TY - JOUR
T1 - From obedience to autonomy changes in traits desired in children, 1924-1978
AU - Alwin, Duane F.
N1 - Funding Information:
DUANE F. ALWIN is Professor of Sociology and Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan. An earlier version of this paper was prepared for the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, held in New York, August 1986. The paper was also presented in December 1986 at the Center for Middletown Studies' lecture series, cosponsored by the Friends of Bracken Library, Ball State University. The research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-37289). An important debt is owed Theodore Caplow, Howard Bahr, and Bruce Chadwick for the use of data from their 1978 survey of Muncie, Indiana, and special thanks are due Bruce Chadwick for providing tabulations upon which this report is in part based. Thanks are due Alan Kerckhoff and Arland Thornton for commenting on an earlier version of this paper. The author also acknowledges the assistance of John Hewitt and Dwight Hoover for access to the resources of the Center for Middletown Studies at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Lynn Dielman, Mark Glaza, and Frank Mierzma provided expert research assistance.
PY - 1988/3
Y1 - 1988/3
N2 - This paper presents results from a comparison of data on the traits desired in children from the Lynds' studies of Muncie (Middletown), Indiana, in the 1920s with similar data collected in a 1978 replication of the Lynds' work by Caplow et al. (1982). These results indicate that major changes have occurred in the most preferred qualities of children over this century, providing relatively strong evidence of changes in parent-child relations over this period. These patterns suggest that adult preferences for child qualities in contemporary society give more emphasis to qualities linked to the autonomy of children, whereas earlier desiderata stressed greater obedience to institutional and adult authority. These trends are interpreted in terms of changing relationships in the family and in the context of the response of the family to social, economic, and demographic changes during the twentieth century.
AB - This paper presents results from a comparison of data on the traits desired in children from the Lynds' studies of Muncie (Middletown), Indiana, in the 1920s with similar data collected in a 1978 replication of the Lynds' work by Caplow et al. (1982). These results indicate that major changes have occurred in the most preferred qualities of children over this century, providing relatively strong evidence of changes in parent-child relations over this period. These patterns suggest that adult preferences for child qualities in contemporary society give more emphasis to qualities linked to the autonomy of children, whereas earlier desiderata stressed greater obedience to institutional and adult authority. These trends are interpreted in terms of changing relationships in the family and in the context of the response of the family to social, economic, and demographic changes during the twentieth century.
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U2 - 10.1086/269081
DO - 10.1086/269081
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0002429834
SN - 0033-362X
VL - 52
SP - 33
EP - 52
JO - Public Opinion Quarterly
JF - Public Opinion Quarterly
IS - 1
ER -