Abstract
This study investigated the characteristics of adult-child disputes in 10 Mandarinspeaking families in Mainland China. Naturalistic interactions between caregivers and their 2-year-old toddlers were analyzed by coding the occurrence of disputes and the disagreement strategies used by caregivers and toddlers in times of dispute. Results showed that children's most frequent disagreement strategies included direct refusals, protests, and silence. In contrast, adults seldom used silence or refusals but instead used direct positive requests, expressions of dissatisfaction, and prohibitions when disagreeing with their toddlers. Overall, the results from the present study support the notion that disputes are ways to reflect existing social structures and ways by which adults in a culture can socialize children into disagreement strategies appropriate to their roles.
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