A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF LAX VERSUS STRICT HOME TRAINING.

The article presents a study that compares the effects of lax and strict home training. For this study 230 graduate students in education voluntarily filled out elaborate self-description blanks. They were asked some 200 questions which could be answered with Yes or No. A check on the frankness of answer may be made from 16 items in which more or less shameful acknowledgments were required. In general, 90% admitted having told lies, 95% confessed to having been irritated by their parents, 75% were at times reluctant to go to school, 50% had cheated on examinations, 50% had thoughts of suicide, 25% had childhood sex experiences and about the same proportion had such experiences at adolescence. The combative attitudes developed in relation to parents were apparently carried out into other relationships. As a consequence of the hatred of parents, the combativeness, and the dependence, the group from strict homes was much more apt to be socially maladjusted than were those from lax homes. A general characteristic of the strict-home group was their tendency to guilt, worry and anxiety.