Maternal Control of Girls Versus Boys: Relations to Empathy and Persuasive Style with Peers

We investigated relations between maternal control and girls’and boys’ concern for others. Fifty-six pairs of children were separately interviewed, using a newly developed measure of empathy. While mothers completed a parenting inventory, we videotaped children as one child attempted to convince a friend to make greeting cards for hospitalized children. High maternal control was associated with lower empathy and less interpersonally sensitive verbal persuasion, but only in girls.