Psychology of Language and Communication 2002, Vol. 6, No. 2 LUULE MIZERA TIIA TULVISTE University of Tartu Södertörn University College, Stockholm 1 This study was supported by the Baltic Sea Foundation in Sweden (grant No. 31103), by the RSS (group research grant No. 1417/1999), and by the Estonian Science Foundation (grant No. 4629). We would also like to thank the participants of our study. Address for correspondence: Luule Mizera, Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tiigi 78-336, 50410 Tartu, Estonia. E-mail: luule@psych.ut.ee Introduction The notion that family socialization plays an important role in the development of social behavior has been suggested by many cross-cultural researchers (e.g., Berry, Poortinga, Seagall, & Dasen, 1992; Bornstein, 1991; Kaðitçibaþi, 1996; Triandis, 1995). Also, it has long been argued that mothers from different cultures have differ- ent beliefs about child rearing (e.g., Super & Harkness, 1986, 1997). By means of the many tools of socialization parents mold their children into competent members of society, attempting to pass on both their intrinsic belief systems and culturally deter- mined behavioral patterns. However, to what extent can researchers rely on correla- tions between measured attitudes and actual behavior is yet not clear. The authors of this study do not propose to give an exhaustive answer to this widely studied issue, MOTHERS’ CHILD-REARING ATTITUDES AND VERBAL BEHAVIOR: A COMPARATIVE STUDY 1 This paper focuses on a salient aspect within the context of a broader comparative study on family socialization, namely, on the relationship between the actual verbal behavior of mothers of early adolescent children and their reported child-rearing attitudes. We compared mothers of early ado- lescent (10-13 yrs.) children from three different groups – Estonians living in Estonia, and two samples of bicultural Estonians residing in Sweden. The mothers’ responses to statements on child rearing were compared with the frequency of verbal regulation of the child’s behavior and speech that was obtained from real-life interactions. A significant correlation between a reported belief and the respective behavior appeared only in respect to attitudes towards controlling the child’s behavior. The cultural context had a significant effect on the frequency of verbal regulation of target children’s behavior, which was much higher in mothers residing in Estonia.