Within western societies the act of consumption is not merely concerned with satisfying basic human needs. Rather, consumption has become a source of leisure and self expression for the masses (Belk, 1988). This has meant that humankind’s wants have tended to outstrip the world’s finite resources available, leading to environmental damage, questionable farming practice and the widespread abuse of human labour. In response to these issues the phenomena of ethical consumption was born. Ethical consumption attempts to limit the environmental, human and animal costs of our spending via the favouring of products that are deemed to be for the betterment of wider society. At face value ethical consumption has been hugely successful in terms of market share, with sales of products stressing their ethical credentials having grown rapidly in recent years (Cooperative Bank 2011). However, despite this success, ethically branded products still represent a minority of purchases (Thøgersen, 2006). Psychological research exploring the reasons why consumers purchase ethically is dominated by papers focusing upon consumers’ attitudes, values and intentions (Andorfer & Liebe, 2012, Milfont & Duckitt, 2004). However, consumers’ attitudes do not always mirror actual spending (Auger, Burke, Devinney & Louviere., 2003; Auger & Devinney, 2007). Whilst one third of consumers describe themselves as being ethical spenders, only 1-3% of products purchased are Fair Trade certified (Cowe & Williams, 2000). The divergence between attitude and behaviour has been referred to as the ‘ethical purchasing gap’ (Andorfer & Liebe, 2012, Clayton & Brook, 2005). One factor that may be partially responsible for the divergence between purchase intention and actual behaviours is self-regulatory fatigue (ego depletion). Chapter one of the thesis presents the argument for ethical spending being affected by, amongst other things, our ability to suppress our impulsive desires via a process known as self-regulation (Bagozzi, 1992; Baumeister, 2002; Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). According to the self-regulatory fatigue literature, self-control requires the expenditure of blood glucose (Gailliot, 2008, Inzlicht & Gutsell, 2007). However, the available level of blood glucose temporarily diminishes with continued use of the self-regulatory system. In response to the lower availability of blood glucose, individuals begin to limit all non-essential cognitive expenditure, including further acts of self-regulation. Individuals who have exhausted their capacity for self control are said to be ego depleted or in a state of self-regulatory fatigue (Baumeister & Heatherton, 1996; Hofmann. Friese & Strack, 2009; Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) Chapter one argues that self-regulatory fatigue may restrict an individual’s capacity to consider the social and long-term impacts of their spending to resist the temptation of cheap consumer goods. As a result, it is predicted that ethical spending may be negatively affected by self-regulation fatigue. Following this theoretical foundation, Chapter two presents the methodological rationale for the research project that set out to test various aspects of this foundational hypothesis. Chapter three presents the findings of the first empirical study. The purpose of the study was to use open-ended questionnaires to explore the principles that guided participants’ spending, as well gaining an insight into instances where there was a discrepancy between spending and principle. The study is included within the thesis primarily to show the genesis of the research agenda. The study indicated that consumers within the sample were primarily concerned with traditional forms of ethical consumption, namely environmental, human and animal welfare concerns. Participants justified non-principled purchasing as being a result of financial consideration or impulsive urge. It was thus decided to explore the possibility that self-regulation fatigue may have a potentially negative impact upon ethical spending, due to its known relationship with impulsive spending (Vohs & Faber, 2007). Chapter four explores the effects of self-regulation fatigue upon socially-minded economic behaviour within the controlled setting of a social dilemma game. Ethical consumption can be considered to be a prime example of a ‘social dilemma’ in the sense that decisions relating to whether or not to consume ethically involve a direct conflict between an individual’s short term interests (e.g. to save money) and the collective interests of wider society (Gattig & Hendrickx, 2007; Milfont & Gouveiac, 2006). Therefore it was decided to measure the effects of self-regulatory fatigue within an experimental social dilemma task. The task used was based upon the forest game, which was first outlined by Sheldon and McGregor (2000), with the white bear thought suppression task (Wegner, Schneider, Carter, & White, 1987) being utilised to manipulate self-regulatory fatigue. The results revealed a clear divergence in behaviour within the game as a function of the manipulation of self-regulatory fatigue, with non-depleted groups sustaining the central resource longer than their depleted counterparts. Chapter five builds on the findings of chapter four through an exploration of the relationship between ego depletion and participants’ willingness to pay for ethical goods. The study utilised a discrete choice measure in order to measure participant’s willingness to pay for ethical goods. The findings did not show a significant effect of self-regulatory fatigue on the willingness to pay for ethical goods. However a potential explanation for this result was the fact that the decision-making processes involved in this study were less arduous than those required within a real-life shopping environment (or, for that matter, than the decisions required in the forest game reported in chapter four). It is possible that the complexity of the choice presented may have been insufficient for the decision to be negatively