Perceived Parent-Child Relationships: A Comparison between Amish and Non-Amish Young Adults

Abstract

This study compared the perceived parental behavior characteristics of 25 Amish and 25 non-Amish youth using the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR). The Amish group's perception of their fathers, behavioral characteristics, as compared to the perception of behavioral characteristics for non-Amish parents, differed significantly on several measures of the parent-child relationships. The Amish mothers and fathers were perceived as being less rejecting, less neglecting, less casual, less likely to reward directly and less likely to use symbolic methods of punishment. And, further, the Amish fathers were perceived as being more loving than the non-Amish fathers and the Amish mothers were viewed as being less likely to reward symbolically when compared to the non-Amish mothers. The results were discussed in light of the Amish culture.