In order to examine the effects of intimate marital relationships upon self-reported rearing styles towards a young child, 118 Japanese couples with at least one child were administered a set of questionnaires. A path analysis showed that wives whose husbands treated them with an affectionate attitude were more likely to hold affectionate childrearing styles; wives whose husbands treated them with a controlling attitude were more likely to hold overprotective child-rearing styles; husbands whose wives acted in controlling ways towards them tended to exhibit less affectionate and more overprotective rearing child-rearing practices.