Abstract
Interactions between parents and their third grade children were coded for 40 dyads from the Midwest US, evenly divided by gender and social class. Transcripts were coded for parents’ and children’s use of assertive and affiliative conversational styles. Overall, mothers used more affiliative speech than fathers, and fathers used more assertive speech than mothers; both parents used more affiliative speech with sons and more assertive speech with daughters. Middle class parents were more affiliative in their conversational styles than working class parents. No differences in children’s speech were found for either gender or class. These results suggest that parents convey implicit information about gender and social status to children through everyday interactions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfieri, T., Ruble, D. N., & Higgins, E. T. (1996). Gender stereotypes during adolescence: Developmental changes and the transition to junior high school. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1129–1137.
Anderson, K. J., & Leaper, C. (1998). Meta-analyses of gender effects on conversational interruption: Who, what, when, where, and how. Sex Roles, 39, 225–252.
Berger, J., Fisek, M. H., Norman, R. Z., & Zeiditch Jr., M. (1977). Status characteristics and social interaction: An expectation-states approach. New York: Elsevier.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Handbook of child psychology, vol. 1: Theoretical models of human development ((pp. 993–1028)5th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Brookes.
Hibbard, D. R., & Buhrmester, D. (1998). The role of peers in the socialization of gender-related social interaction styles. Sex Roles, 39, 185–202.
Hoff, E., Laursen, B., & Tardiff, T. (2002). Socioeconomic status and parenting. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.) Handbook of parenting, vol. 2: Biology and ecology of parenting ((pp. 231–252)2nd ed.). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Hollingshead, A. (1975). The four-factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript. New Haven: Yale University Department of Sociology.
Kohn, M. (1977). Class and conformity: A study in values. With a reassessment, 1977 (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lanvers, U. (2004). Gender in discourse behaviour in parent–child dyads: a literature review. Child: Care, Health & Development, 30, 481–493.
Laursen, B., & Collins, A. W. (2004). Parent–child communication during adolescence. In A. L. Vangelisti (Ed.) Handbook of family communication (pp. 333–348). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Leaper, C. (1991). Influence and involvement in children's discourse: age, gender, and partner effects. Child Development, 62, 797–811.
Leaper, C., Anderson, K. J., & Sanders, P. (1998). Moderators of gender effects on parents’ talk to their children: a meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology, 34, 3–27.
Leaper, C., Tenenbaum, H. R., & Shaffer, T. G. (1999). Communication patterns of African American girls and boys from low-income, urban backgrounds. Child Development, 70, 1489–1503.
Leaper, C., Leve, L., Strasser, T., & Schwartz, R. (1995). Mother–child communication sequences: Play activity, child gender, and marital status effects. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 41, 307–327.
Leaper, C., & Smith, T. E. (2004). A meta-analytic review of gender variations in children’s language use: talkativeness, affiliative speech, and assertive speech. Developmental Psychology, 40, 993–1027.
Leman, P. J., Ahmed, S., & Ozarow, L. (2005). Gender, gender relations, and the social dynamics of children’s conversations. Developmental Psychology, 41, 64–74.
Malone, M. J., & Guy, R. F. (1982). A comparison of mothers’ and fathers’ speech to their 3-year-old sons. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 11, 599–608.
Stafford, L. (2004). Communication competencies and sociocultural priorities of middle childhood. In A. L. Vangelisti (Ed.) Handbook of family communication pp. 311–332. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand: women and men in conversation. New York: Morrow.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1977). Women’s place in everyday talk: Reflections on parent-child interaction. Social Problems, 24, 521–529.
Acknowledgements
The parent–child conversations analyzed in the present study were collected as part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a multi-site study directed by a Steering Committee and supported by NICHD through a cooperative agreement (U10), which calls for scientific collaboration between the grantees and the NICHD staff. We thank the families for their participation, all those who participated at the site on data collection and transcribing, and Dr. Ken Gruber for statistical consultation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shinn, L.K., O’Brien, M. Parent–Child Conversational Styles in Middle Childhood: Gender and Social Class Differences. Sex Roles 59, 61–67 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9443-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9443-1