Maternal Behavior toward Own and Other Preschool Children: The Problem of "Ownness"

HALvERsON, CHARLES F., JR., and WALDROP, MARY F. Maternal Behavior toward Own and Other Preschool Children: The Problem of Ownness. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1970, 41, 839-845. The interactions between mothers and their own and other 2/2 year olds were explored to identify maternal behaviors which were consistent across children and those which were closely tied to individual children. A structured interaction session was designed to obtain data on mother-child interactions for male and female preschool children. Results indicate that while maternal behavior tended to be consistent with both children, mothers used significantly more positive, encouraging statements with other children and significantly more negative sanctions with their own children. Mothers of girls talked more than mothers of boys. Also, boys rated as aggressive in the nursery school had mothers who gave more negative, controlling statements to their sons than they did to the other children.