Children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies: Relationships to sociometric status and parental disciplinary styles

Craig Harold Hart, Purdue University

Abstract

The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine (a) relationships between maternal disciplinary styles and children's consequential thinking skills and (b) possible subsequent relationships between consequential thinking skills and children's peer status. One hundred forty-four mothers were interviewed in their homes concerning the disciplinary strategies that they use. Kindergarten and third-grade children of these mothers were also interviewed over the summer to assess their outcome expectations for social strategies that could be employed in hypothetical social conflict situations. Sociometric testing was then conducted in the fall after children entered first-grade and fourth-grade to assess their peer status. In general, results indicated that mothers who were more power-assertive in their disciplinary styles had first-grade and fourth-grade children who tended to expect to get their way when using more hostile means of resolving peer conflict (e.g., threatening to hit another child). In addition, first-grade children who expected more hostile strategies to lead to self-oriented gains had tendencies to be rejected by their peers. In contrast, mothers who were more inductive had fourth-grade children who perceived more hostile means of resolving peer conflict as less relationship enhancing. Fourth-grade children of more inductive mothers also tended to focus more on ways in which passively hostile means of resolving peer conflict (e.g., giving a mean look) would impact upon relationships with others rather than on ways that such strategies would benefit more self-oriented concerns. These older children who had relationship oriented expectations for more passively hostile approaches to resolving peer conflict were also less rejected by their peers. Inductive disciplinary styles were also positively related to peer status. Additional findings indicated that more popular children perceived more friendly approaches to resolving peer conflict as relationship enhancing and as leading to self-oriented gains when accompanied by assertive means. The findings are discussed in terms of how parental disciplinary styles may exert an indirect influence on peer status as mediated by children's outcome expectations.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Ladd, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Developmental psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology

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