affected by self-regulatory fatigue. The study is thus included in order to illustrate the importance of utilising more realistic measures of spending that incorporate more of the complexity of decision-making required in real-world contexts. Chapter six presents four separate experiments exploring the relationship between self-regulatory fatigue and ethical spending. The first study utilised an online supermarket simulation and asked participants to go shopping for one week’s worth of groceries after either completing, or not completing, the white bear thought suppression task. The simulated supermarket allowed participants to select from a range of over 1900 products. The pattern of results indicated that participants in a state of self-regulatory fatigue spent significantly less on ethically branded products than their non-depleted counterparts. However, this was only true for individuals with a high food budget. Those with a low budget were not significantly affected, presumably due to having relatively little flexibility in terms of product choice and/or having established shopping habits focusing upon value. The second study in chapter six explored the ways in which social appeals interact with self-regulatory fatigue. Participants were presented with an attention control task before reading either an article praising students for their ethical behaviours or a control article. Participants were then asked to “go shopping” within the online store. Results once again indicated that self-regulatory fatigue reduced spending on ethically branded goods. However, contrary to predictions, the social appeal had no significant effect on levels of ethical spending either as a main effect or in interaction with self-regulatory fatigue.

Adolescent females are committing an increasing number of violent interpersonal acts. This study used the qualitative technique of focus group interviews to explore social control and self-control factors which impact such behaviors. Forty-seven girls aged 10-18 years described situations and events where interpersonal violence might be used and also what might prevent such acts. For the girls interviewed, social controls were the predominant means of controlling the use of interpersonal violence. Family and peer groups were the most powerful social controls, whether positive or negative. Self-control was deemed important but most girls lacked either the skills or desire to engage in self-control. Violence prevention programs need to teach techniques for improving self-control and increasing self-concept to be most effective.

Objective: Numerous studies trying to find the causes and implications of binge drinking on college campuses have focused their attention on the heavy drinkers. The purpose of this study was to understand why and how college students choose to abstain from drinking. The study also examined the experiences of the abstaining college students on a campus where 83% of the student body drinks. Methods: Twelve undergraduate students from the University of Richmond participated in this qualitative study. Individual interviews using open-ended questions were conducted to ascertain the reasons for their abstinence and their experiences as college students. After the interviews, the 12 students were assigned to focus groups to discuss and compare their experiences and to test emergent themes.Results: The three most often mentioned reasons for the decision to abstain were (a) they wanted to maintain control over their body and environment, (b) it is illegal to drink under age 21 and (c) they did not want to disappoint their parents. The students described needing strong personal convictions about the decision to abstain in order to stand up to social pressures to fit in. Most of the students (11) made the decision during their high school years. A supportive network of peers and high parental expectations helped solidify the decision to abstain throughout high school. The transition period into college and the development of a social network is the most difficult time to be an abstainer, since most social activities revolve around drinking. The meaning they gave to their experience on campus was that it is more difficult to develop a social network as an abstainer, but the relationships are deeper and more genuine than those developed over nights of drinking. Conclusions: The choice to abstain from drinking is often made during high school and maintained through social support. The transition into college and the lack of a social network is a tenuous period during which the decision to abstain is challenged. University administrators need to look into alternative ways in which new students can develop their social network where drinking is not the primary focus.

Bibliographic citation Kahounová, Jana (2012). Czech Pension Reform through the Lens of Behavioral Economics. Prague, 2012. 79 p. Master Thesis (Mgr.) Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies. Master thesis supervisor PhDr. Michal Bauer, PhD. Abstract The field of behavioral economics can provide original insights into many areas of economic decision-making. In my thesis I use the point of view of behavioral economics to assess the current Czech pension reform plan. I study time discounting as the main determinant of saving behavior and deal with its relationship to the Czech pension reform architecture. The three fundamental features of the Czech pension reform plan that are examined are entry into the private funded scheme that is to be introduced by the Czech pension reform plan, the contribution rate into the private funded scheme and access to deposits in the private funded scheme. In order to obtain data for my research I conducted own survey. The results of statistical analysis confirmed the hypotheses of behavioral economics that people exhibit heterogeneous time discounting which influences their saving behavior and these characteristics can also determine their preference for the pension reform features. It implies a possibility for policy-makers to...

