Maternal Strategies for Regulating Children's Behavior

Abstract

The present study is a replication in India of a study by Conroy et al. (1980) on Japanese and American mothers' regulating their children's behavior. Sixty Indian mothers having one to three children were given six hypothetical compliance-relevant situations and were asked to report how they would behave in those situations to make their children comply. Their responses were classified into two categories: cognitive structuring and psychological space. The findings were compared with those of Conroy et al. The results revealed that although the American mothers reported using their own authority and power for compliance from their children, the Indian and Japanese mothers reported appeals on the basis of feelings and consequences. The American and Japanese mothers used an imperative approach as compared to the Indian mothers.