Q MSU RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from LIBRARIES . “ your record. FINES mH be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. M-zflsm “3 0 O 2 C m (3.; WM V. Q7" 1 a a ‘AHC 2 2 F??? ' - I 91:5 t- .~‘ -." ‘V" '6 :-- 'v.‘ a. ,‘ 9!...‘(4 . f F ," ' a f'- ‘ a‘ PARENTING BELIEFS OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS: AN ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENCES IN FAMILIES FROM TWO CULTURES By Bruce E. Haas A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCI‘ OR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Family and Child Ecology 1988 ABSTRACT PARENTING BELIEFS OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS: AN ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENCES IN FAMILIES FROM TWO CULTURES By Bruce E. Has The study was designed to assess differences between mothers' and fathers' parenting beliefs. A Q-Sort methodology was used to assess parenting beliefs of 59 American mothers and fathers and 32 Brazilian mothers and fathers of first born three year old children. Differences between mothers and fathers were found in two parent- child transactional areas: physical play and affection. Mothers were more likely than fathers to rank affection items higher, while fathers were more likely than mothers to rank physical play higher. Differences in these transactional areas were found to be in degrees of emphasis rather than priorities, where both mothers and fathers ranked affection higher than other areas of parent-child transactions. Cultural differences were also found, where American parents were more likely than Brazilian parents to emphasize affection, verbalization, and physical play. On the other hand, Brazilian parents were more likely than American parents to emphasize physical health, hygiene, and social behavior. Additional investigation using a regional data set of 275 American mothers and fathers found similar mother and father differences. Dedication To Meg, who inspired me to finish this and get on with my life. Acknowledgements Many individuals have meaningfully contributed to the educational process of my doctoral program as well as this dissertation. Dr. Robert Boger, chairperson of my guidance committee and mentor, has provided support, encouragement, and recognition of my professional growth efforts throughout my program. Dr. Donald Melcer has also served as a mentor to me as well as has given a great deal of energy, time, and patience in helping me to develop my professional skills. I am grateful to Dr. Lillian Phenice for her time and feedback as well as her teachings that again has contributed to my professional growth. I would like to extend my appreciation to Dr. LeeAnne Roman for editing this work and being a close friend during this process. I would also like to extend my appreciation to those who work at the Institute for Family and Child Study for their support and encouragement throughout my program. I am grateful to Maria Ines Gasparetto Higuchi for her help in obtaining Brazilian data and her work in the area of parenting beliefs. I am also grateful to the parents who were involved in this project who gave a great deal of time and energy. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the Department of Family and Child Ecology, especially Dr. Robert Griffore and Dr. Dennis Keefe, who assisted me through fellowships that enabled me to complete my program. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . v LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . 1 Background of the Study . . 1 NC- 158 Regional Research Project . 4 Statement of the Problem 5 Description of Mothers' and Fathers' Perceptions Parenting Activities 6 Research Questions 6 Need for Study 7 Conceptual and Operational Definitions 8 Theoretical Framework . . . . .11 Assumptions 15 11. REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . 1 7 Historical Context of Parenting . . . 18 Perceptions of Parenting . . 21 Dimensions Influencing Parenting Behavior . 27 Q- Sort Methodology . . . . . 29 III. METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . 3 2 Design of the Study . . . . . 32 Variables and Measures . . . . 33 Research Hypotheses . . . . . 36 Data Analysis . . . . . . 39 iii The Sample Procedure . IV. RESULTS . Description of Important Beliefs Comparing Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs About Physical Play, Verbalization, and Affection Comparing Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs on all 72 Q-Sort items . Mother-father Discrepancy . V. DISCUSSION Research Question Research Question Research Question Research Question Summary . #WN" VI. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Conclusions . Limitations of the Study Implications and Suggestions for Future Research APPENDIXA NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors APPENDIXB Background-Demographic-Information . BIBLIOGRAPHY iv 45 52 55 56 95 97 100 100 102 104 107 107 114 114 118 118 121 121 125 125 128 TABLE 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 LIST OF TABLES Sample Characteristics of Michigan Mothers Sample Characteristics of Michigan Fathers Sample Characteristics of Brazilian Mothers and Fathers Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Mothers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Fathers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Mothers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Fathers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Mothers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Fathers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Mothers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Fathers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" 48 49 51 57 59 61 62 64 65 66 68 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Physical Play By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment . . . . Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Verbalization By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Affection By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment . . . Group Means and Standard Deviations for Michigan and Brazilian Mothers' and Fathers' for Three Transactional Areas of Development . Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Physical Play By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment . . . Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Verbalization By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment . . . Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Affection By Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment . . . vi 70 72 74 75 78 79 80 4.16 4.17 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 Group Means and Standard Deviations for Regional Mothers' and Fathers' for Three Transactional Areas of Development . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data vii 81 84 85 86 87 89 90 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Multiple Regressions Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data . Results of Pearson Correlations Relating Sex of Parent to Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors: Items Mothers Indicated ”More like me" for Cross-cultural Data viii 92 92 93 93 94 94 96 4.30 Results of Pearson Correlations Relating Sex of Parent to Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors: Items Fathers Indicated "More like me" for Cross-cultural Data LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1 Integration of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model and Variables in the Study 3.1 Methods Used in the Descriptive Analysis 3.2 Overview of Comparative Analysis 3.3 Overview of Exploratory Analysis . 3.4 Data Sets Used in the Study . 4.1 Cross-cultural Mothers' and Fathers' Group Means for Three Transactional Areas of Development 4.2 NC-158 Mothers' and Fathers' Group Means for Three Transactional Areas of Development 5.1 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Questions 1 & 2 5.2 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Question 3 5.3 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Question 4 ix 97 14 41 42 44 46 76 82 108 109 111 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ”Background of the Study Studies have shown that varying styles of parenting behavior can potentially affect long term parent-child relationships (Baumrind, 1980; Hartup, 1978; Stern, 1977). A few studies have also indicated that parenting beliefs are related to parent-child transactions (McGillicudy-DeLisi, 1985; Johnson & Martin, 1985; Luster, Rhoades, and Haas, 1988). A limited number of studies have collected information regarding mathers' ‘ and fathers' perceptions of their parenting behaviors (Higuchi, 1987). Many of the studies that focused on parenting perceptions have consisted of small samples and are limited by traditional assessment tools. In general, the problem is lack of knowledge about parenting beliefs and the relationship between parents' perceptions of their parenting behavior and the actual transaction. Knowledge of parenting beliefs and differences between mothers and fathers parenting beliefs would be useful information for educators and mental health professionals working with parents and families. Additionally, it is important to understand how ecological dimensions, such, as education , sex of parent, and cultural background may relate to perceptions of parenting behaviors. Knowledge about parents' perceptions of their parenting behaviors 2 can assist professionals to better understand parents they are serving as well as improve decisions concerning the development of programs for supporting and educating parents. The study of parenting perceptions of beliefs and behavior is a comparatively new area of research. This is evident by the lack of empirical research in this particular area of parenting concern. Research to date has focused mainly on observing the parent's behavior when he/she interacts with his/her child in a particular setting, while little attention has been given to parents' perceptions of their parenting behaviors and the relationship between beliefs and behaviors (Lawton and Coleman, 1983; LeMasters, 1976). In addition, few parenting studies have collected information on both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behaviors. Finally, research has not focused on the child rearing environment and the relationship between location/culture and parenting beliefs. Specifically, little is known about parent's perceptions of their parent-child transactions. Most of the knowledge about parent-child transactions comes from observational studies. Several research studies have observed mothers and fathers interacting with their children and found that sex of the parent significantly relates to the parent's style of interaction with their child (Lamb, 1977; Parke and Sawin, 1977; Yogman, 1981). A study by Parke and Sawin (1977) indicated that both mothers and fathers contribute significantly to their children's social and intellectual growth in ways that are uniquely different from each other. It did not examine the beliefs of 3 the parents about parenting nor did it examine other dimensions besides sex of parent that may influence a parent's behavior. A cross-cultural study by Lamb and his colleagues (Lamb, Frodi, Frodi, & Hwang, 1982) found similar results from observing Swedish mothers and fathers. In addition, the study indicated fathers who were the primary caregiver tended to have a style of interaction more like mother's style of interaction. The study also indicated a relationship between a parent's style of interaction and his/her social context. Pollack and Grossman (1985) in discussing this work state that although this cross-cultural study may raise more questions than it answers, the findings begin to address whether or not the differential parenting styles of mothers and fathers are a culturally bound phenomena or the manifestation and expression of deeply rooted, genetic gender differences. This study by Lamb and his colleagues indicate the need for more information about a parent's style of interaction and the possible factors that may affect it. As in the case of Parke and Sawin's work, Lamb's study did not address parenting beliefs, but the study did indicate that other dimensions besides sex of parent, can influence how a parent interacts with his/her child. Parke (1979) discusses in his paper, "Perspectives on father- infant interaction", the need for multiple methodological strategies to better understand parent—child interaction and the social contexts in which the interactions take place. Parke took the position that multiple assessment strategies including observation of parent-child interaction along with the collection of data on parenting perceptions 4 and attitudes would be necessary for the better understanding parenting interaction styles. In summary, little is known about parent's' perceptions of parenting behavior and the ecological dimensions that relate to such parenting perceptions. Mother and father differences have been found in the observational studies, but studies focusing on parents' perceptions of parenting have been few and generally limited to mothers only. The challenge is to not only learn more about mothers' and fathers' perceptions regarding parenting in an ecologically sensitive manner, but also develop creative mechanisms for assessing mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their parenting behavior. NC-158 Regional Research Project The following study is part of a larger study, North Central Regional Project 158, that examined beliefs of actual and ideal child rearing practices. The NC-158 project, titled "A study of Parenting Beliefs about Parenting in Rural and Urban Populations" (Lawton, Coleman,Boger, Galejs, Pease, Poresky, and Looney, 1983), selected a Q-Sort methodology to assess parents' perceptions of their parenting behavior. The project developed its own instrument entitled "NC- 158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors" consisting of 72 Q-Sort items to assess parenting beliefs. This Michigan component of the study was under the direction of Robert Boger at the Institute for Family and Child Study, Michigan 5 State University. The first year Michigan data set of mothers and fathers of firstborn three-year-olds from the NC-158 project was utilized in conjunction with a Brazilian data set (Higuchi, 1987) to address the research problem. Both of the data sets were compiled through the Institute for Family and Child Study, Michigan State University. Statement of the Problem This study was designed to investigate differences in perceptions of parenting behavior of mothers and fathers of firstborn three-year-old children from two cultures. This study compares Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers perceptions of actual and ideal parenting and examines the relationship between sex of parent and perceptions regarding three areas of parent-child transactions (physical play, verbalization, and affection). Other ecological variables, including local and cultural environment, age of the child and parent, sex of the child, as well as education and occupation of the parent are also examined. In addition to comparing mother and father differences, the study assesses intrafamily disagreement regarding parenting approach and the relationship between mother- father discrepancy and other family ecological variables is explored. Description of Mothers' and Fathers' Perceptions of Parenting Activities As a foundation for the research questions comparing mothers and fathers perceptions of beliefs of parenting function, a description of their rank ordering of the Q-Sort items identified as "most like me" and "least like me" is provided. The top 25% of the Q-Sort items identified as "most like me" and the bottom 25% identified as "least like me" are listed in rank order for Brazilian and Michigan mothers and fathers (Chapter IV). These data are provided as a descriptive base to enable better understanding of the research questions that follow. Research Questions Research Question 1 Do mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? Research Question 2 Do mothers and fathers from Michigan and mothers and fathers from Brazil differ in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? Research Question 3 Are there differences in the strengths of the independent dimensions of sex of parent, age and education of parent, family environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in parents' actual and ideal perceptions of parenting behavior regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? 7 Research Question 4 Are there differences in the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, family environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mothers' and fathers' discrepancy in the area of physical play, verbalization, and affection? Need for the Study Examining the relationship between parenting behavior and parenting beliefs as well as studying important ecological dimensions influencing parenting beliefs will assist educators, health professionals, and researchers to better understand parent-child transactions. Further analysis of the NC-158 data will provide baseline information about parents' perceptions that can assist professionals in planning parenting programs and serving parents. The cross-cultural nature of this work will aid in assessing the relationship between cultural environment and perceptions of parenting beliefs. Assessment of the cross-cultural differences will enhance the understanding of dimensions that relate to perceptions of parenting behavior. Finally, the findings of this research will assist professionals in expanding theories regarding the relationship between parenting perceptions and behavior as well as the relationships between the ecological dimensions assessed in this study and parenting perceptions. Conceptual and Operational Definitions The following section describes the conceptual and operational terms used throughout the study. P r n 'n ' f R 'n r n ' Wm; A parent's perception of how he/she behaves as a parent. Qperntignnl Definition; An ipsative score for each of the 72 Q- Sort items (see Appendix 1.) from the NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors (Lawton, Coleman, Boger, Galejs, Pease, Poresky, and Looney, 1983). Scores ranged from one to nine: "most like me" to "least like me". Three item clusters were created to reflect three areas of parent/child transactions (physical play, verbalization, and affection). P ni B if R in I r nin angentnal Definitign; A parent's perceptions. of how he/she believes the ideal parent would behave. Qneratignnl Definitign; An ipsative score for each of the 72 ideal Q-Sort items from the NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors. Three item clusters were created to reflect three areas of parent/child transactions (physical play, verbalization, and affection). 