The relationship between perceived child-rearing attitudes, ego-strength, and socio-economic-status

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between SES and ego strength in late adolescence. It was hypotesized that there would be a direct relationship between these two variables, such that higher status should lead to higher ego strength and that this, relationship was mediated through socialization practices used by parents. These socialization practices were measured by a parental attitude scale (PARI) as perceived by adolescents. The Ego Strength scale was to measure adolescents' ego strength, these scales were given to high and low SES students in two different lycee. The general results suggest that there is a significant difference in child rearing patterns influencing adolescents' low SES groups. Significant differences were found in adolescents' ego strength in the different SES groups, with high SES adolescents having higher ego strength than low SES adolescents. No significant difference was found between.boys and girls. Significant differences were found in tihe extreme mothering and overprotectiveness dimension of parental attitudes scales such that less overprotective mothers being in high SES groups and positevely associated with high ego strength in their children. The second significant was found in the rejection of the housewife role dimension of the PARI scale, high SES mothers do not reject their housewife role and foster their children to have high ego strength significant difference was found between the equalitarianism discipline and obedience dimensions while parental conflict dimension was found to be strongly related to ego strength regardless of the socio-economic group. This latter finding suggest tha the home climate affects directly adolescents' personality in whathever group he belongs to. These results suggest that the different basic conditions of life at different levels of the social order affects parental attitudes influencing their children's ego strength.