Estimates of Harm
Consistent with our theorizing, parents and adolescents generally viewed:
| 1. Prudential and Moral behaviours as more harmful than Conventional behaviours | ||
| Parents and adolescents are most concerned about potentially harmful behaviours. People are equally concerned about behaviours that may cause harm to others such as being rude or stealing and behaviours that may cause harm to one’s self such as drinking alcohol or using drugs. | For example: Parents and adolescents agree that there is much more potential for harm if Jess was stealing or drinking alcohol than if Jess was refusing to do household chores. | |
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2. Personal behaviors much less harmful than all the other types of behaviours |
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| Parents and adolescents were not concerned about behaviors that had little risk for harm to themselves. | For example: Parents and adolescents agree that there is very little potential for harm if Jess were to pick out clothes to wear to school in the morning. | |
Harm and Who is Responsible
The greater the possibility for harm, the more parents felt they should be involved in regulating behaviours.
But there were differences across types of behaviours:
| Parents felt they should be more involved in Prudential behaviours than Moral and Conventional Behaviours. In other words, parents wanted to be more involved when the behaviours could harm adolescents than when adolescents’ behaviour could harm others. |
What this looks like: Chris (adolescent) has a birthday party to go to this weekend. Sam (parent) is concerned because they know that some of the kids that will be at this party drink alcohol. Sam is less worried that some of the same kids were caught stealing from the Village Green Mall last month. Sam decides to talk to Chris about the risks involved in drinking alcohol, but does not mention stealing. |
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| Adolescents thought differently. Adolescents thought their parents should be more involved in Moral and Conventional behaviours (potential harm or offence to others) than Prudential behaviours (potential harm to teen). |
What this looks like: Chris (adolescent) is really worried about doing anything that may cause harm to someone else. Chris is excited about the birthday party, but some of their friends have a plan to steal money from the other kids’ coats and purses so they can buy alcohol. Chris asks Sam (parent) for help on how to handle the stealing situation. Chris is more confident that they can handle the alcohol situation on their own. |
The differences between parents and teens suggest that they use different standards when considering who should regulate behaviours.
Which teens are less likely to be responsible for all types of behaviours?
Teens with more impulsive temperaments.
Which parents are more likely to be governing many of their teens’ behaviours?
Parents with high standards for others’ behaviours.
Check out the 2014 Over 2 U Fact Sheet
