Daniela Edith Loya
The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Psychology
Honors Research Project
A Controversy Revisited: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Understanding, Temperament, and Intergenerational Transmission to Discipline Type
Parental discipline methods for children have often been at the center of controversy. Due to today's greater understanding of the effect of childhood experiences on later development, discovering the most effective form of discipline has become an important goal for the field of psychology. Internalization of values by the child is often seen as the ultimate result of an effective discipline method. The relevant question to ask is "which method best achieves this internalization?" Methods such as power assertion, withdrawal of privileges, and reasoning, to name but a few, have been studied in attempts to find an answer.
The work of Grusec and Goodnow (1994) serves as the basis for this honor's research project. They suggest that multiple factors need to be considered when looking at any disciplinary situation and its level of effectiveness, namely:
Nature of MisdeedNature of Parental ReactionNature of ChildNature of ParentThe Grusec and Goodnow model is far too complex to review in the scope of a two-semester honors project. My intent, therefore, is to look at a small number of components from the model of particular interest to me. These factors and many more are crucial in determining whether a child will internalize or reject the values being presented to him or her via the disciplinary action. In an effort to begin to understand the hidden mechanisms at work during a disciplinary incident, the focus of this study will be on how parental perceptions of effective discipline, parental disciplinary history, and children's temperaments interact within any such event. The hypothesis is that parental disciplinary beliefs will be greatly influenced by their childhood experience and show clear evidence of intergenerational transmission of discipline philosophy. It is also predicted that power assertion as a disciplinary practice will prove greatest with children classified as difficult or slow-to-warm up in temperament. A gender effect revealing power assertion as a more common form of discipline for male over female children is expected. Finally, it is expected that children will achieve a greater understanding of wrongdoing when the discipline is noncorporal versus corporal.
The methodology for this study is quite straightforward. Mothers of two to five year old children will be recruited from the Austin Children's Museum (ACM Flyer) as well as Longhorn Halloween (LH Flyer), a celebration of Halloween sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin. Mothers who wish to participate will then be contacted at a later date via telephone for a short 15-30 minute survey. The survey consists of the following:
Background Information PRCM Oral Interview Temperament Form
Results:
Fifty-five mothers of 2-5 year old children completed a telephone interview regarding their disciplinary practices. A one-way ANOVA revealed that greater understanding was achieved when noncorporal discipline was used, F(1, 52) = 7.761, p < .01. T-tests did not reveal significant effects of temperament on either harshness or frequency of punishment. Evidence for intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment was found,
C 2 .05 (1df) = 5.25. The complexity of child discipline leads to more questions than answers.
Comments and Suggestions: Damasita@mail.utexas.edu
Last updated: December 14, 2000
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