What is reciprocal socialization?

Reciprocal socialization is when both the parent and child socialize each other through their interactions. For instance, a parent teaches the child how to speak, and later on parents pick up new slang phrases and words used by their children.

Reciprocal socialization is a process that starts early. Parents start acting more responsibly, taking the child's welfare into account, such as becoming a more cautious driver when there is a child in the car, according to readperiodicals.com.

Another example of reciprocal socialization is during the bonding process between a mother and infant. Mother and child start synchronizing actions and movements when looking at each other. This leads to scaffolding behaviors, in which a parent's responses support and encourage the child's behavior. When baby makes a sound, the mother may respond in kind or even say certain words to encourage the baby. Eventually, the child starts mimicking those words, which the mother encourages even further.