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Abstract

This investigation sought to test the hypothesis that maternal attitudes toward family life are significantly related to selected behaviors of mothers, observed in interaction with their children. Of the 374 comparisons made by means of Spearman rank correlation coefficients, computed between frequencies in 17 maternal behavior categories and 22 attitude scales of the PARI, 8 evidenced significant relationships (p ≤ .05). Of the 17 behavior categories, only 3 showed a significant relationship with the sex of the child (p = .05) when the median test was applied between frequencies of maternal contacts with sons and daughters. The mothers of daughters evidenced more Contacting and Structuring interactions than mothers of sons. However, mothers of sons showed more Restricting behavior.

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References

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Lower-Class Mothers' Behavior and Attitudes toward Child Rearing

Abstract

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