Being studied the relationship between primary school 8th grade students? levels of assertiveness and family functions in terms of socio-demographic variables.

Thıs research has been conducted to examine the relationship between primary school 8th grade students? levels of assertiveness and a)-family function b)-socio-demographic variables. In the research seven sub-family functions (problem-solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, behaviour control and general functions) of the sample group formed by 8th grade students have been examined with The Family Assessment Scale; Rathus Assertiveness Inventory has been used to measure the levels of assertıveness. The Personal Informatıon form has been used for socio-demographic variables. According to family assessment functions and social demographic variables, the students? levels of assertiveness have been studied whether significantly differentiate (p< .05/p< .01) or not. Socio-demographic variables are gender, number of siblings, birth order, self-confıdence and lack of self-confidence, parent education level, and family income level. The sample group of the research has been formed by the 8th grade students that are continuing to study during the academic year 2010-2011 at primary school in Torbalı, the town of İzmir. In the sample group there are 195 female students and 236 male students from lower, middle and upper classes of the society. Totally 431 students form the sample group.As a result, the level of assertiveness doesn?t change according to the gender. In terms of roles, affective involvement and behaviour control (family functions), male students have higher average scores (unhealty) than female students. Generally the students who have got two siblings have lower scores (healty) than the other number of siblings group (1,3,4,6) in addition, in terms of communication, affective responsiveness and general functions, the students in the birth order of two have signifıcant low level points (healty) according to those in the birth order of three (p<.05) besides, in the self-confidence level (p<.05) the students that are always self-confident have lower scores (healty) and in the levels of assertıveness they have higher scores (healty) than those are sometimes self-confident. Moreover, the students whose mothers have low level of education tend to get significantly higher scores (unhealty) than their mothers at the high level of educatıon in the related family assessment areas. While in the communication (one of the sub-family functions) the students whose fathers are high school graduated have considerably lower scores (healty), in the general functions their fathers who are primary school graduated have substantially lower scores (unhealty). According to all family functions the students in the lower socıo-economic level have worse family relationships than those in the middle and upper socio-economic levels. In terms of assertiveness, the students in the lower socio-economic level have been found to get significantly lower average scores (unhealty) than those in the middle and upper socio-economic levels. In terms of the relationship between the family function and assertiveness, the overall high scores (unhealty) in the communication, roles and general functions (sub-family functions) have been found to cause a decrease in the 8th grade students? levels of assertiveness.Key Words: Assertiveness, Family Functions, Elementary Students, Socio-Demographic.