Inductive Discipline, Parental Expression of Disappointed Expectations, and Moral Identity in Adolescence

Within the fields of socialization and moral development, the relationship of parenting to adolescents’ sense of morality
and self has been understudied. This study investigated the relationships between perceived parental disciplinary techniques
and moral identity among early and middle adolescents. Participants included 93 (54% female) 5th, 8th and 10th graders, as
well as their mothers. Students completed self-report measures concerning their mothers’ disciplinary techniques and moral
self-concept; mothers reported specifically on parental discipline frequency. The parental discipline measure was structured
in terms of Hoffman’s typology of induction, love withdrawal, and power assertion. Adolescents reported the frequency of their
mothers’ disciplinary techniques, as well as their perceptions (fairness or appropriateness evaluations, emotional reactions)
concerning their mothers’ most frequently used technique. Parental induction (orienting the transgressor to the plight of
the victim) and expression of disappointed expectations were viewed as more appropriate and responded to with more positive
emotion and guilt relative to other disciplinary techniques (e.g., power assertion). In addition, parental use of inductive
discipline (including parental disappointment) during the adolescent years related to higher moral identity, defined in terms
of the ascription of specifically moral (e.g., fair, kind) over non-moral (e.g., athletic, smart) qualities to the self. In
contrast, love withdrawal and power assertion did not relate to moral identity. The findings suggest that parental expression
of disappointed expectations, especially when perceived favorably, plays an important role in the formation of moral identity
during the adolescent years.