Social Cognitive Approaches to Parenting Representations

Social cognitive theorists have studied parenting cognitions that include perspective-taking ability, socialization goals, and attributions made for actions of the self and of the child. These are described, with a focus on their links to parenting actions and child outcomes. The distinction between controlled and automatic cognition and its role in parenting cognitions is discussed, with the former involving movement between the mobilization and minimization of cognitive activity regarding parent–child interactions. It is argued that inappropriate reliance on mobilization or minimization leads to difficulties in information-processing and emotion regulation which result in maladaptive parenting behavior. Finally, similarities and differences between social cognitive and attachment approaches to mental representations of parenting are discussed.