Parents and Politics

Today may be a good time to talk about this research! Vote vote vote!!!

The Association for Psychological Science recently posted about research linking parenting behaviors to the eventual political views of children.

Their quick summary might be a great discussion starter in your classroom (as long as it doesn't start a fight!):

"Existing research suggests that individuals whose parents espoused authoritarian attitudes toward parenting (e.g., valuing obedience to authority) are more likely to endorse conservative values as adults."

Discussing parenting style research in the developmental chapter can be engaging, but a bit of a minefield: sometimes my students wanted to leap to "diagnosing" their parents, and it's a good opportunity to talk about the complexities of human behaviors vs. the simplifications needed for operational definitions.

Here's an online article with a bit more detail about the study

Parenting style may shape political views of offspring

http://in.news.yahoo.com/parenting-style-may-shape-political-views-offspring-114239963.html


posted by Rob McEntarffer