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Social Interactions in the Home and the Development of Young Children's Conceptions of the Personal
Author(s) -
Nucci Larry,
Weber Elsa K.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00944.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , negotiation , social psychology , autonomy , reciprocal , social relation , moral development , personal development , personal autonomy , sociology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , political science , law , psychotherapist
Observations and interviews of 20 middle‐class 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds and their mothers were conducted to examine the emergence of the personal domain. Interviews with children showed that 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds make a conceptual distinction between personal, and moral or conventional issues. Interviews with mothers indicated that they viewed it as important for young children to have freedom of choice over personal issues to develop a sense of autonomy and individuality. Observations in the home revealed that mothers tended to give direct social messages to children about moral, conventional, and prudential events, and were more likely to give indirect social messages in the form of offered choices to children in response to personal issues. Mothers were more likely to negotiate with children over personal than other social events. These data revealed a pattern of social interactions concordant with event domain, which included a reciprocal system along the border between the personal and the conventional.