Perceived Similarity to Parents as a Function of Their Secondary Reinforcement Value

Abstract

The main problem concerned relationships between measures of perceived similarity to parents and children's ratings of the desirability of their parents' traits, the secondary reinforcement value of the parents. Of related interest was the use of an improved technique for assessing perceived similarity and the consideration of the children's ages in association with perceived similarity to parents, self-concept, and the secondary reinforcement value of the parents. Measures were derived from the adjective checklist technique, and partial correlations suggested that for both boys and girls the perceived similarity to the father was clearly contingent upon the extent to which the child rated him favorably. The comparable correlations involving the mother showed no such relationship. Age was not significantly related to any of the variables with which it was correlated.