Culture and Parenting Xinyin Chen, Rui Fu, and Wai Ying Vivien Yiu

PAReNTING STYLEs AND BEHAVIORS ACROSS CULTURES
A number of cross-cultural studies have been conducted concerning specific parenting styles and behaviors. For example, researchers have examined parenting behaviors with infants and toddlers in different societies in terms of whether parents engage in object-oriented activities or social and emotional communications with the child (Bornstein, Cote, Haynes, Suwalsky, and Bakeman, 2012) and whether parents display proximal (e.g., body contact, body stimulation) or distal (face-to-face, object stimulation) behaviors with the child (Keller et al., 2004). Patterns of parenting styles and behaviors are largely consistent with cultural values and associated socialization expectations in the society. Moreover, extensive evidence has emerged to indicate that parents may differ across cultures on the fundamental dimensions of parenting, such as parental warmth/affect and control, that are emphasized in the developmental literature (Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby and Martin, 1983).
Cultural Variations on Parental Warmth and Affect Expression
Adequate parental warmth and affection in parent-child relationships are necessary for socialization and human development across cultures (Barnard and Solchany, 2002; Bornstein, Suwalsky, and Breakstone, 2012). However, the level and phenotype of emotional expression may be moderated by contextual influence (Bornstein, 1995; Saarni, Campos, Camras, and Witherington, 2006). It has been argued that the expression of positive emotions in parent–child interactions is more encouraged in cultures that place higher value on promoting children’s development of sociability, liveliness, and autonomy (Harkness et al., 2007; Wörmann, Holodynski, Kärtner, and Keller, 2012). In Western cultures, parental affect and warmth are regarded as important for fostering children’s socioemotional competence, self-confidence, and self-expression (Chao, 1995; Henderlong and Lepper, 2002; Rothbaum and Trommsdorff, 2007; Wang, Wiley, and Chiu, 2008; Wörmann et al., 2012). In other, particularly East Asian, cultures, the explicit expression of emotional experiences in social settings is viewed as inappropriate. Parents’ expression of affection toward children is believed to undermine parental authority and the hierarchical and authoritarian organization of the family in which children are expected to show respect and obedience (Chao, 1995; Cheah and Li, 2010; Chen, 2010; Ho, 1986).
The results of studies with Asian and Western parents support this argument. Compared with European American parents, Asian parents are less affectionate and less likely to engage in affective communication with their children (Camras, Kolmodin, and Chen, 2008; Cheah and Li, 2010; Chen et al., 1998; Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, and Fraleigh, 1987; Huntsinger and Jose, 2009; Kelley and Tseng, 1992; Porter et al., 2005; Saw and Okazaki, 2010), which is related to their low motivation to help children develop sociability and social initiative (Chao, 1995; Chen, 2010). For example, Wu and Chao (2005) found that Chinese mothers were reluctant to express warmth openly and directly; compared with European American parents, Chinese American parents displayed lower levels of warmth and responsiveness (e.g., “Smiles at me very often.”, “Often praises me.”), although they did not differ on adolescents’ ideals for parental warmth (e.g., “Ideally, how often do you think a parent should smile at you?”), according to adolescents’ reports. In a study of family emotion socialization experiences, Saw and Okazaki (2010) noticed that Asian American youth reported considerably fewer experiences of positive emotions with their parents in childhood and adolescence, such as expression of physical and verbal affection, than European American youth (e.g., “On the phone my dad’s like, ‘I love you.’, ‘Yeah, love you too, Dad.’”, “We’re affectionate in the sense of hugging, and kissing on the cheek.”).
Cheah, Li, Zhou, Yamamoto, and Leung (2015) illustrated cultural differences in the expression of parental warmth through interviewing Chinese immigrant and European American mothers. In the study, the researchers examined cultural variations in not only the amount of warmth expressed, but also reasons for expressing warmth and the specific practices of expressing warmth. Chinese mothers reported expressing less warmth than European American mothers. Whereas both groups of mothers believed that maternal warmth was important for children’s development, they provided different reasons and reported different practices of expressing warmth. Relative to Chinese mothers, European American mothers reported more outward and direct demonstrations and communications of warmth (“Hugging and kissing.”, “Tell her “I love her’ all the time.”) that served to promote children’s individuality, emotional expressivity, and self-confidence. They also tended to provide more elaborative explanations of emotions and to encourage children to focus on their own feelings. In contrast, Chinese mothers focused on warmth as a foundation for an exertion of parental training and guidance. Accordingly, Chinese mothers were more likely to indicate expressing warmth through instrumental support, including satisfying daily routine needs (e.g., “I make him his favorite dumplings.”, “I help him organize clothes and quilts.”) and providing guidance and learning/educational opportunities (e.g., “I help and guide the child to develop good habits and be polite.”, “I try to let her go to good schools.”).