9 i 1i f ' 1i i vi Cnnggmnnl Qefinitign; A parent's perception of his/her verbal interaction with his/her child. Qnerntignal Definitinn; A cluster score that is created by clustering the responses to the following eight Q-Sort items: P7 I talk with my child about his/her body. 121 I talk with my child about TV programs we watch together. 125 I talk with my child about what happened during the day. 126 I encourage my child to ask questions. 131 I talk to my child about how things look or how things happen. I34 I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. I35 I listen when my child tells me stories. E60 I talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. i f r in A i B h v' angeptnnl Definitjgn; A parent's perception of his/her behavior of giving affection to his/her child. ngmtinna! Definitinn; A cluster score created by clustering the following four Q-Sort items: E62 I show my child some sort of physical affection daily (kissing, hugging, etc.) E63 I encourage my child to be affectionate. E64 I often praise my child. E72 I comfort my child when he or she cries at night. 10 P vi W3. A parent's perception of his/her behavior of physically playing with his/her child. W A cluster score created by clustering the following two Q-Sort items: P9 I get involved with my child in physically active play. P16 I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. W The degree of disagreement or difference between a mother's and father's belief about a particular parenting practice. Qperatignnl Definitign; Mother-father discrepancy is created by taking the absolute difference between mother's Q-Sort score and father's Q-Sort score on each Q-Sort item. Olson and his colleagues (1983) used this procedure to assess differences between a husband's and wife's perceptions within a family. Item clusters for the three transactional areas were created by clustering the mother- father discrepancy scores for each area of interest. 11 E . E! . Wm The amount of formal education acquired by parent. Qpemtignnl Definingn; The number of years of formal education reported by each parent. Wm W The rural/urban environment in which the child is being raised. Wm Rural and Urban environments are coded according to residence of the family. Families were considered rural if they lived more than 25-mile radius of a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (Census of Population, Bureau of the Census, U. S. Department of Commerce Publication, 1970). gnltnnnl Envirgnment ancentnnl Dgfinitign ; The cultural environment in which the child is raised. W; This study is limited to American and Brazilian cultures. Theoretical Framework A human ecological framework was used to develop a model for describing relationships between perceptions of mothers' and fathers' behaviors and ecological factors. A human ecological 12 framework assumes interrelationships between humans and their environments. In this study, perceptions of mothers and fathers behaviors (actual and ideal) are assumed to be related to ecological variables that include local and cultural environments, occupation of parent, education of parent, age of child and parent, and sex of child and parent. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model of human development was the specific model used in this study. Bronfenbrenner proposed that human development is profoundly related to factors within the ecological environment. The ecological environment consists of layers of settings or systems that move far beyond the immediate setting of the individual and family unit. The environments consist of the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and the macrosystem. Each level of the Bronfenbrenner model consists of settings and characteristics unique to each system. The microsystem is defined as the immediate setting in which the parent-child transactions take place and include contextual variables that impact on the situation. The focus of this study is on perceptions of parent-child transaction that occur within the microsystem as well as the parent's perceptions of ideal parenting. Contextual variables representing the microsystem for this study that focuses on the parent-child dyad consists of age and sex of the child and parent. Although age of the child is constant, it is necessary to know that the sample consists of parents with three-year-old children in order to understand and - interpret the results of this study. The mesosystem is defined as the 13 interaction of systems outside of the microsystem in which family members interact. For the purpose of this study, work and education are considered factors representing the mesosystem. Type of occupation and years of education are outside systems that are separate from the microsystem and can potentially influence how a parent interacts with his/her child. The exosystem consists of systems with which parents and children do not have direct contact, but which potentially can affect their world. The beliefs of a community or local political systems are examples of exosystems. This study examines local environments by assessing parents from rural and urban environments. The ideology of a country or cultural influences are aspects of the final level, macrosystems. This study focuses on US. (Michigan) and Brazilian parents for the purpose of assessing the relationship between cultural environment and parent's perceptions of their parenting behaviors. Figure 1.1 show the integration of the Bronfenbrenner's ecological model with the variables with this study. Focusing more on the individual parent level, Paolucci, Hall, and Axin (1977) state, "how individuals react to a situation is the result of the way they perceive that situation and also results from their particular behavioral dispositions at a point in time." Paolucci and her colleagues believe that perceptions and values play a major role in decision making processes. For the purpose of this study, parenting perceptions are conceptualized as influencing parenting behaviors through decision making processes. n .5". area. mu 3' Fe P 14 Transaction Discrepancy and parent) 4—p Ideal M101203verM ie. parent/child dyad (age and sex of child MESOSYSTEM Actual <—> Actual Mother's Perception Ideal \\\\\\“" II \\\\\\\\\\\ \\ \.\. \ .\ \ \\ MACROSYSTEM ie. cultural environment (U.S./Brazi|) Figure 1.1 Integration of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model and Variables in the Study 15 In order to conceptualize mothers' and fathers' beliefs regarding parenting from a family perspective, Chaffee and McLeod's (1978) coorientation model was used. Coorientation in this model refers to the degree that mothers and fathers are discrepant in their parenting perceptions. Each parent's perception of how he/she believes he/she actually behaves while interacting with his/her child constitutes the first level of perceptions. The second level consists of mother's and father's perceptions of how he/she believes the ideal parent would behave. Disagreement or mother/father discrepancy consists of the difference between mother's and father's perceptions. The model indicates that both actual and ideal sets of beliefs can be utilized to determine two distinct discrepancy scores within a given family on any particular parenting practice. The study proposes to use the actual, ideal, and mother/father discrepancy scores to test the relationship between the ecological variables and perceptions of parent/child transactions as well as the relational dimension of mother/father discrepancy. Assumptions The following assumptions have been identified: 1) The mothers' and fathers' reported perceptions of parenting behaviors reflect the actual parenting behaviors of the parent making the report. 2) 3) 16 The Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers included in the study sample are representative of parents from their respective cultures. Parent's perceptions influence parenting behaviors through decision making processes. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE The literature important to this study is reviewed under the following general headings: historical context of parenting, perceptions of parenting, dimensions influencing parenting behavior, and Q-Sort methodology. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the assessment of factors that may influence parent-child relations (Belsky, 1984, Miller, 1988). One of the areas of research receiving renewed interest is the study of parenting perceptions and how they relate to parenting behaviors. The assumption is that parenting beliefs are related to and predictive of parent-child transactions. To date, too little is known about parental perceptions of parenting (Higuchi, 1986). Studies comparing mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behaviors and the degree of agreement between mothers and fathers beliefs are also limited (Halverson, 1986). Many of the studies of parenting beliefs have focused on parents' perceptions of their child's physical characteristics and their knowledge about child development, but few have examined parents' perceptions of their own predispositions to interact with their child or children (Lawton & Coleman, 1983). The following historical review sheds some light on the changes in parenting that have occurred over the centuries. Aries (1962) and Hunt (1970) contend that historical context is important because it influences the nature and quality of parent/child transactions. 17 18 Historical information also supports the notion that parenting behaviors are related to parenting beliefs as well as social beliefs. Historical Context of Parenting It is currently accepted that one of the most significant relations between humans is that between parent and child (Bigner, 1985). Literature indicates that historically this belief was not always accepted. Bossard and Boll (1966) report western cultural attitudes toward infants and children were considerably different in early cultures than what is prevalent today. Childhood usually ended between the ages of five and seven. Individuals assumed adult status at this time along with the associated responsibilities and expected behaviors. Child sacrifices were allowed in these cultures, where on the authority of the father, an infant/child who was deformed, seemed weak, or was of an undesired sex could be disposed of by being exposed to the elements, thrown into rivers, or suffocated. According to Bigner (1985) parents from western cultures during the middle ages were indifferent of children's special needs. Children were treated as miniature adults and childhood was left at a young age in order to join the adults in the working force. What most concerned the family during this time period was production of food, clothing, and shelter that would ensure the family's survival. During the Renaissance period, parenting changed .little (Greenleaf, 1978). The focus was on the adults, who explored their l9 inner personalities in attempts to discover the nature of their selves. Unfortunately the nature of children was not explored or valued. More recently, the Calvinist approach had a great deal of influence on parenting practices during the nineteenth century (Sunley, 1955). The approach advocated stern discipline and strict moral training. Parents, especially fathers, were expected to provide religious and moral instruction as well as discipline for their children. Children were perceived as being innately evil and parenting behaviors were centered around driving the evil out. Through physical punishment parents would break the child's "will". Another approach that appeared during the nineteenth century was environmentalism, which was based on Locke's premise that children are born with minds like "blank slates" (Greenleaf, 1978). The environmentalists assumed that the experiences that the child goes through during development shaped the personality of the person. This was a drastic departure from the Calvinist approach that viewed children as evil. This approach had its own unusual parenting behaviors. For example, parents were encouraged to plunge their children in cold baths in order to "harden" the children's character. The kindergarten approach also surfaced during the nineteenth century that focused on the nature of early human development (Mann and Peabody, 1963).- This approach advocated early childhood education through nursery schools and kindergartens. The approach held that children were not bent to be wrong, but lacked knowledge and skills that could be provided. Obedience was valued, but it was perceived that obedience could be obtained through 20 firmness, persuasion, and reward rather than physical punishment. Bigner (1985) believes this approach can be considered the first type of developmental attitude toward children in modern times because it emphasized the presence of developmental needs of children, the emerging personalities of children, which parents helped to shape, and the effects that resulted from neglect and harsh punishment as well as from gentle care and nurturance. ' Parenting in the twentieth century built upon early developmental theories, but has changed a great deal since the nineteenth century. In general, parents today appear to be more sensitive to their child's needs and are more likely to nurture their child than parents in the past (Billage, 1982). Parents in general are more aware of the research that has produced clear evidence that nurturance from parents relates significantly to the child's development (Bell and Ainsworth, 1972; Ainsworth 1973; Klaus and Kennel, 1976). Through the media and educational institutions, parents are more aware today than in the past of child development and the importance of parent-child relations. Although the amount of information about parenting is greater than ever before, Boger and his colleagues (Boger, Blom, and Lezotte, 1984) argue that information is not enough and that decisions benefiting children need to come from all levels of society, from individual parents to the federal government. Boger continues by stating that hopes for narrowing the gap between what we believe and what we do in nurturing our children need to be based on changes in attitudes about the importance of child nurturance and the benefits of more effective social support for beginning parents 21 (Boger & Smith, 1986). One example of professionals trying to utilize new information is through parent education programs that help to facilitate parents as educators. According to Boger and his colleagues (Boger, Richter, & Paolucci, 1986), research in this area has indicated parents as educators can benefit the child as well as the parents. Boger states that the most appropriate educational programs grow as a partnership between culturally sensitive professionals and parent determined values, beliefs, and attitudes. For professionals to make culturally sensitive decisions, more information is needed about parents' beliefs and the factors from the ecosystem that influence them. In summary, parenting beliefs and behaviors have changed over the centuries. Beliefs about the nature of children have influenced parenting behaviors in the past as well as the present. Professionals that serve parents need more information about parents' beliefs regarding parenting and the ecological dimensions that influence them in order to plan better parenting programs. Perceptions of Parenting Bronfenbrenner (1979) proposes that the relationship between parents and their children is complex and appears to be influenced by a multitude of dimensions from the ecosystem. Bronfenbrenner also contends that what the parent perceives is as important as the "objective reality" in which the parent lives. It is equally important to understand the dimensions that influence parents' perceptions and behaviors. Research has indicated that 22 some of the possible dimensions influencing parenting perceptions range from physical and demographic characteristics of family members to large social systems and environments in which the family members are embedded. This chapter reviews the literature concerning parenting beliefs and the ecological dimensions that may relate to parenting. McGillicudy-DeLisi (1985) found the level of education a parent obtained relates to parenting beliefs patterns and the observed child's cognitive level of representational competence. This study assessed parent's beliefs about child development stages. Higher educated parents were more predisposed to know more about child development and more likely to have children with higher representational competence. The study reported that results of a path analysis indicated that education appears to be mediated through beliefs. McGillicuddy-DeLisi state: The direct effect of parental beliefs on child outcomes suggests that parents' beliefs that knowledge is a result of their own construction may be expressed in ways that are not assessed through the observations of parental distancing strategies used in this study. This finding indicates that parents' cognition about children are important factors, in addition to interaction variables in studies of parental impact on the child. That is, parental beliefs provide information that can be related to the child's development in a manner that includes the history of the parent-child relationship and 0f parent-child interaction, on the other hand, occur at Specific points in time, in a specific context, and with a child who has reached a particular level of development (p22). This study supported the need for further examination of the relationship between parental beliefs and parenting behaviors as 23 well as the factors influencing these two dimensions of parenting. Johnson and Martin (1985) also found education to be related