Gender and parents' reactions to children's emotion during the preschool years

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors examine the differences between mothers and fathers in the socialization of specific emotions in preschool-aged boys and girls. They argue that mothers and fathers play both distinct and complementary roles in the development of children's emotional competence; these roles are influenced both by parents' own gender, as well as the child's gender and the type of emotion being socialized. Through analyses of descriptive data, it appears that mothers and fathers respond to their children's emotions differently. The authors provide a discussion of the potential underlying reasons and potential implications for distinct emotion socialization by mothers and fathers.