Factors Affecting Children's, Adolescents', and Young Adults' Perceptions of Parental Discipline

A total of 663 second graders, sixth graders, high school students, and college undergraduates were shown three videotapes depicting a mother's or father's reaction to a daughter or son who had treated peers unkindly. Although the participants generally favored induction over power assertion and love withdrawal, their perceptions of the particular discipline techniques were found to be influenced by their gender and age, as well as the genders of the child-transgressor and parent-disciplinarian. In addition, the evaluation of a given discipline technique (and, among the older participants, the reported intention of using this technique with their own son or daughter in the future) was found to be related to participants' reports of the extent to which their own parents had used the same technique.