Research Interests  Recent Activities Former Students Publications

 

B.A.: University of Toronto
Ph.D.: Stanford University
 

Email: grusec@psych.utoronto.ca
Phone: (416) 978-7610
Fax: (416) 978-4811
Address: Department of Psychology
100 St. George St.
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
Child Study Centre Web Site: http://psych.utoronto.ca/~csc

 

 

 Research Interests
 

In our lab my we study determinants of parenting and the impact of different kinds of parenting on children’s social and emotional outcomes. We want to know what makes parents effective in achieving their socialization goals. We are also interested in what makes some parents more effective than others at this task. Lack of knowledge about how to successfully help children learn to function well in society is one variable that determines parenting effectiveness. But there are other reasons for problematic parenting that are not so straightforward. Thus we are particularly interested in cognitions (both conscious and unconscious) and emotions that interfere with the ability of parents to apply their knowledge of how to raise children.

 

With respect to effective parenting, it is evident that this does not involve simply the application of specific strategies and techniques, or the adoption of specific styles of interaction. Outcomes for children depend on the interaction of parenting strategies and features of children (e.g., temperament, age, sex, mood). As well, children are operating in different domains relevant to socialization, that is, they are behaving in a given way for any number of reasons, and different parental responses are appropriate in different domains. For example, children could be acting badly because they are distressed and need comforting or because they lack knowledge and need information or because they are showing off and need to be ignored. My students and I are trying to identify the conditions that promote parents’ knowledge in these various areas and the successful application of that knowledge.

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 Some Current and Recent Professional Activities
 
Associate Editor, Developmental Psychology, 1998-2003

Chair, History Committee, Society for Research in Child Development, 2003-2005 

Member, Publications Committee, Society for Research in Child Development, 2005-2011 

Chair, Examination Committee, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, 2004-

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 Former Students
 
Student Currently at...
Alisa Almas University of Maryland
Tsasha Awong Ryerson University
Maayan Davidov Hebrew University
Norma D'Agostino Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto
Duane Rudy University of Missouri
Tanya Martini Brock University
Soula Homatidis Center for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto
Paul Hastings University of California at Davis
Rosemary Mills University of Manitoba
Theodore Dix University of Texas at Austin
Mary Konstantareas University of Guelph
 

 

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 Selected Publications
  Grusec, J. E. (2011). Socialization processes in the family: Social and emotional development. Annual Review of Psychology, 62.

Grusec, J. E., & Davidov, M. (2010). Integrating different perspectives on socialization theory and research: A domain-specific approach. Child Development, 81, 687-709.

Awong, T., Grusec, J. E., & Sorenson, A. (2008). Respect-based control and anger as determinants of children’s socio-emotionoal development. Social Development, 17, 941-959.

Lundell,  L., Grusec, J. E., McShane, K., & Davidov, M. (2008). Mother-adolescent
conflict: Adolescent goals, maternal perspective-taking, and conflict intensity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18, 555-571.

Grusec, J.E., & Hastings, P.D. (Eds.) (2007). Handbook of Socialization. New York: Guilford.

Bugental, D.B., & Grusec, J.E. (2006). Socialization processes. In N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development. New York: Wiley.

Davidov, M., & Grusec, J.E. (2006). Multiple pathways to compliance: Mothers’ willingness to cooperate and knowledge of their children’s reactions to discipline. Journal of Family Psychology, 20,  705-708.

Davidov, M., & Grusec, J. E. (2006). Untangling the links of parental responsiveness to distress and warmth to child outcomes. Child Development, 77, 44-58.

Rudy, D., & Grusec, J.E. (2006). Social cognitive approaches to parenting representations. In O. Mayseless & R. Scharf (Eds.), Caregiving representations. Blackwell.

Grusec, J.E. (2005). The development of moral behavior and conscience from a socialization perspective. In M. Killen & J. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum (pp. 241-265).

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