Attributing Dispositions to Children: An Interactional Analysis of Attribution in Socialization

Abstract

This article examines research on dispositional attributions about children and its contribution to knowledge of both socialization and attribution processes. Because dispositional attributions reflect the interdependent behaviors that characterize parent-child and other relationships, they may depend as much on processes that regulate behavior as on processes that regulate inference. Attributions about children (partners) depend on the goals, dispositions, and social skills of parents (perceivers) because these systematically influence children's (partners) behavior Once formulated, adults' dispositional attributions influence (a) their reactions to children, and thus children's socialization experiences, and (b) children's views of themselves and how they should act. These effects may help explain culture and gender-specific socialization, normal and dysfunctional parenting, child effects on parent behavior, and the child's internalization of parents' values and views of the child.