PPT Slide
These data are consistent with a positivity bias in parental perceptions (Miller, 1995), suggesting that parents are likely to be optimists and to attribute intentionality to good behaviors. By contrast, problem behaviors are more likely to be viewed as transitory characteristics of situational origin, rather than intentional or dispositional. This positivity bias may be a protective factor in buffering demanding infants from abuse in a low risk sample. However, it is hypothesized that parents under stress may view their infants' aversive behaviors as intentional and manipulative. Thus, demanding babies in a sample at risk for abuse may not be protected by the positive parental distortions observed in this study.
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