Adolescents' conceptions of family democracy : does their own behavior play a role?

• Much research on family democracy has started from the assumption that parents produce the democratic climate and adolescent behavior is an outcome of it. In this study, we asked whether and how adolescent behavior contributes to family democracy, using both parents’ and adolescents’ behaviors as predictors of family democracy. Participants were 1,057 15-to-16-year-olds in a city in central Sweden. The results showed that adolescents’ conceptions of family democracy involve both their own and their parents’ behavior. When controlling for parents’ behaviors, adolescents’ behaviors added significantly to the prediction of democracy. Parents’ warmth and the adolescents’ openness to communication seem to be two major aspects of the democratic workings in the family. Hence, the democratic workings of the family cannot be described fully if adolescents’ behavior is ignored.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialantropologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Anthropology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

adolescent attitudes

family relations

parent child communication

parental attitudes

parenting style

democracy

family democracy

adolescents

parent-child relations

Psychology

Psykologi

SOCIAL SCIENCES

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Social sciences

Socialvetenskap

Ethnography

Etnografi

Psychology

Psykologi

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