to parenting beliefs and behaviors. Belief patterns were also found to relate to parents' distancing behavior while interacting with their child. Distancing behaviors are those that are said to energize or channelize thinking processes in young children. The researchers state that distancing required continuing sensitivity to the child's cognitive and motivational state on the part of the parent in order to appropriately challenge the child and encourage the child to think. The study found that higher educated parents were more likely to value distancing, show distancing in their parent-child interactions, and to have children with higher cognitive representational competence. The authors suggest that higher educated parents may be more aware of current trends from child psychology that emphasize the "Piagetian child" and integrate this philosophy into their parenting. The above studies did not compare mothers and fathers. In a study by Luster, Rhoades, and Haas (1988), parental values, parenting beliefs, and parenting behavior were all found to be significantly related. This study found that mothers who valued self—direction were less likely to indicate beliefs of control and discipline and were more likely to score higher on the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment total score (H.O.M.E.). On the other hand, mothers who valued conformity were more likely to indicate beliefs of control and discipline and scored lower on the H.O.M.E.. Education, occupation, and income were found to be negatively related to conformity values, where lower educated 24 mothers were more likely than higher educated mothers to rank conformity higher. The study was limited to mothers. A study by Billage (1982) examined parents' perceptions of their parenting behavior (Billage,l982) using a Q-methodology to examine important beliefs of rural and urban mothers and fathers of three-year-olds. Rural and urban parents' beliefs were compared and found to be similar. The study reported that all parents highly endorsed practices such as praise, affection, expression, and discussion with their children. Billage found that parents de- emphasized the use of threat to maintain control and television watching. Actual and ideal beliefs were found to be similar. The study also reported that parent's perceived that their parenting styles were mainly influenced by the style of their parents and their spouses. Again, the study lacked a comparison of mothers and fathers. A study conducted by Block, Block, and Morrison (1981) utilized a Q-Sort methodology to assess agreement on child-rearing beliefs between mothers and fathers of four-year-olds and the psychological functioning of their child. Child rearing beliefs in this study were operationalized through 91 Q-Sort items that reflected various areas of child rearing values, while psychological functioning was assessed through teacher rankings of 100 Q-Sort items reflecting psychological characteristics of the child. Block and her colleagues report that parental agreement was positively related to the psychological functioning of boys, but was negatively related to the psychological functioning of girls. In comparing mothers‘ and fathers' parenting beliefs, mothers' beliefs of boys and girls were 25 found to be similar, while fathers' parenting beliefs appeared to differentiate according to the sex of the child. Fathers appeared to be more responsible and likely to teach norms and values if the child was a boy. Similar findings were found by Gilbert, Hanson, and Davis (1982). The study, however, was limited to mother-father discrepancy and lacked descriptive information about mothers' and fathers' beliefs regarding parenting. Halverson, Wampler, and Deal (1986) assessed differences between mothers and fathers on attitudes regarding positive parenting, authoritarian control, and child conflict and found parents who had high agreement on child rearing practices were more predisposed to value positive parenting more and controling less than parents who disagreed. In addition, parents who tended to agree on child rearing practices also tended to be more effective parents and to have children that teachers perceived as more competent and outgoing than children of parents who agreed less. The study did not assess parenting beliefs regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection. Rubin, Provenzano, and Luria (1974) found that fathers of infants had more extreme sex-role stereotype beliefs than mothers. Parenting beliefs in this study were assessed through descriptions of the characteristics they believed described their infant. Fathers were found to perceive their daughters as delicate, weak, and inattentative, and sons as more firm, large featured, and coordinated. The study was limited to descriptive beliefs and did not include assessments of perceptions about parenting behaviors. 26 Bartz (1978) investigated the parent's perceptions of the tasks and problems of their child rearing practices. This study found fathers more predisposed than mothers to be involved in tasks of discipline and developing the child's values. In a cross-cultural study, Higuchi .(1987) found strong cultural differences between American and Brazilian parents on parents' perceptions of parenting behavior. This study, which utilized the "NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors", produced evidence that indicated that American parents were more predisposed than Brazilian parents to praise and show affection to their child. On the other hand, Brazilian parents | were more predisposed to provide opportunities for their child to play outdoors and encourage their child to use his/her hands skillfully. The study also indicated that the education of the parent was related to parents' perceptions of parenting behavior. Education was found to correlate with several intellectual and emotional items. Education was positively related to parents valuing affection and intellectual stimulation of their child, while being negatively related to encouraging their child to watch television and using threats to control their child. The study did not compare mothers and fathers. In summary, studies focusing on parents' perceptions regarding parenting have been few. The studies that have been done have mainly focused on parents' beliefs regarding knowledge of child development and characteristics of their children. These studies have found that education, beliefs, and mother/father discrepancy relate to parenting behaviors and child outcomes. Few of the studies have compared differences between mothers' and fathers' 27 perceptions of their own parenting behaviors and described the context in which they differ. Dimensions Influencing Parenting Behavior Several studies have noted differences in parenting styles when observing mothers and fathers interacting with their infants/children (Lamb, 1977; Parke & Sawin, 1977; Yogman, 1981). These studies indicated three main areas of differences between mothers and fathers. Fathers played more with their children than mothers, mothers verbalized more with their children than fathers, and mothers were more affectionate with their children than fathers. The study lacked information about mothers' and fathers' perceptions regarding parenting behaviors. In attempt to replicate these differences cross-culturally, Lamb and his colleagues (Lamb, Frodi, Frodi, & Hwang, 1982) examined mothers and fathers in Sweden and found similar patterns, but also found that there appeared to be a difference between primary and secondary caregiving fathers. Fathers who were the primary . caregivers were found to play less and tended to verbalize more than fathers who were secondary caregivers. The latter point seems to indicate that variables other than sex of the parent can influence parenting styles. In this specific case it appears that social context may very well relate to a father's style of interaction. Again, the study lacked parents' perceptions of their behaviors. Another factor that appears to relate to parenting styles is the age of the parent. Boger and his colleagues (Boger, Richter, Kumetz, 28 & Haas, 1986) observed mothers interacting with their infants and found significant differences between younger mothers (age is less than 23 years) and older mothers (age is greater than 27 years). The older mothers were observed to be more likely to verbalize with their children than younger mothers based upon observations utilizing the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (H.O.M.E.) instrument. In addition, older mothers were found to be more likely to initiate interaction, avoid punishment, and provide appropriate play materials to their children than were their younger counterparts. The study also indicated that social support influenced mother-infant interactions, where mothers who participated in a "Positive Perinatal Program" were more likely to score higher on the H.O.M.E.. These results indicate that the age of the mother as well as social support influence the mother's style of interaction with her child. The study did not observe fathers, but it seems likely that the age of the father could also be a factor in how the father interacts with his child. Additional information is needed to better understand the relationship * between the age of the parent and his/her parenting style. The literature supports the notion that larger social systems influence parent/child transactions. Some cross-cultural studies in parenting have supporting evidence of cultural variations of child rearing practices (Bronfenbrenner, 1970; Durrent, O'Bryant, & Pennebaker, 1975; Field & Pawlby, 1980; Field & Widmayer, 1981; Laosa, 1981; Ainsworth, 1977). For example, Laosa (1981) compared Mexican-American mothers to Anglo-American mothers and found that Anglo-American mothers provided more verbal type of 29 interactions, while Mexican-American mothers provided more nonverbal type of interactions. Kohn (1979) and others (Wright and Wright, 1976; Luster, Rhoades, & Haas, 1988) suggest evidence which indicates that social class is related to parental values and behavior. The next section discusses the development of the Q- methodology that has recently resurfaced as a creative method for assessing parents' perceptions. Q-Sort Methodology Prior to 1980, investigations of parents' beliefs most often employed one of four types of survey instruments: the open-ended format, the fixed alternative, the adjective or behavior checklist, and the rating-scale format (Lawton and Coleman, 1983). The majority of these previous studies used the rating scale format, with a limited range of responses for testing underlying theory concerning parenting beliefs. The limiting range created problems in discriminating and comparing differences between various groups of interest. According to Stephenson (1953) and Block (1978), a Q- methodology can be used to avoid some of the problems associated with the traditional forms of instruments constructed to address parenting beliefs. The Q-Sort procedure forces discrimination among items and produces a continuous distribution (Block, 1978). This is done by having the respondent rank a set of Q-Sort items in a forced choice format that places varying values on the items according to some specified criterion. 30 The set of items constitutes the vocabulary and context for the measurement. The vocabulary will depend on the construct the researcher wishes to measure. Several Q-Sort instruments have examined such dimensions as psychological well-being of adults and children. Each of these measures used a specific set of items specific for their measurement. The NC-158 Regional project developed the "NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors" to assess parents' perceptions of their parenting behavior. The instrument has a vocabulary set of 72 statements of parent-child activities that reflect four general areas of development: physical, intellectual, social, and emotional. If a large number of items are included in the vocabulary set and the sample size is large, the distribution in general will be normally distributed (Block, 1978). Block contends that if the Q- values or scores for an item have a distribution which comports well enough with the requirements of parametric tests, then parametric analysis may be used. When the distribution of Q-values for a given item clearly does not meet the assumption underlying a parametric model, then nonparametric tests should be used. A test of the homogeneity of variance for each item is suggested to test which method of analysis should be used. In studies that include a large set of items in the vocabulary and a large data base, the probability is high that the Q-Sort data can use parametric analyses to compare distributions of various groups such as mothers and fathers, parents of boys and girls, rural and urban parents, and other independent dimensions of interest (Block, 1978). 31 In summary, the Q-methodology consists of a forced choice format that requires a respondent to rank a set of Q-Sort items that make up a specific vocabulary according to some specified criterion. The vocabulary is based on the construct the researcher wishes to measure. The distributions of the Q-Sort items are useful in comparing various groups of interest, such as mothers and fathers. Chapter III METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the design, method, and procedures used to address the research questions. The chapter is divided into six sections: (1) design, (2) variables and measures (3) research hypotheses, (4) data analysis plan, (5) sample, and (6) procedures. Design of the Study A survey-interview design was used in this descriptive cross- cultural study. The data were collected by interviewing Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers of firstborn three-year-old children concerning their perceptions of parenting behavior. To test the hypotheses, parametric tests were used, which included a series of ANOVA's and multiple stepwise regressions. The ANOVA's assessed group differences and interactions, while multiple stepwise regressions assessed strengths of the independent dimensions on perceptions of parenting beliefs. Group mean rankings were included to describe important beliefs of Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers and give contextual information for interpreting the results. The unit of analysis for this particular study included both the individual parent and the parents as a unit (mother and father). Individual scores were used to describe and compare actual and 32 33 ideal parenting beliefs of mothers and fathers, while mother-father discrepancy scores were calculated to describe relationships between demographic variables and mother-father differences in parenting perceptions within a family. Variables and Measures V ri l The primary dependent variables of the study consisted of: (1) parent's beliefs of actual parenting behavior, (2) parent's beliefs of ideal parenting behavior, and (3) mother-father discrepancies regarding beliefs of actual parenting behavior. This study primarily focused on three specific areas of parent/child transactions (physical play, verbalization, and affection). The three areas of transactions were represented by item clusters created from the 72 Q-Sort items. Five professionals within the field of family and child studies rated all 72 Q-Sort items as regards the three constructs of physical play, verbalization, and affection. Those items that had 80% reliability across the five judges were included in the constructs. The exploratory portion of this study moved beyond the three transactional areas and used all 72 Q- Sort items to further assess relationships between perceptions of parenting beliefs and the ecological variables. The study also utilized a computed total mother-father discrepancy score to assess relationships between the ecological variables and disagreement within a family on parenting beliefs. 34 The independent variables consisted of the seven ecological variables. Included in this set were sex of parent and child, age of parent, education of parent, occupation of parent, local environment, and cultural environment. Measures The research instrument utilized by this study was developed by committee members of the North Central Regional NC-158 project and was entitled "NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors". The instrument uses a Q-methodology and consists of 72 statements (Appendix A) that reflect parenting behavior in four general domains of child development: physical, intellectual, social, and emotional. The instrument requires the parent to rank all 72 items in a forced choice format that ranges from one to nine ("most like me" to "least like me"). The parent first ranks all 72 items according to how he/she perceives he/she actually parents and then the parent is asked to sort the items according to how he/she believes the ideal parent would behave. Due to the ipsative nature of the Q-Sort, Block (1978) contends that items that are normally distributed can be used in parametric analysis, while items skewed should be used in nonparametric analsyis. Block also argues that studies using a Q-methodology with a large number of items in the vocabulary and a large data set, will more likely have items that are normally distributed. Construct validity of the Q-Sort instrument was assessed using experts in the field of child development and family studies at the time of development of the instrument. Experts were asked to select 35 from a pool of items best representing four developmental domains (physical, intellectual, social, and emotional) considered important in the general development of the young child. Only those items that had high agreement among the experts were included in the final 72 items. Cross-validity is presently being assessed by comparing the NC-158 Q-Sort to the "Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment" and other observational data. The Q-Sort is also being compared to stress data and temperament data. Reliability of the Q-Sort was assessed by the NC-158 Project (Pease, Boger, Pfaff, & Melby, 1986) using a test-retest method. The analysis indicated that the items ranged from .38 to .90 with a mean of .72 for the entire set of items. Another method that indicated high parental response consistency involved examining the group mean rankings of the entire set of items. For example, the emotional item 62 ("I hug my child daily"), item 63 ("I encourage my child to be affectionate) and item 64 ("I praise my child often) were found to rank in the top set of items reflecting "more like me" consistently for mothers and fathers for all three years, indicating high reliability for those items. Those items that fell closer to the center were found to have more variance as would be expected for an ipsative measure of this kind. Both approaches indicated that the Q-Sort items varied in reliability. The individual and family demographics (Appendix B) were collected at the time of administering the Q-Sort by an instrument developed by the North Central Regional Project 158 (Lawton et al., 1983). 