#530: Sentiment Analysis in Parent-Child Conversations: Relations Between Emotional Tone and Parental Beliefs in Informal STEM

Widespread motivational disparities in pursuing STEM careers may originate from negative STEM attitudes that emerge early in development. Children’s attitudes are likely shaped by parental beliefs, conveyed through parent-child interactions. While prior research emphasized STEM-related content of these interactions, less is known about their affective nature. Here, we examined the emotional tone of parent-child interactions across STEM and non-STEM contexts and tested whether tone was predicted by parents’ beliefs about the role of talent versus effort in STEM success. Using text analysis software (LIWC), we analyzed conversations from 195 parent-child dyads for positive and negative tone. Results showed that non-STEM tasks contained more negative tone than STEM tasks, and spatial tasks elicited more positive tone than math tasks. Additionally, parents who valued talent over effort expressed higher negative tone during STEM interactions. These findings highlight the importance of considering affective features of parent-child conversations when examining socialization of STEM attitudes.