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Why are we so afraid to leave children alone?

UCI study finds moral judgments about parents affect perceptions of risk

child in park alone Leaving a child unattended is considered taboo in today's intensive parenting atmosphere, despite evidence that American children are safer than ever. So why are parents denying their children the same freedom and independence that they themselves enjoyed as children? A new study by University of California, Irvine social scientists suggests that our fears of leaving children alone have become systematically exaggerated in recent decades - not because the practice has become more dangerous, but because it has become socially unacceptable.

"Without realizing it, we have consistently increased our estimates of the amount of danger facing children left alone in order to better justify or rationalize the moral disapproval we feel toward parents who violate this relatively new social norm," said Ashley Thomas, cognitive sciences graduate student and lead author of the work, published online this month in the open-access journal Collabra.

The survey-based study found that children whose parents left them alone on purpose - to go to work, help out a charity, relax or meet an illicit lover - were perceived to be in greater danger than those whose parents were involuntarily separated from them. More...




news

Jumpstart gets big boost

Molina Foundation donates 400 books to the language and literacy program for pre-schoolers

New study to measure cost of homelessness to Orange County cities

Sociology Distinguished Professor David Snow to lead effort

Summer beach read: The Crooked Elm Partnership

Pam Kelley '89 takes readers on a lawyer's twisty road to redemption in her first legal thriller

Man up

Poli sci grad student finds evidence that talking "like a man" is a part of Clinton's political strategy

New faculty feature: Ying-Ying Lee

Assistant Professor, Economics | Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

Grad program feature (video)

Check out UCI's political science graduate program, ranked in the nation's top 40 by U.S. News and World Report

Shrinking the electorate through intimidation (Podcast)

Poli sci professor Davin Phoenix takes on a hot topic in this Ask a Leader segment

Two honors for econ's Sacks

Economics graduate student Michael Sacks is recognized for both outstanding graduate paper and dissertation

In memoriam: Bonnie Niten Baha '81

UCI poli sci alumnus who was DoubleLine's head of developed credit dies at 56





up-coming events

Expectations Lost: What’s Next for the 2016 Election? Part Two.

Oct 5, 2016 | Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517

Will the controversies regarding Hillary’s emails and lines between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department cost her the election? Has Donald Trump’s behavior and inflammatory rhetoric sabotaged his presidential bid? What effect if any, will WikiLeaks and hackers have on the outcome of the election? And just who is influencing the 2016 election? For answers to these and other questions, please join us as we continue a conversation started during last May’s Social Sciences Expert Speaker series event. Online registration...

Welcome Week

Sept 18-22

Graduate Orientation

Sept 19

Digital Media and Learning Conference

Oct 5-7





in the media

Hillary Clinton talks more like a man than she used to

Jennifer Jones, poli sci grad student, explains in The Washington Post


Our assessment of parents is more informed by moral judgment than actual risks

Thomas, Sarnecka, and Stanford via Slate


Economic anxiety isn't driving racial resentment. Racial resentment is driving economic anxiety.

Telser, poli sci, explains in The Washington Post


Government in the bedroom (Video)

Sociology professor Wang Feng comments on National Geographic Channel: Original Sin: Sex


Here's the story behind Clinton's anti-poverty plan

Matt Freedman, economics, via McClatchy DC


More older people are finding work, but what kind?

Economist David Neumark in The New York Times


The headline that will greet Trump when he returns
DeSipio, POLITICO

UCI children left home alone (Video)
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, Good Day Philadelphia

Ana Urzua Alcaraz wants to build a healthy Santa Ana with council run
Urzua, OC Weekly

Is Trump trying to muddy his immigration policy?
DeSipio, The Arizona Republic, USA Today

The mind of the Trump supporter (Blog)
Tesler, The Huffington Post

Why parents are afraid to leave their kids alone
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, Consumer Affairs

UCI children home alone research
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, News 12

Google wants to help you vote. Could it affect the election?
Grofman, The Washington Post

Here's the South Carolina story behind Clinton's anti-poverty plan
Freedman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

No child left alone: Moral judgments about parents (Video)
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, Rising Up With Sonali

Ever wondered about the big plaque of Alexander Hamilton near Dupont Circle?
Richardson, The Washington Post

Millennials: Will they stay (home) or will they go (to the polls)?
Dalton, Voice of OC

Leaving a child at home alone isn't always unsafe - it's just socially unacceptable, study claims
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, Daily Mail

What you need to know about millennials and politics
Dalton, Cronkite News

A racially diverse America could make the economy less important to elections
Tesler, The Washington Post

The promise and problems of an open foreign policy
Solingen, Buenos Aires Herald

Obama approval rates soaring: Is it due to political merit or anti-Trump rhetoric?
DeSipio, Latin Post

Why Alicia Keys isn't wearing makeup on 'The Voice'
Wong Penner, The Washington Post

Why do we judge parents for putting kids at perceived − but unreal − risk?
Thomas, Sarnecka, Stanford, NPR

Obama approval among Latinos at all-time high despite deportations, disappointments
DeSipio, FOX News Latino

There's a new internship for women over 40
Neumark, Lady Clever

More people are working for longer than ever - but they are being forced into 'old people' jobs
Neumark, National Post

Trump is the first modern Republican to win the nomination based on racial prejudice
Tesler, The Washington Post


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