Parents' Perceptions of Their Preschool Children's Obedience

Abstract

This study compared parents' perceptions of their own preschool children's obedience with their perceptions of other preschool children's obedience, and compared the mothers' and fathers' perceptions with each other. Parents of 44 nursery-school children predicted the obedience levels of their own children and of most other children in an experiment on obedience. Their predictions suggest that parents perceive their own children as more obedient than other children to the request of an adult stranger, and that mothers and fathers differ in their perceptions of how obedient their children are.