Parenting styles can often be distinguished by the behavioral variability used by parents, such as their use of disciplining, monitoring, and psychological control strategies. Findings suggest significant consistency between negative controlling behaviors and positive guiding behaviors and infant physiological regulation, emotional regulation, and compliance (Calkins et al., 1998). Similarly, among non-human primates such as vervet monkeys, mothers who are distant tend to have infants who gain independence early (Lee, 1984). This study examined the relationship between maternal style and infant behavior in the green monkeys of Barbados. It was hypothesized that there would be a strong correlation between maternal style and infant behavior, and that the infants rejected by their mothers would be more independent and would demonstrate higher frequencies of social interactions with other animals compared to infants who were protected by their mothers. There was a significant correlation between maternal protective rates and infant solitary rates, r(3) = -0.93, p < 0.05, as well as between maternal protective rates and infant agonistic rates , r(3) = 0.89, p < 0.05. The data collected in this study will allow us to compare and contrast the maternal styles and infant behavioral responses in green monkey and other primate species.
