Children's Expectations of the Outcomes of Social Strategies: Relations with Sociometric Status and Maternal Disciplinary Styles

Keywords

children in social settings, sociometric status, maternal disciplinary styles

Abstract

To explore relations between maternal disciplinary styles, children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies, and children's peer status, 144 mothers and their first‐ (N= 59) and fourth‐ (N= 85) grade children (ages = 70–86 months and 116–129 months, respectively) participated in home interviews prior to the beginning of the school year. Measures of children's sociometric status were obtained in classrooms after the school year began. Results indicated that children of mothers who were more power assertive in their disciplinary styles tended to be less accepted by peers and tended to expect successful outcomes for unfriendly‐assertive methods for resolving peer conflict (e.g., threatening to hit another child). In addition, children who expected unfriendly‐assertive strategies to lead to self‐oriented gains were less accepted by peers. Moreover, maternal disciplinary styles and outcome expectations for unfriendly‐assertive strategies were found to make separate and independent contributions to peer status.

Original Publication Citation

Children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies: Relations with sociometric status and maternal disciplinary styles. Child Development, 61, 127-137.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1990-2

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5448

Publisher

Child Development

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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