CHILDRENS REASONING ABOUT AUTHORITY IN-HOME AND SCHOOL CONTEXTS

The study investigated the development of children's concepts of autho rity at home and at school. Subjects (35 m, 35 f) in grades 1-6 were a sked to evaluate persons issuing two types of commands to children: on e which resolves a turn-taking dispute and one which Enforces a conven tional rule. Persons of varying ages and with varying positions in the family, (parent, older/younger sibling, neighbor! were presented issu ing commands at home and a parent was presented issuing commands at sc hool. Results show that children's judgments of authority in the home are based more on authority position than adult status; younger siblin gs with delegated authority positions are accepted as authorities by m ore children than knowledgeable adults without delegated authority. Ch ildren's authority concepts become increasingly, more differentiated w ith respect to the social-organizational positions and functions of pe rsons in authority across grades one to six.