Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Age related changes in social reasoning regarding parental domestic roles(2007-05-03) Sinno, Stefanie Marie; Killen, Melanie; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study investigated age related changes in individuals' understanding of the parental role of caretaker from a social reasoning perspective. The methodology involved administering surveys to children, adolescents, and young adults (N = 300). Four hypothetical scenarios were described, in which the amount of caretaking tasks completed and time spent at work varied by gender of the parent, and individuals' evaluations and reasoning about the situations were assessed. Three additional factors that influence social reasoning about the caretaker were investigated, including, participants' gender attitudes, their perceptions of their parents' working status and division of caretaking, and their expectations for their own future family life. Results showed that individuals' judgments and reasoning about the caretaker role vary based on both the family arrangement and the gender of the parent in the caretaker role. Overall, participants' judged that the better arrangement is for one parent to spend less time at work in order to be the primary caretaker. However, it was also found that regardless of work arrangement, it would be better if the mother was the primary caretaker. There were age related changes in social reasoning about the caretaker role, with an overall increase in recognizing the complexity of family situations and reasoning from a moral perspective. In addition, gender attitudes, perception of parental work status and division of caretaking and expectations for future balance of work and family influenced social reasoning. Those individuals with more egalitarian attitudes, perceptions, and expectations were aware of societal expectations of parents' roles, but were accepting of arrangements that did not match with expectations. Thus, the present study addressed issues about the developmental origins of individuals' understanding of gender equity, gender development, and developmental social cognition. Understanding developmental changes in social reasoning about gender roles is important because it affects choice of future career and educational goals and opportunities.Item Korean American Children's Evaluations of Parental Gender Expectations of Children's Gender-related Peer Activities(2004-11-22) Kim, Jennie; Killen, Melanie; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of children's social reasoning about parental authority and gender expectations of boys' and girls' participation in gender stereotypic peer activities. Participants were 102 third and sixth grade Korean American children who were interviewed about six stories in which a boy and a girl desire to engage in gender-congruent, gender-incongruent, and gender neutral peer activities. A series of assessments were administered for each story in which participants were asked to make several judgments and provide a reason for their judgments regarding gender expectations, parental jurisdiction, autonomy, the fairness of gender bias, and cultural expectations. In addition, participants' beliefs of parental gender-expectations were assessed using a stereotype knowledge measure. The findings in this study demonstrated that Korean American children's evaluations of parental expectations for children's participation in gender stereotypic peer activities were multifaceted. Participants' decisions involved different forms of reasoning that varied according to the features of the context such as fairness, gender stereotypes, authority, autonomy, and culture. Overall, Korean American children supported participation in gender related activities using personal choice reasons to support their decisions. However, when issues such as authority, autonomy, and exclusion were made salient, participants' evaluations differed, particularly between third and sixth grade children and in some cases, between boys and girls. Younger children often deferred to parental decisions and supported gender stereotypes more often than older children. Further, girls were more willing to reject stereotypic expectations than were boys appealing to gender equity. Thus, children use moral, social-conventional, and stereotypic reasons when evaluating parental expectations of children's engagement in peer-related activities. Examining Korean children's conceptions of gender-based expectations and exclusion in the family elucidates the complex nature of decisions individuals must make in these types of situations which reflect real life issues for many families from different cultures. The results of this study contribute to theories about culture, social reasoning, family relationships, and gender expectations.