Patterns of Early Socialization: Mother-and Father-Infant Interaction in the Home

Abstract

To provide a description of early socialization patterns in the home, naturalistic observations of the families of 24 first-born infants (four boys and four girls at each of three ages: 11, 14, and 17 months) were conducted. Four kinds of parental socializing practices were recorded: behavioral socialization, cognitive socialization, parent-infant play, and short-term behavioral regulation. The majority of interactions fell into the cognitive socialization and short-term behavioral regulation categories. Parental socialization practices were geared to the child's developmental level: attempts to regulate infant attention and aggression decreased with age; attempts to engage infants in planful, self-regulated sequences of behavior (household responsibilities and prosocial behavior) increased. Mothers attempted to enforce more household rules than did fathers, and both mothers and fathers were more likely to discourage aggression and encourage prosocial behavior in their girls, and to encourage household responsibilities and turn-taking games in their boys.