Reducing Child-Related Negative Attitudes, Attributions of Hostile Intent, Anger, Harsh Parenting Behaviors, and Punishment Through Evaluative Conditioning

Abstract

Six studies explored the extent to which evaluative conditioning (EC) can change adults’ child-related attitudes and expectations. A subset of studies also investigated the extent to which EC can change child-related attributions of hostile intent, anger, use of harsh discipline, and use of punishment. An initial study demonstrated that a brief EC procedure increased positive attitudes, decreased negative attitudes, and decreased expected need for future child discipline; findings that were replicated in five additional studies. A randomized controlled trial demonstrated these findings were present in the EC condition, but not in a control condition. Increases in positive child attitudes and decreases in the expected need for future child discipline (but not decreases in negative child attitudes) were maintained at a follow-up assessment. EC increases in positive attitudes generalized to child stimuli similar to those used in the EC procedure (exemplars), but no other EC-induced changes were found for exemplars. EC reduced child-related attributions of hostile intent, anger, use of harsh verbal discipline, use of harsh physical discipline, and use of punishment for ambiguous child behaviors. There was no evidence that EC effects were due to demand characteristics and little evidence that EC effects were moderated by demographic characteristics. It is yet to be determined whether the observed EC changes can be produced when a parent’s own child is used in the EC procedure and whether EC can produce changes in negative parenting behaviors that are maintained across time. The possible use of EC as an adjunct to existing parenting programs is discussed.