Tomadas de decisões intertemporais envolvem escolhas entre opções, cujas consequências ocorrem em diferentes intervalos. Os tomadores de decisões tendem a preferir recompensas menores e mais cedo sobre recompensas maiores e tardias, refletindo em descontos de resultados atrasados. Dentre os vários fatores motivacionais, que podem influenciar nas Escolhas Intertemporais, pode ser considerado o papel moral como relevante. O modelo do Jogo do Ultimato é usado, especialmente, para examinar a interferência das ações éticas sobre o comportamento econômico. Entende-se a rejeição de uma oferta baixa nesse jogo como uma punição altruísta, aplicada como estratégia de recuperar uma cooperação justa. Os fatores psicológicos que motivam essa \"punição altruísta\" não são totalmente compreendidos. Para alguns, a punição altruísta é um ato ético de aplicação da norma de justiça, que requer autocontrole, enquanto outros afirmam que é um ato impulsivo, dirigido principalmente pela emoção. Nosso objetivo foi avaliar se a punição altruísta de participantes apontados no contexto do Jogo do Ultimato tem relação com o autocontrole nas distribuições de Escolhas Intertemporais. Um total de 100 participantes realizou o procedimento, individualmente. O software PAJUEI usado contém uma série de 27 ofertas no formato do Jogo do Ultimato e 130 séries de Escolhas Intertemporais. No Jogo do Ultimato, foram ofertados nove níveis de porcentagens entre 3-50% de três recompensas fixas (R$50,00; 100,00 e 150,00), em que o participante tinha duas opções de resposta: aceitar ou recusar. Na fase seguinte das Escolhas Intertemporais, foram apresentadas duas opções: uma de tempo de recebimento imediato e menor valor monetário e a outra com um tempo de recebimento tardio e maior valor monetário. Foram empregados cinco diferentes atrasos de recebimento vinculados a duas recompensas fixas (R$500,00 e 100.000,00); cada recompensa imediata variou em 13 valores entre 5% e 95% do valor fixo tardio. As punições altruístas foram determinadas pela taxa de rejeição das ofertas do Jogo do Ultimato. A partir das decisões feitas nas Escolhas Intertemporais, foram determinados os descontos temporais e categorizados os grupos com baixas, médias e altas escolhas imediatas. Descobrimos que os indivíduos que esperaram por recompensas maiores também rejeitaram ofertas menores, mesmo que positivas, por uma percepção de injustas. Esses indícios indicam que os participantes do estudo exerceram a punição altruísta em resposta à falta de cooperação, como uma reação de autocontrole. / Temporal decision making are choices between options which the consequences occur at different intervals. Decision makers tend to prefer smaller and earlier rewards over larger and later rewards, discounting on later results. Among the several motivational factors that may influence the delay-discounting task, the moral role can be considered relevant. The Ultimatum Game model is especially used to examine the interference of ethical actions on economic behavior. The rejection of a low offer in this game is known as an altruistic punishment, applied as a strategy to recover a fair cooperation. The psychological factors that motivate this \"altruistic punishment\" are not fully understood. For some, altruistic punishment is the ethical act of applying the rule of justice, which requires self-control. On the other hand, others claim that it is an impulsive act, driven primarily by emotion. Our objective was to evaluate if the altruistic punishment of participants pointed out in the context of the ultimatum game is related to the self-control in the distributions of the delay-discounting task. A total of 100 participants performed the procedure individually. The PAJUEI software contains a series of 27 offers in the format of the Ultimatum Game and 130 series of the delay-discounting task. In the Ultimatum Game, nine levels of percentages were offered between 3-50% of three fixed rewards (R $ 50,00, 100,00 and 150,00), in which the participant had two options to choose from: to accept or to refuse. At the next phase of the the delay-discounting task, two options were presented: one of immediate receiving time and smaller monetary value and the other with a late receiving time and greater monetary value. Five different collection delays were applied to two fixed rewards (R$ 500,00 and 100.000,00); each immediate reward varied in 13 values between 5% and 95% of the late fixed value. The altruistic punishments were determined by the rejection rate of the Ultimatum Game offerings. From the decisions made at the delay-discounting task, the temporary discounts were determined and the groups with low, medium and high immediate choices were categorized. We found that individuals who waited for larger rewards also rejected smaller offers, five positive ones, due to a perception of unfairness. These findings indicate that the studied participants exercised altruistic punishment in response to a lack of cooperation, such as a reaction to self-control.

