CHILDREARING PRACTICES AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT: GENERALIZATIONS FROM EMPIRICAL RESEARCH1

The purpose is to pull together the research findings on parental practices and the child's moral development so as to point up tentative generalizations, gaps, and inconsistencies which can be used as guides in further research.

Abstract

In complex areas such as that of morality and its antecedents no single research can supply the answers to all important questions. Each study can do no more than shed light on a small facet of the problem, especially in the early stages of research when measuring instruments and experimental procedures are cumbersome and inefficient. Progress therefore requires many research efforts, along with systematic attempts to assess methods and integrate results. This paper is such an attempt. Its purpose is to pull together the research findings on parental practices and the child's moral development so as to point up tentative generalizations, gaps, and inconsistencies which can be used as guides in further research. The studies examined are those which were designed primarily to investigate parental antecedents of moral variables and which meet current methodological standards. The focus is substantive although methodological points are made where necessary in interpreting contradictory findings and suggesting directions for further research.