36 Research Hypotheses The following research hypotheses were developed to address the research questions: Research Question 1 Do mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection?. Research Question 2 Do mothers and fathers from Michigan and H01 H1 H02 H03 H3 mothers and fathers from Brazil differ in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? There are no differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding physical play with their children, with fathers being more likely than mothers to physically play with their children. There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding physical play with their children, with fathers being more likely than mothers to physically play with their children. There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play with their child. There are no differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding verbalizing with their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to verbalize with their children. There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding verbalizing with their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to verbalize with their children. H04 H05 H5 H06 37 There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding verbalizing with their child. There are no differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding giving affection to their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to give affection to their children. There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding giving affection to their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to give affection to their children. There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding giving affection to their child. Research Question 3 Are there differences in the strengths of H07 H7 H08 the independent dimensions of sex of parent, age and education of parent, family environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in parents' actual and ideal perceptions of parenting behavior regarding physical play, verbalization, and play? Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding playing physical with their children. Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding playing physical with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding physical play with their children. H8 H09 H9 H010 H10 H011 H11 H012 H12 38 Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding playing physical with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. Sex of parent is the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. 39 Research Question 4 Are there differences in the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding physical play, verbalization, affection? H013 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding physical play with their child. H014 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding verbalizing with their child. H015 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding giving affection to their child. Data Analysis The data analysis involved several phases of analyses. First, frequencies were run on the Michigan and Brazilian data sets to describe the sample's characteristics. The descriptive statistics on the sample's characteristics included profiles of the environment, family, parents, children, and important beliefs of Michigan and Brazilians mothers and fathers. The important beliefs were determined by ranking the group means of Q-Sort item scores and 40 examining the items that clustered at the ends of the continuum. A summary of the descriptive analysis plan is shown in Figure 3.1. The comparative analysis consisted of two parts. The first part compared mothers and fathers by utilizing a series of ANOVA's with the independent variables consisting of sex of parent, sex of child, and environment. Cultural differences were assessed between American and Brazilian parents for the cross-cultural data set and rual/urban differences were assessed using the NC-158 Regional data set. The three item clusters representing the three areas of parent/child transactions (play, verbalization, and affection) served as the dependent variables. The second stage of the comparative analysis used stepwise regressions to allow more variables (education and age of the parent) into the model as well as determine the relative importance of the ecological variables on the three areas of parent/child transactions. The regressions were run on the actual and ideal data sets. An overview of the comparative analysis is shown in Figure 3.2. 41 Variables Purpose of Analysis Used in Statistics Analysis Profile of environments -local and cultural Frequency environments count Profile of families ~income Frequency -occupation count Profile of parents -age Frequency -education count -sex Profile of children -age Frequency -sex count Profile of important ~72 actual and Ranking of beliefs ideal Q-Sort frequency items means Figure 3.1 Methods Used in the Descriptive Analysis 42 Variables Purpose of Analysis Used in . Statistics Analysis Test Hypotheses 1 thru 6 Actual Q-Sort Frequency scores on means three constructs: 1)play ANOVA's 2)verbalization 3)affection BY -sex of parent -sex of child -local environment (NC-158 Regional only) -cultural environment (cross-cultural only) Test hypotheses 7 thru 12 Actual and ideal Stepwise Q-Sort scores on Regressions three constructs 1)play 2)verbalization 3)affection WITH -sex of parent -sex of child -local environment —cultural environment (cross-cultural only) -age of parent -education of parent Figure 3.2 Overview of Comparative Analysis 43 The exploratory portion of this study moved beyond the three transactional areas. This apect of the study utilized Pearson correlations to assess the relationships between all 72 Q-Sort items and the ecological variables. This allowed further preliminary examination of beliefs regarding parent/child transactions. In addition, this part of the study used regression to explore the relationship between mother/father discrepancy and the ecological variables. An overview of the exploratory analysis is shown in Figure 3.3. 44 Variables Purpose of Analysis Used in Statistics Analysis Exploring Actual Q-Sort Pearson additional constructs scores of all Correlations and relationships 72 items WITH - sex of parent - sex of child - cultural environment - local environment Test hypotheses 13 thru 15 Computed Stepwise mother/father Regressions discrepancy score WITH - cultural environment -local environment - age of mother - age of father - education of mother - education of father - sex of child Figure 3.3 Overview of Exploratory Analysis 4 5 The Sample The sample for the analyses of mother and father differences in perceptions of parenting function consisted of four data sets. The initial set consists of fifty-nine Michigan mothers and fathers of three-year-old firstborn children, while the second set consists of thirty-two Brazilian mothers and fathers of three year old firstborn children. The third set is a combination of the Michigan and Brazilian data providing a cross-cultural set (a combination of data sets 1 and 2). The fourth set of data used in the analysis is the NC-158 Regional data set consisting of 275 mothers and fathers of three-year-old first born children from a five state North Central region of the United States. An overview of the study sample is provided in Figure 3.4. This study is part of a larger study titled "A Study of Parenting Beliefs about Parenting in Rural and Urban Populations (NC-158)". The Michigan data set is a subset of the larger regional project NC- 158, which included Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri as well as Michigan. The regional NC-158 project collected data for three consecutive years. This study focused on the first year Michigan data set due to the fact that the Brazilian data set is limited to one data point. The regional data set was used only in the regressions to assess if the study can be generalized to the larger population as well as further examine the parenting beliefs on the three transactional areas. 46 rMichigan Data Set 1 59 Mothers' and Fathers'. perceptions of actual and ideal parenting behavior. L J f Cross-cultural Data Set‘ 91 Mothers' and Fathers' perceptions of actual parenting behaviors Brazilian Data Set 32 Mothers' and Fathers' perceptions of actual and ideal parenting behavior. \J L J F W NC158 Regional Data Set 275 Mothers' and Fathers' perceptions of actual and ideal parenting behavior L J Figure 3.4 L J Data Sets Used in the Study 47 The Michigan data set consisted of rural and urban parents. A summary of the Michigan mothers' characteristics is shown in Table 3.1. Rural mothers' age ranged from 20 to 37 years with a mean of 27.64 years. Urban mothers age ranged from 24 to 36 years with a mean of 29.00 years. The means of the two groups indicate that urban mothers in this study were more likely to wait approximately a year longer than rural mothers before having their first child. With respect to educational level, both rural and urban mothers' education ranged from 12 to 18 years, but the means indicated that urban mothers had approximately one more year of education (15.08 years) than rural mothers (14.32 years). As for occupation, 32% of the rural mothers and 50% of the urban mothers indicated that they were non-employed, while the remaining mothers were distributed from manual laborers to administrators with little apparent difference between the groups. A summary of Michigan fathers' characteristics is shown in Table 3.2. Urban fathers tended to be older (mean=30.17 years) than rural fathers (mean=28.40 years). Again this seems to support the notion that urban parents wait longer than rural parents to have their first child. With respect to education, urban fathers had more education (mean=16.44 years) than rural fathers (mean=14.56 years). In addition, urban fathers were more likely than rural fathers to indicate higher levels of occupation. 48 Table 3.1 Sample Characteristics of Michigan Mothers Rural Urban Rural/Urban Mothers Mothers Mothers (n=25) (n=34) (N=59) Age 27.64 29.00 28.42 years minimum 2 0 2 4 " 2 0 maximum 3 7 3 6 3 7 Education 14.32 15.08 14.76 years minimum 1 2 1 2 1 2 maximum 1 8 l 8 l 8 Occupation Non-employed 8 2 1 2 5 Manual laborers 3 2 5 Unskilled 0 0 0 Semiskilled 3 0 3 Skilled 1 2 3 Clerical 2 1 3 Technicians 2 1 3 Managers 4 8 1 2 Administrators 2 3 5 Executives 0 0 0 49 Table 3.2 Sample Characteristics of Michigan Fathers Rural Urban Rural/Urban Fathers Fathers Fathers (n=25) (n=34) (N=59) Age 28.40 30.17 29.42 years minimum 2 0 2 5 2 0 maximum 3 7 3 7 3 7 Education 14.56 16.44 15.64 years minimum 1 2 1 2 1 2 maximum 2 2 2 2 2 2 Occupation Non—employed 1 0 1 Manual laborers 1 l 2 Unskilled 1 l 2 Semiskilled 3 4 7 Skilled 6 1 7 Clerical 0 3 3 Technicians 5 4 9 Managers 4 8 1 2 Administrators 3 5 8 Executives 1 7 8 50 The Brazilian data set was not part of the NC-158 Regional data set, but was collected apart from it. Higuchi (1986) collected the data to compare Michigan mothers to Brazilian mothers and Michigan fathers to Brazilian fathers. Unlike the regional data, the Brazilian data consisted of urban parents only. A summary of the Brazilian parent's characteristics is shown in Table 3.3. Mothers' age ranged from 19 to 36 years, while fathers ranged from 20 to 38 years. The mean age for both mothers (27.03 years) and fathers (29.18 year) indicate that the sample was similar to the Michigan data set and consisted of mainly older parents with few younger parents with which to compare. In order to interpret the variable education, it should be noted that’high school is completed after 11 years of education in Brazil. The means for education indicated that both mothers and fathers averaged a little more than a high school education (mothers' mean=11.03; fathers' mean=11.28). The distribution for education indicated that many of the Brazilian mothers and fathers did not finish high school. With respect to occupation, 31% of the mothers indicated that they were not employed, while the remaining mothers' occupations ranged from clerical positions to executive positions. Fathers indicated relatively high occupational levels that ranged from skilled types of jobs to executives. 51 Table 3.3 Sample Characteristics of Brazilian Mothers and Fathers Variable Brazilian Brazilian Mothers Fathers (n=32) (n=32) Age 27.03 years 29.18 years minimum 1 9 2 0 maximum 3 6 3 8 Education 1 1.03 years 11.28 years minimum 0 6 0 4 maximum 1 6 1 8 Occupation Non-employed 1 0 Manual laborers 0 0 Unskilled 0 0 Semiskilled 0 0 Skilled 0 3 Clerical 6 2 Technicians 7 l 0 Managers 7 6 Administrators 0 5 Executives l 6 52 The most striking difference between the Michigan mothers and fathers and the Brazilian mothers and fathers was education. Michigan parents had more years of college than Brazilian parents. It is interesting to note that these differences did not carry over into occupation, where Brazilian parents seemed to have as many high level occupational positions as the Michigan parents. In order to compare Michigan families and Brazilian families on family income, income categories were adjusted to fit into three categories: low, middle, and high. Thirty eight (38) percent of the Brazilian families had lower incomes (Cr$ 0 to Cr$ 51.999), 52% had middle incomes (Cr$ 52.000 to Cr$ 207.999), and 10% had higher incomes (Cr$ 208.000 and above). Of the American families, approximately 6 % had lower incomes ($0 to $10,999), 89 % had middle incomes ($11,000 to $40,999), and 5% had higher incomes (41,000 and above). In general, the majority of families in this study came from middle income family backgrounds. The most important characteristic of the child is the fact that all of the children were between 30 and 42 months of age with a mean of 37 months. The Michigan data set had 31 girls and 28 boys: the Brazilian data set had 16 girls and 16 boys. Procedure This study utilized the NC-158 data set and Higuchi‘s data set for the purpose of secondary analysis. All procedures and instruments were approved by the University Committee on 53 Research Involving Human Subjects prior to the undertaking of the NC-158 Regional data collection. A second approval was acquired prior to the collection of the Brazilian data set. The Michigan and Brazilian data collection started by creating a roster of potential subjects that came from various sources, including newspaper advertising, places of business, churches, and day care centers. The Michigan data were collected using both home interviews and mail-in responses. All of the Brazilian data were collected following home administration procedures. Each family was contacted either by phone or in person so that the general objectives of the research could be explained and they could be invited to become involved. Once enrollment criteria were met (child's age between 30 and 42 months; child being firstborn; and family consisting of both mother and father), interview appointments were made with each family. Interviews took approximately one hour. Trained college students interviewed the families in their home. The investigators questioned the parents regarding relevant demographic data and then asked the parents to each respond separately to the ”NC-158 Q-Sort Inventory of Parenting Behaviors". Standardized instructions were utilized in administering the Q-Sort. Parents who were administered by mail received the same instructions. The parents were given 72 labels and asked to sort the items from "most like me" to "least like me" from the perspective of how they perceive their parenting behavior to be. After completing this task, parents were asked to sort a second set of labels from the perspective of how they perceive the ideal parent would behave. For 54 each of the sorts, parents were instructed to place the labels on a large response-category board from one (1) which is "most like me" to category nine (9) reflecting "least like me". Parents were allowed to move items around until they were completely satisfied with all of the placements. Upon completion, the labels were permanently stuck to the response sheet. After the actual sort was completed, the sheet was turned over and the parent was asked to respond from the ideal perspective. In order to complete the statistical analysis necessary to address the research questions, a set of computer disks containing the revised data sets were created that contained the demographics and the actual and ideal Q-Sort data. The data were key punched at The Institute for Family and Child Study, Michigan State University. The Statistical Package for Social Science was utilized to manipulate and analyze the data. CHAPTER IV RESULTS The main objective of this study was to develop a better understanding of differences between mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their parenting behaviors. The first section of the analysis describes the ordering of important parenting beliefs along a continuum that ranged from "most like me" to "least like me" for the Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers. A second objective of this study was to compare mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting and examine the relationship between sex of parent and perceptions regarding three areas of parent/child transactions (physical play, verbalization, and affection). In addition, other demographic variables were examined to see if they related to mother and father differences in parenting beliefs. A third objective of this study was to explore other areas of parent/child transactions and assess the relationship between these new areas of interest and demographic variables. A fourth objective was to explore couple discrepancy on parenting beliefs and examine the relationship between couple discrepancy and demographic variables. This chapter is divided into four sections: (1) description of mother and father beliefs (2) comparing mothers' and fathers' beliefs about physical play, verbalization, and affection, (3) comparing 55 56 mothers' and fathers' beliefs on all 72 Q-Sort items, and (4) mother- father discrepancy. Description of Important Beliefs This section describes important beliefs of mothers and fathers from two cultures. The 72 Q-Sort items were ranked by group means. The top and bottom 25% or 18 items of the 72 parenting beliefs were used to describe the important beliefs that ranged from "most like me" to "least like me". The ranking of the items assists in understanding reported beliefs of mothers and fathers as well as providing context for interpreting comparative results. The beliefs in the top 25% indicate the beliefs mothers and fathers perceive as "most like me" in their parenting behaviors, while the beliefs in the bottom 25% indicate what parents are more likely to perceive as "least like me". Mighignn Mgtners' and Enthers' "M95; Like Mg" Items The top beliefs for Michigan mothers are shown in Table 4.1. Michigan mothers perceived emotional affective concerns as being important and "most like me". The items reflecting emotional affective concerns are E62, E63, E64, and E72 (the letter reflects the developmental domain of the item, ie. Emotional, Physical, Social, and Intellectual, while the number is an arbitrary Q-Sort instrument identification number of the item). Note three of the four items are ranked at the top. Another important area of beliefs regarding 57 Table 4.1 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Mothers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Rank Item Description 1 E62 I show my child some sort of physical affection daily. 