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A Cross‐Cultural Comparison of Parent‐Child Relationships in the United States and West Germany *
Author(s) -
RABBIE JACOB M.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1965.tb00479.x
Subject(s) - german , punitive damages , autonomy , psychology , autocracy , developmental psychology , social psychology , political science , law , democracy , history , archaeology , politics
In view of conflicting reports on the alleged autocratic structure of the German family as contrasted with the alleged equalitarian structure of the American family, two matched samples of forty‐four American and forty‐four German high‐school graduates, all participants in a foreign exchange programme, were questioned about parent‐child relationships in their own country. American parents were reported to be less strict and to give their children more autonomy than German parents, who also tended to use more punitive child‐rearing methods. In both nations the father is viewed as the main disciplinarian, while the mother is described as being more affectionate. The German father appears to be stricter with his children than his American counterpart, while the American mothers exert more achievement pressure than German mothers. In general, the parental role of father and mother is more differentiated in Germany than in the United States. The author wishes to thank the officials and students of the American Field Service whose co‐operation made this research possible. He is also indebted to Mrs S. Soutendijk, J. Quint, J. Hörst and Miss I. Sixma who assisted in all parts of the investigation., Manuscript received 21 August 1964, Revised manuscript received 15 November 1964