Abstract
This study examined developmental processes of parent-child relations, in terms of the give and take of money between children and others. A questionnaire survey was conducted on students in the 5th grade of an elementary school (N=134), 2nd grade of a junior high school (N=225), and 2nd grade of a high school (N=173) in Osaka, Japan. The questions focused on the following points; how children get money, children's actual behavior and consciousness of social norms (judgments of right and wrong), peer relationships, and parent-child relationships, in relation to children's usage of money. The results showed the children's developmental processes of independence from their parents, and the formation of a social self. With age, they increased in their economic strength, purchasing activity, and earning activity, shifted from give and take of money under parental authority to use of money in peer relationships, and became independent of their parents' consciousness of norms. These data indicated that the developmental process of children-parent relationships is embedded in collaborative activities, as mediated by cultural tools and artifacts.
