Perception of Parental Roles in Preschool Children

Abstract

Socioeconomic class and sex differences in preschoolers' concepts of parental roles were investigated using 40 preschool children, 20 each from non‐professional and professional class families with 10 boys and 10 girls in each group. A Perception of Parents Pictorial Interview was administered and analyzed using 2‐way analyses of variance of (1) caretaking roles, (2) companionship roles, and (3) the total, reflecting both roles. Social class was significant in all three analyses and sex was significant for total scores and for companion ship. Professional class children, particularly boys, are more apt to perceive both parents fulfilling parental roles rather than either one alone.