Relatively low levels of parental warmth and affect expression were found in other Asian societies, such as Indonesia, India (Daga, Raval, and Raj, 2015), Japan (Trommsdorff, and Friedlmeier, 2010), and South Korea (Louie, Oh, and Lau, 2013), as well as non-Asian and non-Western societies, such as Cameroon (Wörmann et al., 2012), Arab (Rasmi, Chuang, and Safdar, 2012), and Turkey (Yaman, Mesman, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, and Linting, 2010). For example, Wörmann and colleagues (2012) found that, compared with German mothers, Nso mothers in rural communities in Cameroon displayed less positive emotions such as smiles to infants and were less likely to respond to infants’ smiles. Rasmi et al. (2012) showed that Arab youth in both Canada, Egypt, and Lebanon perceived lower parental warmth than European Canadian youth. Yaman et al. (2010) reported that, after controlling for maternal age and education, compared with native Dutch mothers, second-generation Turkish immigrant mothers in the Netherlands were less supportive, as indicated by little expression of positive emotions, and were more intrusive, as indicated by the lack of respect for the child’s autonomy in exploratory or problem solving situations and by interfering with the child’s needs and interests. Deater-Deckard and colleagues (2011) found that, based on parental and child reports, parents of 7- to 10-year-olds in multiple non-Western countries, including China, Jordan, Kenya, and Thailand, were significantly lower on warmth (e.g., “I let my child know I love him/her.”) than parents in the United States. European, Asian, and Latino American parents within the United States did not differ on warmth in this study. Inconsistent with the results in Deater-Deckard and colleagues (2011)’s study about different ethnic groups within the United States, Ispa and colleagues (2004) found in an observational study of mother-toddler interactions at home that Latin and African American mothers expressed a generally lower level of warmth (e.g., physical and verbal expressions of affect, words of encouragement and praise) than European American mothers.
Cross-cultural variations in parental warmth and affect have been observed across Western nations. Harkness and colleagues (2007) found that, compared with mothers in the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States, Italian mothers had the highest scores on socioemotional closeness, which indicates parental effort to stimulate and promote infants’ sociability and parental sensitivity to infants’ need for social interaction. Other researchers (Bornstein, Putnick et al., 2012; Hsu and Lavelli, 2005) also found that, relative to their counterparts in North America, Italian mothers were more sensitive and more likely to display affection in childrearing and valued more socially oriented interactions with their children.
Cultural Variations on Parental Control, Directiveness, and Discipline
Parental control is another dimension that has received a great deal of attention in developmental research (Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby and Martin, 1983). In Western cultures, the views of parental control and its function in child development have been mixed, depending on the nature of parental control. For example, psychological control, referring to parenting behaviors that are intrusive of the child’s feelings and thoughts through invoking guilt, shame, and anxiety, is believed to impede the development of autonomy and self-direction (Barber and Harmon, 2002). However, behavioral control, referring to parental monitoring and supervision of the child’s behaviors, is often considered useful and necessary for children to learn social standards and to control their behaviors according to social standards (Barber and Harmon, 2002; Stattin and Kerr, 2000). Nevertheless, the general cultural orientation that focuses on promoting individual freedom and autonomy of children in Western societies constitutes a context that encourages parents to exert control, directive, and discipline with caution, especially as children grow older (Greenfield, Suzuki, and Rothstein-Fisch, 2006).
Parental control and monitoring are regarded as more acceptable and desirable in many non-Western cultures. In some Asian cultures that highly value parental involvement in children’s various activities, parental control is perceived by parents and children as an indication of responsibility and care (Chao, 1995; Ho, 1986). Moreover, it has been argued that parental assertion of control is one of the primary means through which parents express their warmth (Nomura, Noguchi, Saito, and Tezuka, 1995; Rothbaum and Trommsdorff, 2007). Parents who do not exert strict and comprehensive control over children’s behaviors and activities are viewed as irresponsible and incompetent, indicating lack of affection toward the child or inadequate parenting skills. Wang and Fivush (2005) found that even during parent-child conversations about emotional events, Chinese parents emphasized discipline, focused on understanding social norms, hierarchy, and moral rectitude, and were more direct in correcting children’s responses.
Parents in Asian societies are expected and encouraged to exert control over children’s activities, such as learning, through a variety of methods. Pomerantz and colleagues (Cheung and Pomerantz, 2011; Ng, Pomerantz, and Lam, 2007; Pomerantz and Wang, 2009) found that, compared with American parents, Chinese parents used more explicit and systematic control and direction to help children’s learning. They focused more on children’s errors on tasks, emphasized failure more than success, and expressed lower satisfaction with children’s performance. Similar results were found by other researchers (Huntsinger, Jose, Larson, Balsink Krieg, and Shaligram, 2000; Miller, Wiley, Fung, and Liang, 1997; Stevenson and Lee, 1990). In the sections that follow, we focus on the discussion of parental use of shaming, as a salient form of psychological control, and behavioral directiveness across cultures.