Conservative Protestant childrearing: Authoritarian or authoritative?

Recent research on conservative Protestantism suggests that religion has re emerged as an important predictor of childrearing attitudes and practices. This research has focused on the distinctive approach toward discipline amo ng conservative Protestant parents. No study, however, has explored the lin ks between conservative Protestantism and positive parental emotion work (p hysical and verbal expressions of affection). I suggest, paradoxically, tha t this subculture is characterized both by strict discipline and an unusual ly warm and expressive style of parent-child interaction. I review parentin g advice offered by conservative Protestant leaders, which encourages paren ts to engage in positive emotion work with their children. I then analyze d ata from the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to determine if religious affiliation and theological conservatism are relate d to positive parental emotion work. I find that parents with conservative theological beliefs are more likely to praise and hug their children than a re parents with less conservative theological views. Modest positive net ef fects of conservative Protestant affiliation are also found.