I arbetet undersöks behovet av ökad kontroll i stålbyggnadskonstruktioner med avseende på utförandefel. Riksdagen beslutade 1 juni 1994 att förändra Plan- och bygglagen (PBL) där förändringen trädde i kraft 1995 och bland annat innebar att hela ansvaret för en byggnads uppförande och kontroll lades på byggherren. Efter vintrarna 2009/10 och 2010/11 där flera tak rasade av snötyngden uppdagades en rad dimensionerings- och utförandefel. Under examensarbetet undersöktes vad som händer med säkerheten i byggnadskonstruktioner i stål som genomgår förändringar under dess livslängd och en jämförelse mot gällande regelverk genomfördes. En fältstudie och flera intervjuer genomfördes där fokus låg på utförandefel och hur förändringar av regelverk lett fram till dagens egenkontrollsystem som påverkat antalet utförandefel. Arbetets resultat visar att det kan finnas ett behov av att se över dagens kontrollsystem och att antalet allvarliga utförandefel i fallstudieobjektet ökat efter 1995. / In the work the need of increased inspections of steel structures with respect to errors of execution was examined. On 1 June 1994, the Swedish parliament decided to change the Planning and Building Act (PBL) and the changes came into force in 1995, where the entire responsibility for the construction and control of a building was placed on the developer. After the winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11, when several roofs collapsed by the snow weight, a number of design and execution faults were discovered. During the thesis work it was investigated what happens to the safety of building structures in steel that undergo changes during its lifetime and a comparison with current regulations was made. A field study and several interviews were conducted where the focus was on execution errors and how changes in regulations led to today's self-control systems that affect the number of execution errors. The results of the work show that there may be a need to review the current control system and that the number of serious execution errors in the case study object increased after 1995.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Carolina Carneiro de Lima Cesarino.pdf: 495328 bytes, checksum: b1c91676469101ed2f6e1a1eb19876ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-19 / Based on the literature of that age would be an important variable to be considered in studies of self-control, the aim of this study was to investigate how variables such as delay and magnitude of reinforcement, the presence of the reinforcer, the presence of distractions, with the consequence contingency wait, kind of consequence and likelihood of obtaining it influenced the choice by the response of self-control in children of different ages (2 years and 4 months to 6 years and 4 months). The response of self-control is defined in this study as the delayed reinforcer and the choice of greater magnitude. In the first experimental condition manipulated the age of the children so they could observe how was the choice by the reinforcer (smaller or larger, immediate and delayed) in each age group as well as observing how children of different ages behave in the face of waiting for the reinforcer of greater magnitude. In a second experimental condition a child (2 years and 4 months to 3 years and 10 months) and an older child (4 years and 1 month to 6 years and 4 months) were placed in a condition with the dual purpose of verifying whether a children represent a model for other modifying the choice of reinforcer delivered in the first experimental condition / Partindo-se da literatura de que a idade seria uma variável importante a ser considerada em estudos de autocontrole, o objetivo deste estudo foi o de investigar como variáveis como atraso e magnitude do reforço, presença do reforçador, presença de distrações, contingência da consequência com a espera, tipo de consequência e probabilidade de obtê-la influenciavam a escolha pela resposta de autocontrole em crianças de diferentes faixas etárias (de 2 anos e 4 meses a 6 anos e 4 meses). A resposta de autocontrole é definida no presente estudo como a escolha pelo reforçador atrasado e de maior magnitude. Numa primeira condição experimental manipulou-se a idade das crianças para que fosse possível observar como se dava a escolha pelo reforçador (menor e imediato ou maior e atrasado) em cada faixa etária, assim como observar como as crianças de diferentes idades se comportavam diante da espera pelo reforçador de maior magnitude. Numa segunda condição experimental uma criança menor (2 anos e 4 meses a 3 anos e 10 meses) e uma criança maior (4 anos e 1 mês a 6 anos e 4 meses) foram colocadas numa condição em dupla com o objetivo de verificar se uma criança representaria um modelo para a outra modificando a escolha do reforçador feita na primeira condição experimental

