Parents' perceptions of raising young children were examined using the
Parent Behavior Checklist. The sample included 44 married couples wit
h children between one and four years of age. Parents completed the ch
ecklist twice, first based on how each parent was raising one own chil
d and second based on how each perceived the spouse was raising the sa
me child. The results indicated that fathers and mothers had similar d
evelopmental expectations for their young children. Fathers tended to
be more disciplinarian and mothers more nurturing. Mothers perceived f
athers as having higher expectations than did fathers, and fathers per
ceived mothers as more disciplinarian than did mothers. Correlation co
efficients computed to assess agreement between mothers' and fathers'
perceptions of their parenting averaged .68, which is comparable to th
ose found for other rating scales completed by parents. Implications a
re discussed.