2 E63 I encourage my child to be affectionate (kissing, hugging). 3 E64 I often praise my child. 4 P12 I take my child for regular medical and dental check-ups. 5 I34 I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. 6 837 I encourage my child to share toys. 7 PS I make sure my child eats nutritionally balanced meals. 8 P4 I provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. 9 123 I pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. 10 E60 I talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. 11 E72 I comfort my child when he or she cries at night. 12 P6 I make sure my child has good health habits. 13 I35 I listen when my child tells me stories. 14 119 I provide educational toys or games for my child. 15 S47 I encourage my child to do things on his or her own. 16 SS4 I encourage my child to take turns. 17 E57 I punish my child for misbehaving. 18 I26 I encourage my child to ask questions. 58 parenting is physical health, which included P12, P5, P4, and P6. Intellectual development was also important, where Michigan mothers emphasized several verbal items: I34, 123, I35, and 126. Michigan mothers ranked only a few items reflecting social development in the top group, including items 837, S47, and SS4. The top beliefs for Michigan fathers are shown in Table 4.2. Michigan fathers also perceived emotional affective concerns as important and "most like me". The items included E62, E63, and E64. Michigan fathers ranked social and discipline items high: S37, E60, 852, E55, SS4, S47, and E57. Michigan fathers also ranked physical items high, which included P9, P3, P1, P4, and P5. 59 Table 4.2 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Fathers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Rank Item Description 1 E62 I show my child some sort of physical affection daily. 2 E63 I encourage my child to be affectionate (kissing, hugging). 3 S37 I encourage my child to share toys. 4 E64 I often praise my child. 5 P9 I get involved with my child in physically active play. 6 P3 I provide my child with the opportunity to play outdoors. 7 E60 I talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. 8 SS 2 I teach my child to obey rules I have set. 9 E55 I spank my child when necessary. 10 P1 I encourage my child to use his or her hands skillfully. 11 SS4 I encourage my child to take turns. 12 S47 I encourage my child to do things on his or her own. 13 E57 I punish my child for misbehaving. 14 P4 I provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. 15 123 I pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. 16 PS I make sure my child eats nutritionally balanced meals. 17 126 I encourage my child to ask questions. 18 119 I provide educational toys or games for my child. 60 Mighignn Mgthgrs' and Fnthgrs' "Lens; Likg Mg" Item§ Beliefs that fell on the "least like me" end of the continuum indicated that Michigan mothers perceived that they were less likely to encourage negative emotional situations (Table 4.3). The items that support this notion are E67, E66, E70, and E56. In addition, Michigan mothers indicated that they de-emphasized various social situations, which included S46, S39, 853, S49, S42, S44, and S41. Finally, Michigan mothers indicated less likeliness to encourage TV watching (I20) and talk about TV programs with their child (121). Table 4.4 shows the parenting beliefs that Michigan fathers perceived as "least like me". The rankings indicate that Michigan fathers also de-emphasized negative emotional items: E67, E66, E70, and E56. Michigan fathers also de-emphasized various social items: 846, S39, 53, S42, S49, and S41. Finally, Michigan fathers were less likely to encourage television watching (120) and talking about TV programs (I21). 6 1 Table 4.3 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Mothers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Rank Item Description 72 E67 I threaten to leave my child if he/she disobeys me. 71 S46 I encourage my child to play mostly with the same age playmates. 70 839 I encourage my child to get involved in competitive activities. 69 I20 I encourage my child to watch T.V. 68 E66 I send my child away from me for misbehaving. .67 P10 I involve my child in group physical or sport activities. 66 $53 I encourage my child to play with children from different backgrounds. 65 S49 I encourage my child to be assertive or stand up for himself or herself. 64 E70 I step in when my child has problems with another child. 63 S42 I encourage my child to initiate games with other children. 62 E56 I ignore my child's temper tantrum. 61 S44 I encourage my child not to be shy. 60 E58 I make sure my child has some privacy. 59 E65 I reward my child with a gift when he or she is good. 5 8 S41 I encourage my child to defend himself/herself if necessary. 57 P16 I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. 56 121 I talk with my child about T.V. programs we watch together. 55 P13 I encourage my child to move and explore freely. 6 2 Table 4.4 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Michigan Fathers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Rank Item Description 72 E67 I threaten to leave my child if he/she disobeys me. 71 120 I encourage my child to watch T.V. 70 S46 I encourage my child to play mostly with the same age playmates. 69 E66 I send my child away from me for misbehaving. 68 E70 I step in when my child has problems with another child. 67 S39 I encourage my child to get involved in competitive activities. 66 P10 I involve my child in group physical or sport activities. 65 121 I talk with my child about T.V. programs we watch together. 64 E56 I ignore my child's temper tantrum. 63 SS3 I encourage my child to play with children from different backgrounds. 62 S42 I encourage my child to initiate games with other children. 61 E65 I reward my child with a gift when he or she is good. 60 849 I encourage my child to be assertive or stand up for himself or herself. 59 S41 1 encourage my child to defend himself/herself if necessary. 5 8 P7 I talk with my child about his or her body. 57 P17 I encourage my child to get involved in motor activities in spite of minor bumps and bruises. 56 E58 I make sure my child has some privacy. 55 P13 I encourage my child to move and explore freely. 63 zili M r' h ' " i M " Brazilian mothers' top 18 items are shown in Table 4.5. Brazilian mothers' mean ranks indicated a verbal item to be of highest predisposition for the group.. Brazilian mothers also indicated emotional affective concerns to be high, which included showing affection daily (E62) and encouraging their child to be affectionate (E63). In addition, Brazilian mothers ranked several physical items high that reflect health and hygiene (P1, P4, P5, P8, and P15). Brazilian mothers also ranked the following social items high: 837, S48, S45, and S47. Finally, Brazilian mothers emphasized three discipline items: E55, E60, and E68. Brazilian fathers' top ranked 18 items are shown in Table 4.6. Brazilian fathers indicated a higher predisposition to perceive physical health and hygiene as very important. Items P6, P5, P3, P4, P15, and P8 support this notion. Brazilian fathers ranked only one of the affectionate items high (E62), while several intellectual and social items were included in the top 25% of mean ranked high: 123, I24, 119, 129, S48, S37, S41, S40, and S45. Brazilian Methers and Fathere "Least Like Me" Iteme Table 4.7 shows that items that ranked on the "least like me" end of the continuum. Brazilian Mothers indicated that they were less likely to encourage various negative emotional situations: E67, E66, E65, and E70. Brazilian mothers de-emphasized several 64 Table 4.5 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Mothers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Rank Item Description 1 123 I pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. 2 E62 I show my child some sort of physical affection daily. 3 P6 I make sure my child has good health habits. 4 S37 1 encourage my child to share toys. 5 P3 I provide my child with the opportunity to play outdoors. 6 Pl I encourage my child to use his or her hands skillfully. 7 P4 1 provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. 8 E63 I encourage my child to be affectionate (kissing, hugging). 9 P5 1 make sure my child eats nutritionally balanced meals. 10 848 I teach my child to be polite. 11 P8 1 encourage my child to feed himself or herself. 12 P15 I encourage my child to clean his or her teeth each day. 13 E68 I teach my child to be considerate of others. 14 E55 I spank my child when necessary. 15 E60 I talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. 16 S45 I teach my child to be responsible. 17 S47 I encourage my child to do things on his or her own. 18 E71 My spouse and I often play with our child so that we can enjoy being together. 6 5 Table 4.6 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Fathers' Top Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Most Like Me" Rank Item Description 1 P6 2 E62 3 P5 4 S48 5 E60 6 P3 7 123 8 124 9 P4 10 P15 11 E68 12 P8 13 I19 14 I29 15 S37 16 S41 17 S40 18 S45 HHHHHHHHHHHHHH make sure my child has good health habits. show my child some sort of physical affection daily. make sure my child eats nutritionally balanced meals. teach my child to be polite. talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. provide my child with the opportunity to play outdoors. pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. show my child how to solve a problem step by step. provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. encourage my child to clean his or her teeth each day. teach my child to be considerate of others. encourage my child to feed himself or herself. provide educational toys or games for my child. take my child on trips out of the house whenever possible. I I encourage my child to share toys. encourage my child to defend himself/herself if necessary. I I encourage my child to play with both boys and girls. teach my child to be responsible. 6 6 Table 4.7 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Mothers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Rank Item Description 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 E67 E66 P17 P18 E65 E70 13 0 852 S39 P16 134 P10 SS3 120 851 121 850 S46 I threaten to leave my child if he/she disobeys me. I send my child away from me for misbehaving. I encourage my child to get involved in motor activities in spite of minor bumps and bruises. I provide my child with daily opportunities for physical exercise. I reward my child with a gift when he or she is good. I step in when my child has problems with another child. I let my child make mistakes even when I can prevent them. I teach my child to obey rules I have set. I encourage my child to get involved in competitive activities. I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. I involve my child in group physical or sport activities. I encourage my child to play with children from different backgrounds. I encourage my child to watch T.V. I teach my child social behavior through example. I talk with my child about T.V. programs we watch together. I encourage my child to ask for help. I encourage my child to play mostly with the same age playmates. 67 physical items: P17, P18, P16, and P10. In addition, several social items were ranked "least like me": 852, 839, SS3, 851, 850, and S46. Lastly, two Television items were ranked low: 120 and 121. Table 4.8 shows the beliefs that Brazilian fathers ranked as "least like me". According to the group rankings, Brazilian Fathers were less likely to encourage negative emotional situations. Items that support this notion are E67, E66, E65, E56, and E70. Brazilian fathers were also less likely to encourage various social and physical items, which included 852, S50, SS3, S46, P17, P18, P16, P10, and P11. In summary, the description of the important rankings indicated that Michigan mothers and fathers generally emphasized emotional affective dimensions the highest, while Brazilian mothers and fathers in general ranked physical health and hygiene dimensions the highest. All of the parents ranked negative emotional items as "least like me". 68 Table 4.8 Results of Group Mean Rankings of Brazilian Fathers' Bottom Beliefs of Actual Behavior Items Reflecting "Least Like Me" Rank Item Description 72 E67 I threaten to leave my child if he/she disobeys me. 71 I30 I let my child make mistakes even when I can prevent them. 70 E66 1 send my child away from me for misbehaving. 69 E65 1 reward my child with a gift when he or she is good. 68 P17 1 encourage my child to get involved in motor activities in spite of minor bumps and bruises. 67 E56 I ignore my child's temper tantrum. 66 I34 I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. 65 852 I teach my child to obey rules I have set. 64 120 I encourage my child to watch T.V. 63 P18 I provide my child with daily opportunities for physical exercise. 62 P16 I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. 61 P10 I involve my child in group physical or sport activities. 60 850 I encourage my child to ask for help. 59 P11 I encourage my child's eye/hand coordination. 58 E70 I step in when my child has problems with another child. 57 E64 I often praise my child. 56 SS3 I encourage my child to play with children from different backgrounds. 55 S46 I encourage my child to play mostly with the same age playmates. 69 Comparing Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs About Physical Play, Verbalization, and Affection The results in this section are grouped by data sets. The analysis from the cross-cultural data are presented first, followed by the analysis from the NC-158 Regional data. The results of the data analysis are reported for each research hypothesis. The hypotheses are stated in the null form. A report of whether or not the hypothesis was accepted or rejected accompanies the results. Hypothesis 1 H1 There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding physical play with their children, with fathers being more likely than mothers to physically play with their children. Hypothesis 2 H02 There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play with their child. ANQVA'S fer grees-enltnral Data The results for the cross-cultural data on the play construct are shown in Table 4.9. Sex of parent and culture were found to be significant. Michigan and Brazilian fathers were more 70 Table 4.9 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Physical Play by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION I]2 SQUARES SQUARE F-VALUE TOTALEFFECI‘S 7 388.324 55.475 7.432* W PARENTS SEX 1 164.445 164.445 22.030* CULTURE 1 146.044 146.044 19.564* CHILD'SSEX 1 32.678 32.678 4.378* W PSEX,CULTURE 1 25.983 25.983 3.481 PSEX,CSEX 1 14.141 14.141 1.894 CULTURECSEX 1 -0.957 -0.957 -0.128 -WA INTERA PSEX,CULTURECSEX 1 5.991 5.991 0.803 RESIDUAL 174 1298.869 7.465 TOTAL 181 1687.192 9.322 * significant at the p<.05 71 likely to perceive that they physically play with their child than Michigan and Brazilian mothers. Significant cultural differences were found, where Michigan parents were more likely than Brazilian parents to perceive that they physically play with their child. 'Parents with girls were more likely to perceive that they play with their child than parents with boys. Interaction for sex of parent and cultural environment approached significance at .059 level, where Brazilian fathers ranked play lower than Michigan mothers, but higher than Brazilian mothers. The hypothesis H1 was accepted and the null hypothesis H02 was rejected. Hypothesis 3 H3 There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding verbalizing with their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to verbalize with their children. Hypothesis 4 H04 There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding verbalizing with their child. Table 4.10 shows the analysis of variance results for the verbal construct for the cross-cultural data set. Cultural environment was significant, while sex of parent was not significant. Michigan parents ranked verbal items higher than Brazilian parents. 