Date of Award

Fall 2026

Language

English

Embargo Period

10-14-2026

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Psychology (Master's)

First Advisor

Mark Muraven

Second Advisor

Mitch Earleywine

Committee Members

Rachel Brenner, Kimberly Colvin

Keywords

Parenting, SES

Subject Categories

Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Abstract

This study examined whether parents evaluated parenting recommendations designed to reflect three proposed parenting orientations, Connect, Control, and Teach, differently and whether socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with their evaluations. In a cross-sectional survey, parents rated recommendations presented across three parenting scenarios involving bedtime, clean-up, and tantrums. The primary analytic sample comprised 158 parents. Ratings assessed perceived effectiveness, resemblance to respondents’ parenting styles, and endorsement as good parenting. Mixed-effects analyses did not identify reliable differences among the three proposed recommendation categories on the primary outcomes. Objective SES was modestly associated with lower perceived effectiveness ratings overall, but it did not differentiate evaluations among Connect, Control, and Teach in the predicted manner. Exploratory analyses found broad relationships between recommendation evaluations and established parenting attitudes, without category-specific correspondence. The results do not establish that distinct parenting orientations are absent; rather, they indicate that this recommendation task did not adequately distinguish the proposed orientations. Future research should assess parents’ intended goals more directly and consider how environmental opportunities and constraints influence parenting decisions.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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