The Role of Maternal Control in the Development of Sex Differences in Child Self‐Evaluative Factors

Abstract

The major goal of the present research was to examine the role of parental control in the development of sex differences in 2 pivotal self-evaluative factors in children: taking responsibility for failure and possessing strong standards. Parents were expected to use control with and without autonomy granting in specific domains differentially with girls and boys on a daily basis, and this was expected to foster sex differences in children's self-evaluative factors. Ninety-one mothers of elementary school children completed a daily checklist for 10 to 21 days. The checklist assessed mothers' everyday use of control and autonomy granting in 5 specific domains (helping, monitoring, decision making, praising, and disciplining). Children completed self-report measures assessing their tendency to take responsibility for failure and the strength of their standards. As anticipated, mothers were more likely to employ control without autonomy granting with girls than with boys, but were more likely to employ control with autonomy granting with boys than with girls. Significantly, this pattern of gender socialization partially mediated the tendency of girls to take greater responsibility for failure than boys. Although there were no sex differences in the strength of children's standards, the pattern of gender socialization was associated with the strength of children's standards as well.

Psychological Balance in High Level Athletes: Gender-Based Differences and Sport-Specific Patterns

“…The age range of athletes (adolescence and early adulthood) corresponds to that during which the highest rates of anxiety are usually found; Leray et al [15] found that in the French population, about 12.8% of individuals had GAD, with the highest rates found in 18 to 34 year-olds (14.3%). Just as unsatisfactory school performance is often a source of anxiety in adolescents [26], it is easily conceivable that the pressure to excel within their sport could present a risk factor in high level athletes; especially if a large discrepancy exists between the desired or imposed goals and actual performance, and thus becomes a source of excessive worry. Yet despite the pressures inherent to high level sport, the overall prevalence of GAD in athletes appears no higher than in the population.…”

Empirically Derived Knowledge on Adolescent Assent to Pediatric Biomedical Research

“…Similarly, some researchers have raised the concern that physician influence and the routine and ritualized nature of research participation requests may minimize patient autonomy (Lidz et al 1984), while others have concluded that physician influence is usually exerted in a way that enhances patient autonomy (Ong et al 1995). The general consensus is that children and young adolescents are likely to perceive less autonomy and exercise less resistance to social influence in medical decision-making situations than older adolescents and young adults (Nucci and Smetana 1996; Pomerantz and Ruble 1998; Smetana and Daddis 2002; Weithorn and Scherer 1994). …”

Parental involvement, child temperament, and parents' work hours: Differential relations for mothers and fathers

“…Alternatively, both mothers and fathers may be more involved with difficult or irregular girls, but not with temperamentally challenging boys. Some research with older children, for example, suggests that mothers in particular are more likely to exert control over their daughters, while granting greater autonomy to their sons (Pomerantz & Ruble, 1998). Although this remains an exploratory issue, this work was designed to test whether child sex moderated the links between temperament and parental involvement.…”