Relation of Parental Attitudes toward Child Rearing and Patterns of Social Behavior in Middle Childhood

Abstract

76 Ss who spent 4 wk. in a private camp setting were ranked by peers and participant observers on a variety of social behavior characteristics, leadership, conformity, anxiety, aggression, etc. Parents of the 76 children completed Hereford's 75-item, 5-scale parental attitude form. Scores for mothers, fathers, and agreement scores between each set of parents were correlated with children's social behavior as assessed in the camp setting. Leadership was significantly related to parental agreement on the child trust scale, the degree to which the parents agreed on their perception of the child as an autonomous individual. While other correlations approached significance, no important patterns of relationships emerged.