A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Chinese and American Parental Attributions of Child Misbehavior, Discipline Strategies, and Children's Behavioral Adjustment
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The goals of this study were: (a) to test whether American and mainland Chinese parents differed in their disciplinary responses to children's hypothetical misbehavior, (b) to test whether these parents differed in their causal attributions for children's hypothetical misbehavior, and (c) to examine how culture, disciplinary response styles, and attributional patterns differently predict children's externalizing behavior.Participants were 82 American mothers and their kindergarten-aged children (45 boys) and 87 Chinese parents (53 mothers) and their preschool children (39 boys).During interviews, parents completed child behavior inventories and were presented with six hypothetical vignettes in which their children misbehaved.Parents spontaneously reported their disciplinary responses and causal attributions for their children's behavioral infractions.Chinese and American parents did not differ in their endorsement of high power disciplinary responses but American parents reported more prosocial and democratic practices.Chinese parents' disciplinary responses and attributions were both characterized by a concern about social environmental and reciprocal influences.Hierarchical and stepwise regression modeling revealed that culture was not a significant predictor of child externalizing behavior, but that threat of nonphysical punishment and empathy were positively correlated with externalizing, and distraction and information seeking were negatively correlated.This study highlights the importance of deconstructing parenting into behavior and cognition and of examining how cultural contexts influence both of these dimensions.Proposals for future methodological and theoretical innovations are discussed.
Author: Cynthia Yuen
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Wellcome Trust
OpenAlex ID: W16008527