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Yara Claro Nico.pdf: 11504104 bytes, checksum: ffe9c901a4e15ff7b51ab906ec57c3ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001-02-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this work is to examine how Skinner formulates self-control behavior throughout his writings and, according to his formulation, what elements could be drawn to an educational program to develop self-control. Forty-four writings by Skinner were selected and analyzed. The analysis allowed to point out that Skinner's notion of self-control is antagonistic towards that he defines as the traditional view; that self-control is produced only when there is conflict between positive and aversive consequences (the latter being primarily provided by the social environment) and how selfknowledge is a prerequisite for self-control. The relation between self-control and self-management was also discussed in this work. Fin ally , it was concluded that an educational program to develop self-control should both prevent behavior punished by the group and remedy the effects of punishment that were made contingent on powerfully reinforced behavior. It was considered how teaching self-control prepares individuaIs to future contingencies / Este trabalho tem o objetivo de investigar como Skinner formula, ao longo de sua obra, o comportamento de autocontrole e, em decorrência, avaliar que elementos podem ser retirados para o planejamento de uma educação voltada para a instalação deste comportamento. Foram selecionados e analisados quarenta e quatro textos de Skinner. As análises evidenciaram que a noção skinneriana de autocontrole é antagônica à noção que ele define como tradicional, que o autocontrole apenas surge quando há conflito entre conseqüências positivas e aversivas, sendo estas últimas, em sua maior parte, providas pelo ambiente social e como o autoconhecimento, na forma de regras sobre o próprio comportamento, é requisito para autocontrole. A relação entre autocontrole e autogerenciamento também foi discutida. Por fim, conclui-se que uma educação voltada para instalação de autocontrole deveria ter tanto o objetivo de prevenir o estabelecimento de comportamentos que trazem maleficios ao grupo e que, por isso, são punidos socialmente quanto o de remediar os efeitos das punições que foram tornadas contingentes a comportamentos altamente reforçados. O ensino de autocontrole é considerado sob a forma de grandes princípios, no que se refere a aspectos relacionados à formação para novas contingências futuras

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciana Julio Martins.pdf: 1092048 bytes, checksum: a4d477990f99c7390d8d23c1106c25a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-06 / The present study has been carried out with the objective of examining the effects of the exchange of conditioned reinforcement (tokens) with the final reinforcement (gifts), on children, by manipulating the delay of points and of exchange in choices between a delayed reinforcement of higher value (self-control) and an immediate reinforcement of lower value (impulsiveness). Such choices have been regularly presented in experimental studies of self-control. This study has been performed in seven children with ages between 8 and 10, who have been submitted to a concurrent-chain schedule with 3 periods in a notebook. In the first period, called period of choice, a VI10-VI10 was programmed to each of the two components presented on the computer screen. The choice of one of them produced, as a consequence, the period of delay of the reinforcement (FT), characterized by the screen becoming black. After that, a new period started in which the acquisition of tokens was possible. All the participants have been submitted to four different experimental conditions. The first two consisted in evaluating the control of dimensions such as delay and magnitude of the reinforcement over the action of responding and were called correspondently evaluation of sensitivity to the delay of the reinforcement and evaluation of sensitivity to the magnitude of the reinforcement. The other two conditions were called point-delay and exchangedelay. The point-delay condition consisted of submitting the participants to three values of delay (30 , 75 e 120 ) between the emission of a response in the period of choice (VI10-VI10) and the period of acquisition of the conditioned reinforcement (tokens which presented on the computer screen). At the end of each experimental session he screen showed the number of tokens received e these tokens were exchanged for the final reinforcement (gifts). The condition of exchange-delay, consisted of submitting the participants to three values of delay (1,7 and 14 days) to perform the exchange the conditioned reinforcement for the gifts. The period of delay after the period of choice was always 1 second in this condition and the tokens were made available after this delay. However, the exchange for the final reinforcements was only performed on the days determined by the contingency in operation, not at the end of the session as in the point-delay condition. The results showed that all the participants were sensitive to the dimensions delay and magnitude of the reinforcement in the evaluation of their sensitivity to them. Considering the conditions of delay of scoring and exchange delay, four amoung the seven participants preferred the alternative of self-control and three preferred the alternative of impulsiveness, in both conditions. Hence, the effect of the variable exchange-delay was not observed to be different from the effect of point-delay on the participants response / O presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de examinar os efeitos do atraso de troca de reforço condicionado (fichas) pelo reforço final (prêmios), em crianças, manipulando atraso de pontos e atraso de troca em escolhas entre reforço de maior magnitude atrasado (autocontrole) e reforço de menor magnitude imediato (impulsividade), escolhas