The social orientation of 60 American and 60 Philippine mothers representing two levels of social class was assessed through the verbal regulatory appeal strategies which they employed in five hypothetical everyday situations involving their 4-year-old children. Social orientation was assessed through the mothers' responses to the Bearison and Cassel Questionnaire for Regulatory Appeal Strategies. Each of the mothers' regulatory phrases was classified as person-oriented (expressing the feelings, thoughts, needs, of a person affected by the child's behavior), or position-oriented (expressing a nonsituation-specific rule of behavior in terms of the position status, or role of the child). Society was found to have a significant effect on mother's use of person-oriented versus position-oriented statements, but its impact varied as a function of the mother's educational level. Situational variations also influenced the adoption of a person versus a position orientation. This effect of situational determinants was modified by the mothers' education. The results were interpreted within the framework of Bernstein's (1961) theory of social learning. (Author/BRT)