72 was rejected and the null hypothesis H04 was rejected. Table 4.10 Hypothesis H3 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Verbalization by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION II" SQUARES SQUARE F-VALUE TOTALEFFECTS 7 844.364 120.623 2.141 W PARENTS SEX 1 28.484 28.484 0.506 CULTURE 1 464.966 464.966 8.252’“ CHILD'S SEX 1 74.043 74.043 1.314 - Y R N PSEX,CULTURE 1 90.614 90.614 1.608 PSEX,CSEX 1 38.467 38.467 0.683 (IJLTURECSEX 1 132.155 132.155 2.345 -WAY RA N PSEX,CULTURECSEX 1 15.637 15.637 0.278 RESIDUAL 174 9803.856 56.344 TOTAL 181 10648.220 58.830 "‘ significant at the p<.05 7 3 Hypothesis 5 H5 There are differences in the perceptions of actual parenting behavior between mothers and fathers regarding giving affection to their children, with mothers being more likely than fathers to give affection to their children. Hypothesis 6 H06 There are no differences between mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding giving affection to their child. The comparison of Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers on the affection construct is shown in Table 4.11. Sex of parent and cultural environment were found to be significant. Mothers were found to rank affection significantly higher than fathers. Michigan parents were also found to rank affection higher than Brazilian parents. Cultural environment and sex of child were also found to significantly interact. Examination of the interaction indicated that Michigan parents differentiated according to sex of their child, where Michigan parents of boys ranked affection higher than Michigan parents of girls, while Brazilian parents of boys and girls ranked affection similarly. The hypothesis for H5 was accepted and the null hypothesis for hypothesis H06 was rejected. 74 Table 4.11 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for Michigan and Brazilian Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Affection by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Cultural Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION II: SQUARES SQUARE F -VALUE TOTALEFFECTS 7 1151.362 164.480 7.231* MAMEEECIS . PARENTSSEX 1 113.934 113.934 5.009* CULTURE 1 593.116 593.116 26.074* CHILD'SSEX 1 265.214 265.214 11.659* Z-WA I INTERACT IQNS PSEX,CULTURE 1 5.688 5.688 0.250 PSEX,CSEX 1 2.846 2.846 0.125 CULTURECSEX 1 167.127 167.127 7.347* -WA INTER N PSEX,CULTURECSEX 1 3.437 3.437 0.151 RESIDUAL 174 3957.979 22.747 TOTAL 181 5109.341 28.228 * significant at the p<.05 75 Means for combined Michigan and Brazilian mothers and fathers on the three constructs are shown in Table 4.12. The means indicated that mothers had a higher predisposition to talk to their child and give affection than fathers from the cross-cultural data set, while fathers were more likely to physically play with their child than the combined mothers. The means on the constructs also indicated that mothers and fathers both rank affection higher than verbalization and play (Figure 4.1). Table 4.12 Group Means and Standard Deviations for Michigan and Brazilian Mothers' and Fathers' for Three Transactional Areas of Development Sex of parent Mean* Std. Dev Trn in] re Ph i Pl Mother 4.35 1.44 Father 5.30 1 46 Verbalizatien Mother 5.26 0.99 Father 5.16 0.92 Affeetien Mother 6.76 1.33 Father 6.37 1.29 * Means were reversed for reporting purposes to reflect: 9="most like me" 1="least like me" 76 “most lflte me' 9 1 8 -1 7 "' a 2 O 3 6‘ ° 1: 5 _ g . 4 -1 3' a Mothers g 3 - 0 Fathers 2 u 1 I T I . “least like me“ Play Verbal Affection Figure 4.1 Cross-cultural Mothers' and Fathers' Group Means For Three Transactional Areas of Development 77 N V ' ion D The three primary dependent constructs of physical play, verbalization, and affection were further tested using the NC-158 Regional data set. In addition, further analyses of the 72 Q-Sort items reflecting mother and father differences using the regional data sets are reported elsewhere (Boger, Lawton, & Haas, 1988). Table 4.13 shows the results of the play construct for the NC- 158 Regional data set. Sex of parent was found to be significant. Regional fathers were more predisposed than mothers to physically play with their child. This supports the rejection of the null hypothesis for hypothesis H01. Table 4.14 reports the results for the verbal construct using the NC-158 Regional data set. Sex of parent and local environment were found to be significant. Regional mothers were more likely to rank verbal items higher than regional fathers. In addition, urban parents were more likely to rank verbal items higher than rural parents. This analysis contradicts the cross-cultural analysis that resulted in the decision to accept the null of H03. Table 4.15 shows the results for the regional parents on the affection construct. Again, sex of parent was found to be significant. Regional mothers ranked affection higher than regional fathers. This result supported rejecting the null hypothesis for hypothesis H05 7 8 Table 4.13 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Physical Play by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION I]: SQUARES SQUARE F-VALUE TOTALEFFECI‘S 8 165.585 20.698 11.958* W Parent's Sex 1 143.565 143.565 82.945* Child's Sex 1 0.017 0.017 0.000 Rural/Urban 1 9.525 4.763 2.752 -W R N PSEX,CSEX 1 3.380 3.380 1.953 PSEXRU 1 7.479 3.739 2.160 CSEXRU 1 1.068 0.534 0.308 -WA RA N PSEX,CSEXRU 1 0.550 0.275 0.159 RESIDUAL 541 936.386 1.731 TOTAL 549 1101.971 2.007 * significant at the p<.05 79 Table 4.14 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Verbalization by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION II“ SQUARES SQUARE F-VALUE TOTALEFFECI‘S 8 41.097 5.137 6.257* W PSEX 1 15.853 15.853 19.310* (Six 1 2.239 2.239 2.727 RU 1 23.311 11.655 14.197* W PSEX, 1 0.299 0.299 0.364 PSEX,RU 1 -0.253 -0.127 -0.154 CSEXRU 1 -O.504 -0.252 -0.307 -WA INTERA PSEX,CSEXRU 1 0.152 0.076 0.093 RESIDUAL 541 444.136 0.821 TOTAL 549 485.232 0.884 * significant at the p<.05 80 Table 4.15 Results of a Two-Way Analysis of Variance Test for NC-158 Regional Data of Parenting Beliefs of Actual Behaviors Regarding Affection by Sex of Parent, Sex of Child, and Local Environment SUMOF MEAN SOURCE OF VARIATION I]: SQUARES SQUARE F-VALUE TOTALEFFECI‘S 8 63.075 7.884 6.622* W PSEX 1 35.003 35.003 29.398* (SEX 1 2.695 2.695 2.263 RU 1 18.226 9.113 ' 7.654* -WA R N PSEX,CSEX 1 1.779 1.779 1.494 PSEX,RU 1 1.956 0.978 0.822 CSEX,RU 1 2.987 1.493 1.254 3-WAY INIIIERAQTIQNS PSEX,CSEX,RU 1 0.429 . 0.214 0.180 RESIDUAL 541 644.144 1.191 TOTAL 549 707.218 1.288 * significant at the p<.05 81 Means for the regional mothers and fathers on the three constructs are shown in Table 4.16. The means indicated that regional mothers were more predisposed than fathers to talk to their child and give affection, while regional fathers were more predisposed than mothers to perceive that they physically play with their child. The means on the constructs also indicated that the regional mothers and fathers both rank affection higher than verbalization and play (see Figure 4.2). Table 4.16 Group Means and Standard Deviations of Regional Mothers' and Fathers' for Three Transactional Areas of Development Sex of parent Mean“ Std. Dev n in Ar Physieal Play Mother 4.50 1.33 Father 5.52 1.31 Verbalizatien Mother 5.60 0.86 Father 5.26 0.97 Affeetien Mother 7.38 1.10 Father 6.88 1.11 * Means were reversed for reporting purposes to reflect: 9="most like me" 1="least like me" 82 ”most like me“ 8 .1 7 - o i 3 6 - o t: 0 i 5 ' I a 4 - g I Mothers 0 3 7 O Fathers 2 . 1 I l t “least like me“ Play Verbal Affection Figure 4.2 NC-158 Mothers' and Fathers' Group Means For Three Transactional Areas of Development 83 To summarize the regional analysis, the findings were similar to the cross-cultural findings, where fathers were found to be more predisposed than mothers to physically play with their child, while mothers were more predisposed than fathers to show affection to their child. The difference between the data sets appeared in the verbal area of transaction, where differences between mothers and fathers were found for the regional, but not for the cross-cultural data groups. R 'n r-lr The latter part of this section reports the analysis of stepwise regressions focusing on the three parent-child transactional areas of interest. Hypothesis 7 H07 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding playing physical with their children. 84 The results of the stepwise regressions for the play construct for the actual Q-Sort is reported in Table 4.17. The regression indicated sex of parent to be the strongest weighted factor in the model, followed by cultural environment, local environment, and child's sex. The results indicated that fathers were more likely than mothers to physically play with their child. Michigan parents were also more predisposed to physically play with their child than Brazilian parents. An examination of the means indicated that rural parents of girls were also more likely to rank physical play items higher than urban parents of either boys or girls. The null hypothesis for H07 was rejected. Table 4.17 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Multiple R = .471 R Square = .221 F-Statistic = 12.62* Degrees of Freedom: 4 and 177 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent sex .312 22.172* .097 Cultural environment .218 8 .603 * .08 6 Local environment .160 4.655 * .020 Child sex .133 4.031* .017 * Significant at p<.05 8 5 Hypothesis 8 H08 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding physical play with their children. The results of the stepwise regressions for the play construct for the ideal Q-Sort is reported in Table 4.18. The regression indicated education of parent to be the strongest weighted factor in the model, followed by cultural environment. Lower educated parents were more likely to perceive the ideal parent to rank physical items "more like me" than higher educated parents. In addition, Brazilian parents indicated that the ideal parent would rank physical items "more like me" than Michigan parents. The null hypothesis for H08 was accepted Table 4.18 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Multiple R = .335 R Square = .112 F-Statistic = 11.32* Degrees of Freedom: 2 and 179 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent education .190 4.920* .088 Cultural environment .187 4.796* .024 * Significant at p<.05 8 6 Hypothesis 9 H09 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Table 4.19 shows the results of the verbal construct for the actual Q-Sort. Education was found to be the strongest dimension relating to parents' perceptions of parenting behavior. Higher educated parents were more likely to rank verbal items higher than lower educated parents. The null hypothesis for H08 was accepted. Table 4.19 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Multiple R = .290 R Square = .084 F-Statistic = 16.58* Degrees of Freedom: 1 and 180 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent education .290 16.57* .084 * Significant at p<.05 8 7 Hypothesis 10 H010 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Table 4.20 shows that culture was the only significant variable in the model. Michigan parents indicated that the ideal parent would rank verbal items "more like me" more often than Brazilian parents. The null for H010 was accepted. Table 4.20 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for Cross-cultural Data Multiple R = .209 R Square = .043 F-Statistic = 18.27* Degrees of Freedom: 1 and 180 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Culture .290 16.57* .084 * Significant at p<.05 88 Hypothesis 11 H011 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. The analysis for the actual beliefs regarding affection is reported in Table 4.21. Cultural environment was found to be the strongest variable in the model. Sex of parent was significant with a lower weight than culture. Michigan parents indicated that they were more likely to give affection to their child than Brazilian parents. Parents of boys were more likely to rank affection items higher than parents of girls. Urban parents were more likely to rank affection items higher than parents of rural parents. Lastly, mothers were found to rank affection items higher than fathers. The null hypothesis for H011 was accepted. 89 Table 4.21 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for Cross-Cultural Data Multiple R = .470 R Square = .221 F-Statistic = 12.58* Degrees of Freedom: 4 and 177 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Cultural environment .430 33 .444* .1 16 Child sex .237 12.813* .055 Local environment .185 6.195* .027 Parent sex .149 5.069* .022 * Significant at p<.05 Hypothesis 12 H012 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. The results of the regression for the affection construct from the ideal sort indicated that culture was the strongest variable (see Table 4.22), followed by local environment, and then child's sex. Michigan parents indicated that the ideal parent would show affection to their child more than Brazilian parents. Urban parents also indicated that the ideal parent would rank affection items "more 90 like me" than rural parents. Lastly, parents of boys were more likely to rank affection items in the ideal sort higher than parents of girls. The null hypothesis for H012 was accepted. Table 4.22 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for Cross-Cultural Data Multiple R = .301 R Square = .091 F-Statistic = 594* Degrees of Freedom: 3 and 178 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Cultural environment .285 12.695* .037 Local environment .197 6.049* .030 Child sex .237 4.588* .024 * Significant at p<.05 To summarize, sex of parent was found to be the strongest predictor for physical play in the actual sort only. Cultural environment was found to relate to perceptions of parenting regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection as well as other independent dimensions. The analysis indicated that the null hypothesis was rejected for H07, while accepted for H08 thru H12. 91 r 1 n 1 Results from the regressions using the regional data set indicated that sex of parent to be a stronger factor than in the cross- cultural regression analysis. The results indicated that sex of parent was the strongest factor for physical play and affection in both the actual and ideal sorts (Tables 4.23, 4.24, 4.27, and 4.28). Regional fathers were more likely to play physically with their child than mothers, while mothers were more likely to show affection to the child. Education was the strongest variable for the verbalization construct of the actual sort and second in the ideal sort (Tables 4.25 and 4.26). Higher educated parents ranked verbal items higher than lower educated parents. Sex of parent was also significant for verbalization in the actual and ideal sorts, but had a lower weight than education. Finally, mothers were more likely to rank verbal items higher than were fathers. 92 Table 4.23 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .370 R Square = .137 F-Statistic = 43.59* Degrees of Freedom: 2 and 547 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent sex .360 82.482* .130 Local environment .084 4.562* .007 * Significant at p<.05 Table 4.24 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Physical Play from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .192 R Square = .037 F-Statistic = 21.06* Degrees of Freedom: 1 and 548 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent sex .192 21.068* .037 * Significant at p<.05 93 Table 4.25 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .328 R Square = .108 F-Statistic = 22.04* Degrees of Freedom: 3 and 546 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent Education .187 18 .147 * .049 Parent sex .199 24.098“ .042 Local environment .141 10.432* .017 * Significant at p<.05 Table 4.26 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Verbalization from Ecological Variables for NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .352 R Square = .124 F-Statistic = 25.86* Degrees of Freedom: 3 and 546 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable _ Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Local environment .219 25 .482* .083 Parent Education .187 18.147* .024 Parent sex .199 24.098* .012 * Significant at p<.05 94 Table 4.27 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for the NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .270 R Square = .073 F-Statistic = 14.40* Degrees of Freedom: 3 and 546 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent sex .240 32.649* .049 Local environment .107 6.395* .016 Parent age .091 4.481* .007 * Significant at p<.05 Table 4.28 Results of Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Perceptions of Ideal Parenting Regarding Affection from Ecological Variables for the NC-158 Regional Data Multiple R = .221 R Square = .049 F-Statistic = 9.42* Degrees of Freedom: 3 and 546 Stepwise Regression Procedure Variable Beta F-Statistic Additive R Square Parent sex .174 17.505* .030 Local environment .107 6.395* .012 Child sex .091 4.481* .007 * Significant at p<.05 95 In summary, the analyses indicated sex of parent to be the primary independent dimension in the model for physical play and affection on both the actual and ideal sorts. The results also indicated sex of parent to be significant for the verbal construct, but less effect than education . The results indicated the findings in the ideal sort to be similar to the findings in the actual sort. Comparing Mothers' and Fathers' Beliefs on all 72 Q-Sort items This section compares mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behavior on all 72 Q-Sort items. This was done to explore mother and fathers differences in other areas of parent-child transactions as well as test the items from the item clusters individually. Pearson correlations were used to assess significant . relationships between the variable, sex of parent, and the 72 Q-Sort items from the cross-cultural data set. Table 4.29 shows the Q-Sort items mothers indicated to be significantly more like themselves (p<.05) than did fathers. Mothers indicated that they were more likely than fathers to take their child to the doctor, encourage their child to take naps, and talk with their child as well as praise their child. 