The Interplay Between Parents and Peers as Socializing Influences in Children's Development

Abstract

For the most part, separate research traditions have developed to study children ' s relationships with parents and peers. The organization and format of this handbook refl ect these separate and distinct literatures. Studies of children ' s interactions with their parents have focused on attachment security (see Chapter 17 ), parenting practices (see Chapter 18 ), and variations associated with demographic and cultural factors (see Chapters 8 and 9 ). As a quick perusal of these chapters reveals, a central issue for many researchers is identifying the effects of children ' s experiences with their parents on a host of social and emotional outcomes including mental health, adjustment, empathy, and prosocial behaviors. Other researchers have focused on children ' s relationships with their peers and studied areas such as peer acceptance and rejection (see Chapter 21 ), friendship (see Chapter 25 ), and peer group interaction (see Chapter 23 ) as socializing infl uences on child developmental outcomes. As a review of the four chapters in the " Peer Group " part of this handbook clearly illustrates, this corpus of work is also large.The purpose of the current chapter is to consider the smaller but important body of literature that examines the role of both parents and peers on child development. We consider fi ve interrelated issues: (a) the infl uence of parent -child relationships on children ' s interactions and relationships with their peers, (b) the infl uence of peer experiences on children ' s interactions and relationships with their parents, (c) additive or cumulative effects of parents and peers on social and cognitive outcomes, (d) interactive or synergistic effects of parents and peers on child developmental outcomes, and fi nally

Driven by context? The interrelated effects of parents, peers, classrooms on development of prejudice among Swedish majority adolescents.

“…Parents and peers communicate, model, and reinforce certain attitudes, which contributes to parent-child and peer-child attitudinal similarity. Parents are seen as the principal agent of socialization because they not only provide the norms of appropriate attitudes but also manage children’s environments, including their children’s interactions with peers (Grusec, 2011; Parke, Burks, Carson, Neville, & Boyum, 1994; Reich & Vandell, 2011). Whereas the definition of parents is often straightforward, the peer environment consists of crowds, cliques, and close friends, with close friends having the most influence (Brown & Klute, 2008).…”

“…On the other hand, research has shown that the lagged effects of parental prejudice are more stable than those of peers’ (Miklikowska, 2017), suggesting that long-term and obligatory relationships with parents have stronger effects than transitive peers. However, socialization literature shows that parents, in addition to direct effects, might also exert indirect effects by managing their children’s environments, selecting organizations they join, and monitoring their social interactions (Grusec, 2011; Parke et al, 1994; Reich & Vandell, 2011), making them overall more important than peers (Steinberg, 2001). In particular, parental attitudes might have consequences for the kind of peers youth associate with (i.e., less or more prejudiced).…”

Gender Disrupted During Storytime: Critical Literacy in Early Childhood

“…As much as Miu Lan's story is about self-acceptance and expression, this text also demonstrates the ways in which peer socialization influences children's gender development (Reich & Vandell, 2011). Schools as sites of gender socialization, particularly through the inclusionary and exclusionary politics of the playground, are explored in this children's book, tracing the social ups and downs experienced by a young nonbinary protagonist who possesses visible differences in childhood gender expression from their peers.…”

Socialization in Infancy and Childhood

“…Both fathers and mothers play an important role in the facilitation of their children's peer relationships by initiating informal contact between their own children and potential play partners, especially among young children (Reich and Vandell, 2011). However, from infancy through middle childhood, mothers are more likely to assume the managerial role than fathers (Parke, 2002).…”