The Relations of Chinese Mothers’ Endorsement of Chinese Cultural Values and Parenting Beliefs to Their Parenting Styles and Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies suggested the possible influence of cultural values and parenting beliefs on parenting styles and practices (Bornstein, 1991; Chao, 1994, 2000; Cheah & Rubin, 2003; Chen & French, 2008; Harwood, 1992; Ogbu, 1981; Rudy & Grusec, 2006; Triandis, 1988, 1995), however limited empirical studies have explored how mainland Chinese mothers’ cultural values and parenting beliefs might have an impact on their parenting styles and practices. The possible associations between mothers’ endorsement of Chinese cultural values and parenting beliefs and their parenting styles and parenting practices were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) in the current study. The findings suggest that Chinese mothers’ endorsement of collectivism was significantly positively associated with their authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles and behavioral control, but negatively associated with mothers’ use of psychological control. Chinese mothers’ “training” beliefs were significantly negatively associated with mothers’ use of behavioral control. Additionally, the current study explored the possible impact of youths’ age on their mothers’ choice of parenting styles and parenting practices and found that generally speaking, the older the youth, the less authoritarian and authoritative parenting style and behavioral control they perceived. It seems that under the new economic, cultural, and social context, Chinese mothers who strongly endorsed Chinese cultural values (i.e., collectivism), may have to adjust their traditional parenting strategies and adopt both authoritarian and authoritative parenting practices to promote appropriate behavioral and social skills in their children, while taking children’s age into consideration. Implications and limitations of the study were also discussed.