Amy Chua Tiger Parenting

Question 1

4 reasons Amy Chua offers for why Chinese parents raise more academically successful children

Answer 1

• Hours of hw/training/practice (Forcing their children to spend more time practicing (ie. homework, musical instruments)
• Overriding child’s preferences (autocratic style; restricting non-academic activities like sleepovers, playdates)
• Filial piety (socialized to feel like they owe their parents)
• Not preoccupied with children’s self-esteem (see children as strong, not fragile - you can push them)

Question 2

Criticisms from Gish Jen on Amy Chua’s book (and 1 praise)

Answer 2

• she doesn’t define success in Asian vs. Western culture
• doesn’t discuss implications of her training methods (whom they’re good for, under what conditions, and with what worldview)
• gives Chua kudos from “tromping where few dare tread” (aka: talking about a different parenting style that deviates from the mainstream and criticizing mainstream Western parenting)

Question 3

Criticisms from Patricia Wen on Amy Chua’s book

Answer 3

• Not a good representation of Chinese-American parenting → too extreme
• Other things exist that are associated with child’s GPA that she dismisses (ex. human capital)

Question 4

What is human capital? How does it relate to the number of Asian students in elite colleges?

Answer 4

• Human capital = parents with high levels of schooling who could explain how to work the ladder-to-success system → leads to high-achieving immigrant students
• Disproportionate number of Asians occupying seats in elite colleges today is mainly due to demographics of the wave of educated & privileged (aka: high in human capital) Chinese immigrants in late 1940s

Question 5

Criticisms from Frank Chui on Amy Chua’s book

Answer 5

• Perpetuates Asian-American stereotypes (nerd with bad social skills)
• a marketing campaign that glorifies trauma of Asian-Americans
• Of all 3 commentators, he is most angry: evident from title “Manipulating childhood trauma and Asian-American stereotypes to sell a book”

Question 6

Convert Amy Chua’s 4 reasons why Chinese children are more academically successful into empirically testable predictor variables

Answer 6

• Hours of practice –> GPA (positive relationship)
• Autocratic/restrictive parenting –> GPA (positive relationship)
• Filial piety –> GPA (positive relationship
• Concern for child’s self-esteem –> GPA (negative relationship; less concern = higher GPA)

Question 7

Confounding variable identified by Patricia Wen

Answer 7

• Human capital

- ex. filial piety –> human capital –> child’s GPA (positive relationship)

Question 8

Additional child outcome (aside from GPA) identified by Frank Chi

Answer 8

• Psychological damage

- ex. Tiger parenting –> psychological damage (positive relationship)

Question 9

Identify 2 things Chua says/does that demonstrate psychological control, then link them to one of Brian Barber’s 6 dimensions

Answer 9

• Not caring about child’s self-esteem: relates to personal attack on child (ex. shaming them, bringing up mistakes when they don’t perform well)
• Overriding child’s preferences: relates to invalidating feelings (ex. discounting child’s feelings/interests)

Question 10

4 predictors of child academic achievement identified by Chen (2001)

Answer 10

• positive attitude toward value of science –> child’s gpa (+)
• emphasis on child’s self-improvement –> child’s gpa (+)
• setting high standards/grades –> child’s gpa (+)
• helping your child learn science –> child’s gpa (+)

Question 11

3 predictors of child academic achievement identified by Huntsinger et al (1998)

Answer 11

• time on focused practice –> math scores (+)
• time use/homework time –> math scores (+)
• parental formal teaching methods –> math scores (+)

Question 12

Huntsinger et al (1998): study basics

Answer 12

• US education philosophy views formal education as bad, but Chinese parents have found a way to be more formal without compromising social life of their children
• Time on focused practice (time spent sitting & focusing on 1 task, ie. piano, drawing)
• Time use and homework time (includes teacher-assigned and parent-assigned homework)
• Reading Teacher Methods and Math Teaching Models (informality-formality on a scale of 1-3)
• • 1 = spontaneous play (ie. making rice krispies - “I see a K on the box, can you find it?)
• • 2 = game-like methods (ie. a game)
• • 3 = work-oriented methods (ie. using flashcards)

Question 13

Huntsinger et al, 1998: study results

Answer 13

• Time on focused practice: Chinese-American children spent 10x the amount of time as European-American children
• Time use:
  Chin 3x as much daily homework, 10x as much music, ⅓ as much sports practice compared to European-Americans
• Homework time:
  Chin-Americans: largest homework difference was in math (approx. 4 times), no significant differences in reading, TV, etc
• Teaching methods:
  Chin-Am parents use more formal teaching methods (difference was larger for math)
  Eur-Am parents tend to be more formal with reading
• Cultural differences in math performance:
  Chin: 35/40, Eur: 28/40 (Chinese outscored Europeans)

Question 14

6 predictors (and 1 moderator) of child academic achievement identified by Hill (2001)

Answer 14

• Parental warmth/acceptance → child’s GPA (+)
• Hostile parenting → child’s GPA (-)
• Extent to which teachers believed parents valued education → child’s GPA (+)
• Quality of the parent-teacher relationship → child’s GPA (+)
• Mothers’ expectations for grades → child’s GPA (+)
• Mothers’ expectations for future occupations → child’s GPA (+)
• These relationships were stronger for low-income families (income is a moderating variable)

Question 15

3 predictors found by other researchers that are consistent with Amy Chua, 1 that contradicts her

Answer 15

• consistent:
• • setting high standards (Chen)
• • time on focused practice (Huntsinger)
• • Homework time (Huntsinger)
• contradicts:
• • Parental warmth/acceptance (Hill)