Childhood Memory of Parental Authority as Related to Family Constellation Variables

Abstract

Several investigations of family constellation variables and parental authority have shown that firstborns demonstrate higher perception of parental authority than do later borns. This study approached early childhood perceptions from a different perspective, long-term memory. Also, an attempt was made to equalize several variables that might influence research on birth-order research and parental authority. A sample of 282 dentists was interviewed regarding childhood perceptions of parental strictness-permissiveness and family constellation variables. No relationships were found for parental strictness-permissiveness and family constellation variables. The implications of the lack of relationships were discussed.