Thinking About Parenting

For 7- to 11-year-olds

This study will take place on a Zoom video call with a researcher! Clicking on the “Schedule a time to participate” button will take you to an online calendar where you can select a date and time that works best for you. A researcher will tell your child about parents who are 'overprotective' or 'underprotective' of their children, and we will ask your child what they think about the parents and their children (e.g., Who is really, really smart? Who would you trust to help you in an unfamiliar situation?)

Past research finds that children are sensitive to different kinds of parenting. For instance, children tend to persist less in their goal pursuit and achievement after their parent takes over a task. Here, we aim to investigate if and how children's social evaluations and intuitions attend to parenting that is 'overprotective' and 'underprotective'. For instance, how do children evaluate and think about a parent who allows their child to ride a bike only while wearing excessive protective garments and two helmets, versus a parent who allows their child to ride a bike without padding or even a helmet, and on busy roads? Do children also form disparate trait inferences about 'overprotected' and 'underprotected' children? This line of research will help us better understand the developmental origins of reasoning about caregiving, particularly how children use observable instances of 'overprotection' and 'underprotection' in their navigation of the social world.

15 minutes

Participants will receive a $5 Amazon.com gift card for completing the study. The gift card will be sent within 24 hours after the appointment is complete. Only one gift card per participant and the participant must be in the study age range in order to receive the gift card.