Influences on Parent Behavior, 1958

This study investigated the influences on child-rearing behavior as revealed in interviews with parents. The inquiry focused on three areas: (1) values (including value of parental role), goals as parents, aspirations for children, and behaviors they seek to inculcate; (2) beliefs, both instrumental and descriptive; and (3) other influences, such as parents' experiences in their own families or communities of origin, or the effect of their children's behavior. The study was not intended to relate parental values, beliefs, or other influences to specific child-rearing practices. Participants were 41 sets of parents of young children located through agencies, neighborhood visits, and referrals from pediatricians and ministers. The families in the sample were diverse in socioeconomic status, religion, age, occupation, educational attainment, and in the number and age of their children. Fathers and mothers were interviewed separately in their homes by different staff members in four approximately one-hour sessions. The initial, semistructured, exploratory interview tapped goals, beliefs, and values, the instigations and direction of changes in these, and any "problems" with a child or "critical incidents" for the family. Other data included: (1) an intensive investigation of the evening meal and the issue of obedience; (2) a checklist of values, beliefs, and influences; and (3) a family data form. The Murray Research Archive holds all of the original record paper data from this study.