Family Flashcards
3 main functions of family
- promoting survival
- support (emotional, financial)
- socialization
Socialization
the process through which children acquire the values, standards, knowledge, and behaviors seen as appropriate for their role in their culture
i.e. help children become competent members of society
4 components of family systems model
- parent relations
- sibling relations
- parent 1-child relations
- parent 2-child relations
2 dimesions of parenting
- responsiveness/warmth/support/acceptance
- demandingness/control (behavioral, psychological)
discipline (e.g. physical punishment like spanking is linked to negative outcomes like aggression, antisocial behavior, mental health problems, impaired cognition)
4 parenting styles
Baumrind
- permissive/indulgent
- authoritative
- authoritarian
- uninvolved/neglectful
Permissive parent
- highly supportive but makes few rules
- trusts rather than monitors
Authoritative parent
highly supportive and closely monitors and sets rules
linked to self-reliance, social competence, academic competence, low distress symptoms and school misconduct
Authoritarian parent
sets many rules and closely monitors but offers little support
Uninvolved parent
sets few rules, does not monitor, and offers little active support
“Kids will be kids, you’ll learn from your mistakes”
Children of authoritarian parents
- often well-behaved and compliant, but may be aggressive
- often fearful, anxious, unhappy
- struggle with social connections and self-reliance
Children of authoritative parents
- often cheerful
- show self-control and self-reliance
- good relationship with peers and adults
- adapt well to stress
Children of permissive parents
- often impulsive and struggle with self-regulation
- may show aggression and deviant behavior
- difficulty in school
- decent self-esteem and social skills
Children of uninvolved parents
most likely to exhibit a wide range of challenges (school, peers, behavioral problems)
Effect of parental conflict on children’s cognition
- conflict leads to poor outcomes (e.g. lower scores on cognitive assessment)
- good parenting may buffer the effects of poor marriage
Problems associated with children of divorced parents
parent conflict, stress, diminished parenting, economic difficulties, social difficulties, absence of a parent/fear of absence, relocation
- but most children (75%) do alright!
- divorce leads to positive outcomes (less psychological distress and more happiness) when there’s a lot of conflict in the family
Divorce as a process
- pre-divorce differences
- short-term effects (challenges peak at 1 year)
- long-term effects (e.g. greater risk of dropping out, divorcing yourself)
Children of same sex parents
vs children of heterosexual parents
- no difference in adjustment, personality, achievement. sexual orientation
- appear to have closer parent-child relationships
- report feeling different and subjected to social slights but feel positively about their families
but studies are often criticized for small and selective samples
Role of parenting across cultures
reflect the values and beliefs of a given cultural context
* behavioral norms
* beliefs about parenting and child devlopment
* role of extended family
* resources available
parenting has the same goals but is culturally-situated (e.g. variations in relationship between parenting style and outcomes across and within cultures)
Similarities in parenting across cultures
- all use warmth/support and control (but have different ways of expression and ideal amounts)
- warmth/support appears beneficial for development across cultures (though inconsistent findings)
Chinese parenting
- less warmth: tend to withhold praise as praise is believed to lead to self-satisfied childred
- more control: belief in deeply-involved parents, respect for family/authority
some classic studies show no negative effects from higher control while many recent studies show negative effects across Chinese and NA families
Latino parenting
- more warmth (familismo): desire for family ties and family support
- more control (respeto): fulfill obligations and maintain harmonious relationships
somewhat inconsistent findings! but some studies find positive outcomes linked to warmth + hostile control
Theory of normativeness
- not all parents within a culture think and behave the same
- congruence of parents’ practices with others in their cultural context may be more adaptive for children
but there may be limits to normativeness!
How are sibling relationships unique?
- typically neither vertical (e.g. parent-child) or horizontal (e.g peers) power structures
- more warmth/support and conflicts than friendships
- generally non-voluntary and often long-lasting
Variations in sibling relationships
- caregiver: one sibling serves as a quasi-parent (e.g. older sister)
- buddy: both siblings like each other and try to be like each other (e.g. closer in age, sisters)
- casual/uninvolved: siblings have little to do with each other
- critical/conflictual/rival: one sibling tries to dominate the other (e.g. teasing, fighting)
depending on age (or age gaps) and kind (e.g. biological vs adopted vs step vs half)
