Family Environment Factors and Children's Knowledge of Rules and Conventions

Abstract

JOHNSON, JAMES E., and MCGILLICUDDY-DEUSI, ANN. Family Environment Factors and Children's Knowledge of Rules and Conventions. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 218-226. The relationships among socioeconomic status, family constellation, parental practices, and preschool-age children's awareness and rationales for rules and conventions were investigated. Children's knowledge of rules and conventions was related to social class variables, but parental behaviors were predictive of children's level of knowledge above and beyond demographic characteristics. Affective feedback behaviors from parents were predictive of child outcomes, suggesting that early socialization modes consistent with social learning theory are more appropriate at the preschool age than parental induction or distancing techniques that are directed at the child's cognitive processes.