Determinants of Adolescent Perceptions of Maternal and Paternal Power in the Family

A social power framework is utilized to locate those variables that influence adolescent perceptions of power in the parental unit. The variables are categorized as parental resources, family resources, family size, adolescents' traditionalism, as indicated by religiosity, and adolescent demographic factors. A major focus of the study is to test the viability of resource theory fbr explaining adolescent perceptions of parental power. A purposive subsample (N = 296) of high school adolescents was obtained and a self-report methodology was employed. Regression analyses support the utility of a resource theory approach. A major finding is that those potential determinant variables taken together are less influential for adolescent perceptions of maternal than paternal power. Possible explanations are explored. It is also demonstrated that parental power perceptions are not sex-linked fbr adolescents and samesex parents but are found to occur in a similar manner with both parents fobr male and female adolescents, though the multivariate relationships are consistently weaker for female adolescents.