Parental autonomy granting during adolescence: exploring gender differences in context.

MF Bumpus, AC Crouter, SM McHale�- Developmental psychology, 2001 - psycnet.apa.org
MF Bumpus, AC Crouter, SM McHale
Developmental psychology, 2001psycnet.apa.org
This study investigated the ways in which 2 indicators of parental autonomy granting,
adolescents' decision-making input and parental knowledge of adolescents' daily
experiences, differed as a function of contextual factors (ie, parents' gender role attitudes or
sibling dyad sex composition) and boys' and girls' personal qualities (ie, gender, pubertal
status, developmental status, or birth order) in a sample of 194 families with firstborn (M=
15.0 years) and second-born (M= 12.5 years) adolescents. Firstborns were granted more�…
Abstract
This study investigated the ways in which 2 indicators of parental autonomy granting, adolescents' decision-making input and parental knowledge of adolescents' daily experiences, differed as a function of contextual factors (ie, parents' gender role attitudes or sibling dyad sex composition) and boys' and girls' personal qualities (ie, gender, pubertal status, developmental status, or birth order) in a sample of 194 families with firstborn (M= 15.0 years) and second-born (M= 12.5 years) adolescents. Firstborns were granted more autonomy than second borns, especially in families with firstborn girls and second-born boys. Girls in families marked by traditional maternal gender role attitudes were granted fewer autonomy opportunities. Postmenarcheal second-born girls were granted more opportunities for autonomy than were premenarcheal second-born girls, but only in families with less traditional maternal gender role attitudes.
American Psychological Association