Attitudes of Rural School Children toward their Parents

Abstract

In the present study a modified rating scale was administered to a representative school population of 978 Ss in grades 7-12. The concepts investigated were "father" and "mother." The results were reduced to two 10 x 10 correlational matrices and separately factor analyzed using Kaiser's varimax rotation. A comparison of the factor structures of the father and mother concepts revealed differences of dimensionality. The comparison also revealed that attitudes toward the mother are more complex and oriented in terms of how the child perceives the mother to respond to children's needs. The investigation raises questions with regard to the relationship of child-rearing practices and maternal perceptions.