comumente apresentadas em estudos experimentais de autocontrole. Para tanto, sete crianças com idade de 8 a 10 anos foram submetidas a um esquema concorrente encadeado com três períodos em um notebook. No primeiro período, período de escolha, estava programado esquema concorrente VI10-VI10 para os componentes apresentados na tela do computador. A escolha de um dos componentes produzia como conseqüência o período do atraso do reforço (FT), caracterizado pela cor preta em toda tela do computador. Após o FT, iniciavase o período disponível para obtenção de fichas (reforço condicionado). Todos os participantes foram submetidos a quatro condições experimentais. As duas primeiras consistiram em avaliar o controle das dimensões atraso e magnitude do reforço sobre o responder e foram denominadas de avaliação da sensibilidade ao atraso do reforço e avaliação da sensibilidade à magnitude do reforço. As outras duas condições foram chamadas de atraso de pontos e atraso de troca. A condição de atraso de pontos consistiu em submeter os participantes a três valores de atrasos (30 , 75 e 120 ) entre a emissão das respostas no período de escolha (concorrente VI10-VI10) e o período de obtenção do reforço condicionado (fichas que eram apresentadas na tela do notebook). Ao final da sessão experimental, aparecia na tela a quantidade de fichas recebidas e estas eram trocadas pelo reforço final (prêmios). A condição de atraso de troca consistiu em submeter os participantes a três valores de atraso (1, 7, 14 dias) para a troca do reforço condicionado pelos prêmios. O período de atraso, após o período de escolha foi sempre 1 segundo, nesta condição, e as fichas eram disponibilizadas após este atraso, porém eram trocadas pelos reforços finais nos dias estipulados pela contingência em vigor e não necessariamente ao final da sessão, como na condição de atraso de pontos. Os resultados mostraram que todos os participantes foram sensíveis às dimensões atraso e magnitude do reforço nas avaliações da sensibilidade de tais dimensões. Considerando as condições de atraso de pontos e de atraso de troca, de uma forma geral, quatro, dos sete participantes apresentaram preferência pela alternativa de autocontrole e três apresentaram preferência pela alternativa de impulsividade, em ambas as condições. Assim, não foi observado um efeito da variável de atraso de troca diferente da variável de atraso de pontos sobre o responder dos participantes. Ressalta-se também que as seqüências de atrasos que tinham seus valores gradativamente aumentados (fading) produziram preferência pela alternativa de autocontrole em praticamente todas as ocorrências

La notion d'autorité parentale est certes inscrite dans la loi, mais celle-ci ne nous dit pas grand chose quant aux processus qu'elle met en jeu. Ce travail essaie non seulement de différencier l'autorité du pouvoir, à l'instar de la légitimité et de la légalité, mais aussi de proposer une explication de cette notion, qui prend sa source dans ce que l'on appelle l'axiologie. L'étude menée propose de comprendre l'autorité autrement que par sa seule dimension de relation à autrui, pour la considérer selon un angle relevant d'un registre de la rationalité humaine dit éthico-moral, qui ne fait pas appel, du point de vue des processus qu'il suppose, à la dimension de l 'altérité. Par ailleurs, la prise en compte de l 'enfance et la compréhension de ce dont il est question lorsqu'on évoque la parentalité ne sont pas étrangères à la façon dont on considère l'autorité de nos jours. Il apparaît alors primordial de savoir déterminer les capacités de l'enfant, tout autant que la responsabilité des parents pour rendre compte du processus d'autorité chez les enfants, chez les parents, et bien sûr dans la relation éducative qui les lie. Nous considérerons le processus d'autorité comme un autocontrôle, une retenue dont chacun fait preuve, hors pathologie, et qui relève d'un fonctionnement spécifiquement humain. La dernière partie de notre travail s'attachera ainsi à comprendre dans quelle mesure nous pouvons aider l'enfant à mettre cette autorité en oeuvre et en quoi cela apparaît nécessaire à son développement, eu égard en particulier à la problématique de la liberté. / The idea of parental authority may appear in the law but the law tells very little when it comes to its process. This study is trying to distinguish authority from power, as legitimacy from lawfulness, but also to suggest an explanation of the notion through axiology. This research intends to understand authority differently than a sole relation to others, and harvests both the ethical and moral fields however not through otherness. Furthermore, the way we consider childhood and understand parenthood nowadays does not fall far from considering authority itself. Thus, it seems of primordial importance to be able to determine the child's capacities as much as his or her parents's responsibility in order to carry out a proper research on the authority process throughout the child's upbringing. Just like restraint lies in everyone, we consider this process comes from self-control (no pathology included), which falls within human specificities. The last part of this work will focus on understanding how the child can be helped to carry out this authority and why it appears necessary to his or her development, particularly if we take into account the moral liberty this process seems to enable us with.