96 Table 4.29 Results of Pearson Correlations Relating Sex of Parent to Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors: Items Mothers Indicated "More like me" for Cross-cultural Data Ite m Description P4 1 provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. P12 I take my child for regular medical and dental check-ups. P23 1 pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. P34 I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. E64 I often praise my child. On the other hand, fathers were more predisposed than mothers to get involved with their child in physically active play (Table 4.30). Fathers were also more likely to rank item S39, "1 encourage my child to get involved in competitive activities", higher than mothers. Finally, fathers were more predisposed than mothers to show their child how to solve a problem step by step. 9 7 Table 4.30 Results of Pearson Correlations Relating Sex of Parent to Perceptions of Parenting Behaviors: Items Fathers Indicated "More like me" for Cross-cultural Data Ite m Description P9 1 get involved with my child in physically active play. P16 I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. I24 I show my child how to solve a problem step by step. S39 1 encourage my child to get involved in competitive activities. In summary, the analysis of the 72 items indicated that mothers in general have a higher predisposition to take their child to the doctors, talk more with their child, and show affection more than fathers. On the other hand, fathers were found to be more predisposed than mothers to play physically with their child, encourage their child to compete more, and instruct their child. Mother-father Discrepancy The next area of exploration focused on mother-father discrepancy regarding parent's perceptions of parenting behavior. A series of regressions were used to assess the relationship between mother-father discrepancy and the ecological variables. The results of the analysis addressed the following hypotheseszr 9 8 Hypothesis 13 H013 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother-father discrepancy regarding physical play with their child. Hypothesis 14 H014 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother—father discrepancy regarding verbalizing with their child. Hypothesis 15 H015 There are no differences between the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother-father discrepancy regarding giving affection to their child. The analysis indicated no significant relationship between the ecological variables and total mother-father discrepancy. It appears that disagreement between mothers' and father' are similar, regardless of their age, education, environment, and sex of their child. The null hypothesis H013, H014, and H015 were accepted. The items that indicated the highest mother-father discrepancy on the actual sort focused on control and punishment of the child, where parents disagreed more about spanking their child (E55), 99 punishing their child for misbehaving (E57), and ignoring their child's temper tantrums (E56). The ideal sort also reflected high disagreement for control and punishment. CHAPTER V DISCUSSION This study was designed to assess and compare mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behaviors from two cultures. The intent of the study was to examine the relationship between parents' perceptions of actual and ideal parenting behaviors and ecological variables that may influence parent/child transactions. In addition, the researcher compared the findings of this study consisting of perceptions of parenting behaviors to previous observational studies of parent-child transactions. Lastly, the study investigated the relationships between mother-father discrepancies regarding parenting beliefs and ecological factors associated with them. The discussion is organized by research question. Research Question 1 Do mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection?. The results of the analyses indicated that mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behavior do differ. In addition, the mother and father differences found in this study of perceptions of parenting behavior were similar to the differences observed by Parke and Sawin (1978). The results indicated that mothers were more predisposed to be affectionate with their children than fathers, while 100 101 fathers were more predisposed be physically playful with their children than mothers. The relationship between perceptions of verbal behavior and sex of parent was not significant for the cross- cultural analysis, but was for the analysis utilizing the larger regional sample. Two possible explanations for this are that the independent dimension of culture masked mother-father differences or the cross- cultural data set was effected by size as suggested by Block (1978). All analysis indicated that mothers had a higher predisposition to talk with their children than did fathers. The strong parallel between the findings from this study and the observational studies suggests strongly that parenting beliefs are related to parenting behaviors. The results also supported the notion that mothers and fathers do differ in their parenting beliefs regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection. Of additional interest is the fact that both mothers and fathers ranked the three primary parenting constructs similarly, whereby emotional affective concerns ranked higher than verbalization, which was ranked higher than physical play. This was true for both the cross-cultural and regional data sets on both the actual and- ideal sorts. This pattern of beliefs indicated that mothers and fathers agreed that emotional concerns were more important than physical play, while at the same time differing to some degree in their parenting beliefs in both of these areas of parent-child transaction. This evidence suggests that mothers' and fathers' parenting beliefs are similar, while differ to the degree that they emphasize particular areas of transaction. This supports Belsky's (1981) statement that, 102 "across all comparative studies of mother-infant/father-infant interaction, parental similarities far outweigh differences". Research Question 2 Do mothers and fathers from Michigan and mothers and fathers from Brazil differ in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? The study found cultural differences between Michigan and Brazilian mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behaviors regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection. The results indicated that Michigan parents were more predisposed to rank affection, verbal, and physical play items higher. Again, it is important to note that Brazilian mothers and fathers ranked affection higher than verbalization and play, but lower in relation to Michigan mothers and father. The descriptive results indicated that Brazilian mothers and fathers were more predisposed to rank health and hygiene, as well as various social items. higher than Michigan mothers and fathers. Brazilian parents were also more likely than Michigan parents to encourage their children to develop good health habits and to encourage them to be polite and responsible. An interaction was evident between culture and sex of parent, whereby Michigan fathers ranked physical play higher than Michigan mothers, who ranked physical play higher than Brazilian 103 fathers, who in turn ranked the physical items higher than Brazilian mothers. Another interaction between culture and sex of parent was found in the descriptive results. Michigan fathers were found to rank several discipline/control items in the top 18 (25%) of the. 72 items, such as "I spank my child when necessary", which differed from mothers who were less likely to rank discipline/control as "more like me". On the other hand, Brazilian mothers were more likely to rank discipline/control items as "more like me" than Brazilian fathers. This evidence supports the Bartz (1978) study that found American fathers perceive themselves to be more involved in tasks of disciplining their child than American mothers. The results also suggest that this is a cultural phenomenon, as Brazilian mothers reported themselves to be more likely to discipline their child than did Brazilian fathers. In summary, mothers and fathers from Michigan and Brazil differed in their perceptions of parenting behavior regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection, but only to some degree. Both sets of parents ranked affection over physical play and verbalization, and both sets of mothers and fathers showed degrees of differences. Both Michigan and Brazilian mothers were more predisposed to show affection to their child than were fathers and both Michigan and Brazilian fathers were more predisposed than their partners to perceive that they physically play more with their child. Cultural differences appear to be a matter of degree to which mothers and fathers emphasize a particular area of parent-child transaction. The study supports the Higuchi (1987) finding of 104 cultural differences between American and Brazilian parents. Finally, the evidence suggests cultural differences may be found in other parent-child transactional areas than the three focused upon in this study. Physical health and hygiene, social emphasis, and discipline/control are other areas where cultural differences would appear to be evident. Research Question 3 Are there differences in the strengths of the independent dimensions of sex of parent, age and education of parent, family environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in parents' actual and ideal perceptions of parenting behavior regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection? The results of the regression analysis indicated that independent ecological variables do relate to mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting, which include sex of parent, cultural and local environment, education of the parent, and sex of child. The results for the two data sets, however, differed for this question. The cross-cultural data set indicated several of the variables to be the strongest depending on the specific construct used in the particular analysis. Also there was less consistency in the cross- cultural data set between the actual and ideal than in the regional analyses. The regional analyses indicated sex of parent to be the strongest variable in the model for both physical play and affection in both the actual and ideal sorts. Sex of parent was important in the verbal construct, but had a lower weight than education. Again the 105 differences between the data sets may be due to the size of the data sets, or it may be the result of cultural differences. Education was found to be the strongest variable in the analyses involving the verbal construct for both the cross-cultural and regional actual data sets. Higher educated mothers and fathers perceived that they verbalized more with their child than lower educated mothers and fathers. The analyses using the verbal construct from the ideal sort indicated environment to be the strongest independent dimension relating to parents perceiving that the ideal parent would verbalize more with his/her child. Culture was the strongest independent dimension in the verbal analysis using the ideal sort from the cross-cultural data, where Michigan mothers and fathers were more predisposed to verbalize with their children. For the regional data set, local environment was the strongest independent dimension in the ideal sort, where urban American parents were more likely than rural American parents to perceive that the ideal parent would verbalize more with his/her child. Finally, sex of child was also related to parent's perceptions of parenting behaviors in the cross-cultural analysis using the actual sort. Examination of the means indicated that mothers of girls were more likely to rank physical play items higher than mothers of boys, especially Michigan mothers. Fathers were found to be similar in their response to physical play items, regardless of the sex of their child. The variable sex of child was also important in the regression analysis for the affection construct in both the actual and ideal sorts. The ANOVA'S supported the importance of the variable, sex of child, 106 but also indicated interaction between culture and sex of child regarding affection, which the regression was unable to detect. The means indicated that Michigan mothers with boys were more predisposed to give their child more affection than Michigan mothers with girls as well as Michigan fathers and Brazilian parents. This suggests that the independent ecological factors relate to each other as well as to parents' perceptions of parenting behavior. These results support the theoretical model by indicating that parenting beliefs are influenced by factors from the various systems within the ecosystem. The results also indicated that the strength of the relationship between the ecological variables and parenting beliefs varied depending on the specific area of parent-child transaction. For example sex of parent was the strongest factor for physical play and education for verbalization. In summary, this study found that multiple factors related to parenting perceptions. In addition, the study found that these ecological dimensions have varying relationships to each parent/child transactional area as well as to themselves. The results from the regional analysis suggest that sex of parent is the strongest independent dimension for physical play and affection for both the actual and ideal, while the cross-cultural analysis indicated that sex of parent was the strongest variable for only the physical play COHStI‘UCt. 107 Research Question 4 Are there differences in the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, family environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mothers' and fathers' discrepancy in the area of physical play, verbalization, and affection. Mother-father discrepancy in general was not found to relate to any of the independent ecological dimensions regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection. Mother-father discrepancy was found to be similar for all parents regardless of age and education of parents, sex of child, and child rearing environment. The results of the mother-father discrepancy indicated that mothers and fathers disagreed more about disciplining and controling their child than any other area of parent-child transaction. Summary Figures 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 provide summaries of the null hypotheses tested in this study and the outcome of the analytical decision regarding them. Mother and father differences in perceptions of parenting behaviors were found. These differences were similar to the differences found in previous observational studies (Lamb, 1977; Parke and Sawin, 1977; Yogman, 1981). Mothers were found to be more predisposed than fathers to show affection to their child, while fathers were more H01 H02 H03 H04 H05 H06 108 Hypethesee fer Reeegeh Qneetiene 1 fig 2 Qeeisien Rnle The Null Hypothes was: There are no significant differences in the Rejected perceptions of actual parenting behavior among mothers and fathers when related to physical play. There are no differences between mothers Rejected and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding physical play with their child. There are no significant differences in the Accepted perceptions of actual parenting behavior among mothers and fathers when related to verbalizing with their children. There are no differences between mothers Rejected and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding verbalizing with their child. There are no significant differences in the Rejected perceptions of actual parenting behavior among mothers and fathers when related to giving affection to their children. There are no differences between mothers Rejected and fathers from Michigan and Brazil in perceptions of parenting activities regarding giving affection to their child. Figure 5.1 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Questions 1 & 2 H07 H08 H09 109 h f ear ' 11 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding physical physical with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding physical play with their children. Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. H010 Sex of parent is not the strongest dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding verbalizing with their children. Dii l The Null Hypothesis was: Rejected Accepted Accepted Accepted 110 H011 Sex of parent is not the strongest Accepted dimension influencing parents' perceptions of parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. H012 Sex of parent is not the strongest Accepted dimension influencing parents' perceptions of ideal parenting behavior regarding giving affection to their children. Figure 5.2 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Question 3 111 H h r r sti 4 Decision—Rule The Null Hypothesis was: H013 There are no differences between Accepted the strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding physical play with their child. H014 There are no differences between the Accepted strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding verbalizing with their child. H015 There are no differences between the Accepted strengths of the independent dimensions of age and education of parent, environment, and sex of child in accounting for variance in mother/father discrepancy regarding giving affection to their child. Figure 5.3 Summary Results of Hypotheses Tested and the Decision Rule for Research Question 4 112 predisposed than mothers to physically play with their child. The regional analysis also suggested evidence to support mother and father differences in the parent-child transactional areas of physical play and affection. In addition, the regional analysis indicated that American mothers and fathers differ to some degree in their perceptions concerning talking with their child. American mothers indicated that they verbalize with their children more than American fathers. Other family ecosystem dimensions as well as sex of parent were found to strongly relate to parenting beliefs. Cultural environment, local environment, education of parent, and sex of child were all shown to have relevance to parenting. Education was found to be the strongest predictor of perceptions regarding verbal behavior, while sex of parent was found to be the strongest dimension in predicting parents' predispositions regarding affection and physical play behavior with their child. Cultural differences were also found for each of these areas of parent/child transaction. These findings support the notion that multiple factors relate to parents' perceptions of parenting behaviors. Further, the findings from this study indicate that differences between mother and father perceptions include other areas of parent/child transactions in addition to the three identified in the Parke and Sawin study (1978). Mothers in general, were more likely to take their child for regular medical and dental check-ups, encourage their child to rest, and encourage their child to eat nutritionally balanced meals. Fathers in general, were more likely 113 than mothers to instruct their child how to solve a problem step by step as well as encourage competitive activities for their children. The study also indicated similarities between mothers and fathers from both cultures as regards to the ranked importance of the three primary constructs, as all parents ranked affection higher than verbalization and physical play. Although all parents ranked affection the highest, degrees of difference among them were evident in that Michigan mothers were found to rank affection significantly higher than Michigan fathers and Brazilian parents of both sexes. All parents indicated affective parenting functions to be important to them, but Michigan mothers were found to be more predisposed to emphasize these items than were the other parents. Finally, the research indicated the ecological variables considered in this study not to be related to the total mother-father discrepancy score. Mother-father discrepancy was not related to age and education of the parent, sex of the child, or child rearing environment. The transactional area of control and punishment was found to have the highest degree of discrepancy or disagreement between mothers and fathers in both the actual and ideal sorts. CHAPTER VI CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Conclusions The results of this study indicated that mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of parenting beliefs. Mothers were more predisposed than fathers to show affection to their child. On the other hand, fathers were more predisposed to physically play with their child than mothers. Analytical evidence also indicated that mothers were more likely than fathers to verbalize with their child. The differences found in the observational studies of parent- child transactions by Parke and Sawin (1978) were similar to the differences found in this study of perceptions of parenting beliefs. This evidence suggests that parenting beliefs and parenting behaviors are related. Mothers and fathers agreed in the priority given the three areas of parent-child transactions of primary interest in this study. Affection was ranked highest and physical play ranked lowest for both mothers and fathers. Clear differences between mothers and fathers existed however, in these areas of general agreement. This seems to support Belsky's (1981) claim that mother and father Similarities outweigh differences, although differences exist. Identification of these differences can help'professionals serve 114 115 parents and educate parents about the differential nature of mothers and father parenting styles. Additional areas of transactional parenting associated with mother and father differences include health and hygiene of the child, discipline and control, and competitiveness. Evidence from this study suggests that mothers were more concerned with the health and hygiene of their child than fathers, while fathers were more predisposed to discipline their child as well as encourage their child to be competitive. It is important to note that fathers ranked competitiveness near the "least like me" end of the continuum, but mothers were more likely than fathers to de-emphasize competitiveness. Identification of these additional areas of differences are helpful to researchers to better understand parenting beliefs and develop theories about mother and father differences. The independent ecological dimensions relating to mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behavior identified in this study included sex of parent and child, education of parent, and local and cultural environments. The results from the cross-cultural analyses indicated sex of parent as an important variable as well as other ecological dimensions, but none of the variables seemed to be primary. The results from the regional analysis indicated sex of parent to be the primary variable for both the affection and physical play constructs; In addition, sex of parent was an important secondary dimension for the verbal construct, while education of the parent was found to be the primary term of the regression equation. Higher educated mothers and fathers were more predisposed than their lower educated peers to verbalize with their children. 116 Environmental differences were also found. Culture and local environment (rural/urban) were found to influence mothers' and fathers' parenting beliefs. Finally, sex of child was found to relate to perceptions of parenting beliefs. Again, this information is helpful to researchers as well as educators in understanding parents' perceptions of their parenting behaviors. This study supports the theoretical model that contends that parenting beliefs are related to parenting behaviors and are influenced by factors within the environment. Although comparative analyses of the parenting beliefs of mothers and fathers was the focus of this study, the descriptive identification of those beliefs perceived to be "most like me" and "least like me" by mothers and fathers is also important in interpreting and understanding mother and father differences. For example, Michigan and regional mothers' and fathers' top three items of the 72 item set reflected emotional affective concerns, and yet differences were found between mothers and fathers in the comparative analyses regarding affection. Thus differences in the transactional area of affection appear to be in degrees of emphasis and not in priorities. Another example is the competitive item that fell on the ”least like me" end of the continuum for both mothers and fathers. Although mothers and fathers agreed in their general placement of the item, comparative analyses indicated differences between mothers and fathers. Both mothers and fathers agreed that competitiveness is valued least, but mothers were more likely than fathers to de-emphasize competitiveness. The reader is referred 117 again to pages 56-68 for a complete listing of the items mothers and fathers ranked as "most like me" and "least like me". Mother-father discrepancy was explored in this study to assess the relationship between the ecological dimensions of this study and mother and father disagreement concerning their parenting approach. Mother-father discrepancy was defined as the absolute difference between a mother's Q-Sort response for a particular item and a father's Q-Sort response to the same item. Although none of the variables were found to relate to mother-father discrepancy, the measurement did indicate that discipline and control had the highest mother-father discrepancy. In summary, the primary contributions of this study are: (l) the identification of the differences associated with mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their parenting behavior regarding physical play, verbalization, and affection, (2) the identification of additional transactional areas associated with mother and father differences, (3) the identification of the relationships between the independent ecological dimensions of culture, education of the parent, sex of child, and child rearing environment, to mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behavior, (4) the identification of important beliefs of mothers and fathers from two cultures, and (5) the examination of mother-father discrepancy in their approach to parenting. 118 Limitations of the Study The primary limitation of this study is that the assessment included only perceptions of parenting behaviors and did not include observational data. A further limitation is that the study examines only intrapersonal dimensions of parenting perceptions and lacks the interpersonal dimension. The study is also limited by the sample. The mothers and fathers in both Michigan and Brazilian data sets were from intact families with firstborn three-year-old children. The sample consisted mainly of middle-class mothers and fathers in their mid- twenties. Implications and Suggestions for Future Research The results from this study illustrate that mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of parenting behavior. The differences identified are similar to those found in previous studies that observed parent-child interactions directly. This would suggest that parenting beliefs do have relationships to parenting behaviors. More research is called for to further assess these links, as the understanding of the relationships between parenting beliefs and behaviors could be helpful to educators, health professionals, and researchers in their service to parents. Educators can use this information to become increasingly sensitive to differences of mothers' and fathers' beliefs when serving 119 parents. In addition, it is helpful for educators and program planners to know that education influences how much a parent values talking with his/her child in order to promote parent education. Research is needed to further assess how education relates to beliefs regarding verbalization as well as beliefs regarding other areas of parent-child transactions. In addition, further research is called for to better understand how a broader set of ecological dimensions influence mothers' and fathers' perceptions of parenting behavior. In a clinical setting, health professionals working with mothers and fathers as a couple can use the concept of mother-father discrepancy to assess and better understand the areas of mother and father disagreement. Professionals could collect these data using the NC-158 Inventory of Parenting Behaviors, thereby enabling the clinical assessment of responses. The responses could be compared to those of the other spouse to assess discrepancy or compared to the norms established by the NC—158 regional project. The discrepancy score could be used to inform the counselor if the mother and father as a unit have high or low discrepancy as well as indicate what areas of parent-child transactions have high discrepancy. I Another interesting research would be the use of the Q- instrument to assess how accurately one spouse could predict the responses of the other spouse. This measurement of accuracy between mother and father could address the interpersonal dimensions of parenting within a family (McLeod and Chaffee, 1978). Another way to assess relational dimensions of mothers and fathers would be to have both mothers and fathers negotiate one set of res lat pr he 120 responses between them on both actual and ideal Q-Sorts. In the latter case, it would be interesting to observe and document the process as well as collect the Q-Sort data. This research could be helpful in further assessing mother and father differences and assisting professionals to better understand interpersonal relations within a family. Appendix A NC-ISB O-SUH l INVENTORY OF PARENTING BEHAVIORS Physical POI. P02. 1303. P04. P05. P06. P07. P08. P09. Pl0. Pll. P12. Pl3. Pill. PIS. PI6. Pl7. PI8. I encourage my child to use his or her hands skillfully (reach for a rattle or color or cut with scissors). I encourage my child to try new physical activities. I provide my child with the opportunity to play outdoors. I provide opportunities for my child to nap, rest, or relax. I make sure my child eats nutritionally balanced meals. I make sure my child has good health habits. I talk with my child about his or her body. I encourage my child to feed himself or herself. I get involved with my child in physically active play. I involve my child in group physical or sport activities. I encourage my child's eye/hand coordination (reaching or grasping an object or assembling a puzzle). I take my child to regular medical and dental check-ups. I encourage my child to move and explore freely (crawling around the floor or walking around the yard or riding a trike). I help or encourage my child to take a both. I encourage my child to clean his or her mouth or teeth each day. I teach my child to roll, kick, throw, or catch. I encourage my child to be involved in motor activities in spite of minor bumps and bruises. I provide my child with daily opportunities for physical exercise. 121 122 Intellectual H9. I20. I2I . l22. l23. l24. IZS. l26. I27. l28. [29. I30. l3 l . I32. I33. I34. I35. I36. I provide educational toys or games for my child. I encourage my child to watch television. I talk with my child about television programs we watch together. I play number and word games with my child. I pronounce words correctly when I talk to my child. I show my child how to solve a problem step by step. I talk with my child about what happened during the day. I encourage my child to ask questions. I teach my child to have a good memory (play peek-a—boo; find toys that have been hidden; remember a story he or she has heard). I help my child do most things (by showing, telling, or teaching). I take my child on trips out of the house whenever possible. I let my child make mistakes even when I can prevent them. I talk to my child about how things look or how 'things happen. I show my child how to use things or how things work. I teach my child how to help me. I often sit and read to my child or have my child read to me. I listen when my child tells me stories. I encourage my child to be creative. s_oc_1_91 S37. S38. $39. $40. Shl. $42. $43. $44. $45. $46. $47. $48. $49. 850. SSI. 552. SS3. 854. 123 I encourage my child to share toys. I encourage my child to get involved in group play. I encourage my child to be involved in competitive activities. I encourage my child to play with both boys and girls. I encourage my child to defend himself or herself if necessary. I encourage my child to initiate games with other children. I encourage my child to help other children. I encourage my child not to be shy. I teach my child to be responsible. I encourage my child to play mostly with the same age playmates. I encourage my child to do things on his or her own. I teach my child to be polite. I encourage my child to be assertive or stand up for himself or herself. I encourage my child to ask for help. I teach my child social behavior through example. I teach my child to obey rules I have set. I encourage my child to play with children from different backgrounds. I encourage my child to take turns. 124 Emotional E67. E68. E69. E70. E7I. E72. I spank my child when necessary. I ignore my child's temper tantrums. I punish my child for misbehaving. I make sure my child has some privacy. I encourage pretend play for expression of feelings. I talk to my child about his or her misbehavior. I encourage my child to express his or her feelings openly. I show my child some sort of physical affection daily (kisses, hugging, etc.) I encourage my child to be affectionate (kissing, hugging). I often praise my child. I reward my child with a gift when he or she is good. I send my child away from me for misbehaving (put in crib or send to bedroom). I threaten to leave my child if he or she disobeys me. I teach my child to be considerate of others. I provide opportunities for my child to make choices so as to get enjoyment out of doing this on his or her own. I step in when my child has problems with another child. My spouse and I often play with our child so that we can enjoy being together. I comfort my child when he or she cries at night. Appendix B Interview Questions: Background - Demographic - Information Either or both parents: 1. We would like to know a bit about your background. Would you tell me your age, educational background, and occupation? Mother: Age (years) Father: Age (years) Education (years) Education (years) Occupation(s) 0ccupation(s) To be able to describe the sample of families helping with this research, we would appreciate knowing your approximate family income? How would you describe your ethnic background? Have you been living here for the last three years? or in this community? Yes No Comment: Let's talk about now. When was born? (child's name) (child's name) (month) 7(day) (year) Is your first child? Yes No (circle answer) If not (Child's name) the first child, how many older children are there in your family? Was the birth "routine" or were there some complications or a multiple birth? How did you feel about having the baby? How is doing now? TchTTd ' 5 name) 125 5. Do you consider yourself affiliated with an organized religion? Yes No If yes, which religion: Ox 0 Are your parenting attitudes mainly influenced by: the way you were raised (your parents' styles). professional recommendations and advice (doctors, teachers, etc.). media (books, movies, T.V., P.E.T., etc.). friends' recommendations and advice. your spouse's style. other. 7. My biological parents are: 8. From birth to age 6, I lived with: 9. From ages 7-12, I lived with: WIFE HUSBAND married to each other separated divorced both deceased father deceased, mother living mother deceased, father living father has remarried mother has remarried my biological father and mother my biological father and stepmother my biological mother and stepfather my mother only my father only my guardian other (please specify) my biological father and mother my biological father and stepmother my biological mother and stepfather my mother only my father only my guardian other (please specify) 127 10. From ages 13-18, I lived with: WIFE HUSBAND my biological father and mother my biological father and stepmother my biological mother and stepfather my mother only my father only my guardian other (please specify) How much time do you spend each week working outside the home? Wife: Average hours spent working outside the home (job) weekly: Husband: Average hours spent working outside the home (job) weekly: Bibliography Ainsworth, M. A. 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