Assessing Mothers’ and Children’s Perceptions of Power Through Personal, Conventional, and Prudential Conflict Situations

Abstract

Mothers’ and school-aged children’s perceptions of types of power executed (coercive, reward, legitimate, information, negotiation, and sneaky) in three domains of conflict (personal, conventional, and prudential) were investigated. Participants included 41 children ranging from 7 to 12 years ( M = 10.12, SD = 1.42) and their mothers. Perceptions of power were assessed through an interview consisting of 12 conflict-provoking scenarios. Results indicated that mothers were reported as using more coercive power in the conventional domain and more information power across all domains than did children. Children were viewed as exercising more reward power in the personal and prudential domains, more legitimate power in the personal domain, and more sneaky power in conventional and prudential domains than did mothers. This study contributes to our understanding of child-rearing beliefs, behaviors, and attributes of power in mother-child relationships during middle childhood.