental rearing patterns. The other is that the complexity of children's families (such as single-parent families, etc.) is not taken into account, and the lack of father's role may affect children's learning motivation. In the future research, if there is an opportunity, we will include the gender factors of children and the complex factors of families in the variable range, so as to strive for the accuracy of the results.

5. Conclusion

This study examines the impact of paternal and maternal parenting styles on children's drive to learn, utilizing a questionnaire survey as the primary research method. The findings indicate that distinct parenting methods exhibited by fathers and mothers yield varying impacts on the enhancement of children's motivation to learn. The paternal parenting style is characterized by simplicity and directness, and it exerts a notable influence on children's willingness to learn. Conversely, children who experience female parenting tend to exhibit a greater degree of optimism. The cause of this outcome has been suggested to be intricately connected to the theoretical frameworks of behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.

The findings suggest that the level of children's motivation to learn within the context of family education is significantly impacted by the degree of consistency in educational expectations set by paternal parenting. This implies that it is important for parents to maintain a stable and unwavering set of requirements for their children, avoiding fluctuations between leniency and strictness, as well as refraining from altering these expectations based on their own emotional states. The integration of nurturing and compassionate mother parenting with the establishment of educational consistency in paternal parenting has the potential to positively impact children's motivation for learning.

In subsequent studies, it is advisable to consider the interplay between children's gender and parental parenting and to undertake a longitudinal study to enhance our understanding of the impact of father and maternal parenting on children's drive to learn across several domains.