PARENTAL EVALUATION AND ITS RELATION TO SHAME AND PRIDE IN YOUNG-CHILDREN

This study examines the evaluative behavior of parents toward their yo ung children as a function of child gender. It also examines relations between parental evaluative comments and children's emotional behavio r, specifically the expressions of shame and pride. Thirty intact, mid dle-class, Caucasian families and their 3-year-old children participat ed in the study. Dyadic interactions between each parent and child wer e videotaped across problem-solving situations. Transcripts were coded into categories of parent evaluative behavior and children's emotions were scored. Findings indicated that parents used more specific and p ositive, rather than global or negative evaluations. Moreover, boys re ceived more positive evaluations while girls received more negative on es. Although children's expression of pride was not related to parenta l evaluative behavior, their expression of shame was related. Gender d ifferences in parental evaluation were observed that may explain the g ender differences in self-evaluation of the children themselves.