By Lindsay Ludwig and Amanda NoctonHanover College

Parental gender and spankingParents punish child of same sex

more:Rothbart and Maccoby (1966)Herzberger and Tennen (1985)

Parents show no difference in discipline:Holden, Miller, and Harris (1999)Lytton and Romney (1991)

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Child gender and punishmentBoys punished more often:

Maccoby and Jacklin (1974)Bezirganian and Cohen (1992)

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Research questionIs there a difference in type of

punishment enforced by parents based on both parental gender and child gender?

How does the type of infraction influence the punishment received?Flynn (1998)

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HypothesesThere will be a gender difference.

Explore effects of gender of parents across types of punishment.

Male children will receive harsher punishments than their female counterparts.

When a child’s infractions cause harm to themselves or others they will receive more punishment than if their infractions reflect general disrespect.

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VariablesTwo independent variables of

gender (2 levels each—male and female):Gender of participantGender of child (manipulated)

Type of infraction (IV)Type of punishment (DV)

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MethodOnline study

Informed ConsentDemographicsInstructions/scenarioList of infractions and punishmentsDebriefing form

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Instructions that participants received

Suppose that you have an 8-year-old son/daughter who commits each of the following infractions after having been warned previously not to. Choose the likelihood that you would use each of the punishments from 0-3 (o not at all, 1 maybe, 2 probably, 3 definitely). Please be sure to assign a number for each punishment under every infraction.

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Verbal reprimand

Removal of privilege (i.e. no TV, dessert…) Spanking

Harm to others 0-3 0-3 0-3Harm to self 0-3 0-3 0-3

Disrespect 0-3 0-3 0-3

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Participants RecruitmentCriteria for deletionTotal N=224

Male N=61Female N=163

Parent?Yes N=103No N=121

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Nature of Analysis2 (gender of participant) x 2 (gender of child)

x 3 (type of punishment) x 9 (type of infraction) mixed ANOVA

Between-subjects Within-subjects

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Punishment

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Punishment by parent gender

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Child gender and infraction

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Infractions by order of most to least punishedType of infraction MeanLying 1.96a

Bullying 1.90ab

Hitting 1.76bc

Talking Back 1.76bc

Ignoring a request 1.64cd

Running into the street 1.60cd

Not wearing a seatbelt 1.49de

Talking to a stranger 1.39e

Teasing 1.37e

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DiscussionExploration of parent gender.

Evidence is mixed, fathers more likely to spank, mothers more likely to verbally reprimand

Maintaining gender rolesNegative implications

Hypothesis 2 looked at child gender.Was mostly supported, two infractions were

significantWeaker than expected

Hypothesis 3 dealt with infractionWas not supported

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Discussion cont.Limitations:

Child genderSelf-report

Future Research:Bullying and teasingLying

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Questions???

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Significant female use of verbal reprimand by infraction

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Significant male use of spanking by infraction

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Effect of parenthood on punishment

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