The Delay of Gratification in Latina Mother/ Child Dyads

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship among parental attitudes, parental teaching techniques and maternal level of acculturation and how these influence their child’s ability to delay gratification. This study is an extension of the one conducted by Mauro and Harris (2000), whereas the current study focuses solely on Latina mothers. The task consisted of a mother/ child patience teaching session and a contrived gift scenario, in which the child was instructed to wait to open a tempting gift. A modified assessment, excluding the mother/ child interaction and the child-waiting task, was used to learn more about the connection between parental attitudes and maternal level of acculturation. For the delay of gratification task, behavioral distractions were the strategy used most frequently. Overall the results showed that there was a significant correlation between restrictive parenting behaviors and the maternal level of acculturation.