Abstract
The current study examined the complaint-response strategies of Egyptian parents to their children's complaints. Data were collected from 60 Egyptian parents using 12 role-plays that included complaints by younger and older daughters and sons. The role-plays were audio-recorded and later transcribed. The data were analyzed using an adapted version of Laforest's (2002) model of complaint-response strategies. The results showed that parents preferred the use of partial-acceptance strategies (75%), particularly in the form of justifying oneself and suggesting alternatives. In contrast, rejection strategies were used at a much lesser extent (24%). The results also showed that parents preferred to justify their decisions in the form of positive outcomes and ill consequences. In this respect, religious reasons and societal norms were often employed with older children. Additionally, the results showed that mothers generally produced more partial-acceptance strategies with younger children (N = 261) and older sons (N = 142) and more rejection strategies with older daughters (N = 63) than fathers did (N = 238, 129 and 25 respectively). As for age differences, some statistically significant differences were noted in fathers' use of complaint-response strategies while no influence for age on mothers' behaviour proved statistically significant.
•The Egyptian parents in the study preferred to partially accept children's complaints.•They adopted a mixture of authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles.•They often tried to preserve their children's negative face.•The mothers in the study used some response strategies more frequently than fathers.•The older the fathers in the study became, the stricter responses they produced.