Everyday rules for behavior: Mothers' requests to young children.

This study examined how mothers socialize young children toward behavioral self-regulation. In a longitudinal paradigm focused on developmental issues, mothers of toddlers and preschoolers reported rules for everyday behaviors and noted the child's level of compliance. Results showed (a) commonalities among mothers in the network of rules being socialized, (b) age-related increases in numbers and kinds of rules, (c) a shift in the structure of rule networks from an early emphasis on safety toward encouraging autonomy and integrating children into the family, and (d) an inherent developmental organization within rule networks. For children, findings revealed (a) compliance was highest in situations that involved rules for safety and other's possessions, and (b) gradual age-related movement from external control to internally mediated compliance