Week 8 - Cultural Perspectives

Question 1

Why is it argued that Chinese parents use more psychological control over children?

Answer 1

Because they have arguably higher child-based worth

Question 2

What is child-based worth?

Answer 2

Feelings of worth being contingent on a child’s performance

Question 3

What is Psychological Control?

Answer 3

Practices that intrude into the child’s psychological and emotional development (eg. thinking process, self expression, attachment to parent)

Question 4

What are some practices of psychological control? (2)

Answer 4

Love withdrawal

Guilt Induction

Question 5

Why is it argued that Chinese parents have higher child-based worth?

Answer 5

Due to aspects of Chinese culture.

Question 6

What kinds of parenting style do Chinese parents tend to use?

Answer 6

Authoritarian - heightened intrusiveness (rules and monitoring), tend to use more control

Question 7

What kind of parenting style do American parents tend to use?

Answer 7

more authoritative. less intrusive, heightened warmth.

Question 8

What aspects of Chinese culture contributes to Chinese parents’ higher child-based worth? (3)

Answer 8

1) independence oriented culture - self is understood with reference to relationships with others and societal expectations. hence chinese parents may incorporate children’s accomplishments into how they view themselves
2) “face culture” - individual’s sense of self-worth is based on respect earned by meeting societal expectations
3) guan - parents’ involvement and discipline is viewed as love. children meeting societal expectations reflect successful parenting.

Question 9

How does parents’ child-based worth influence their use of control?

Answer 9

Individuals’ sense of worth is contingent on certain areas of life. Individuals seek to minimize failure and maximize success in these areas. They become so focused on performance even at the cost of relationships with others.
Parents may feel compelled to maximize children’s success at the cost of children’s needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Hence they may use psychological control for immediate compliance.

Question 10

The higher mothers’ child-based worth, the ____ mothers held performance goals for children.

Answer 10

more.

Question 11

Are Chinese mothers more psychologically controlling than American mothers?

Answer 11

Yes, Chinese mothers reported themselves as more psychologically controlling than American mothers at both waves. Children also reported similarly.

Question 12

Do Chinese mothers have greater child-based worth than American mothers?

Answer 12

yes, chinese mothers based their worth on children’s performance more than American mothers at both waves

Question 13

Are mothers with greater child-based worth more controlling?

Answer 13

Regardless of country, the more mothers’ feelings of worth were contingent on children’s performance, the more psychologically controlling they were.

Question 14

Describe the mediation model in explaining the cultural differences in mothers’ psychological control. What is the key finding?

Answer 14

country (IV) –> mothers’ child-based worth (Mediator) –> Psychologically Controlling Parenting (DV)
Chinese mothers use more psychological control because they have higher child-based worth. Child-based worth explained 1/4 of the difference.

Question 15

What future research is recommended for the study of mothers’ child-based worth and psychologically controlling parenting?

Answer 15

1) parents’ child-based worth –> implications for children’s psychological functioning
2) parents’ child-based worth –> implications for children’s academic adjustment

Question 16

Why is it important to study parents’ affective responses to children’s performance

Answer 16

Foreshadows children’s psychological adjustment.

Question 17

In what ways can parents’ child-based worth influence parents’ affect? (2)

Answer 17

1) When children fail, parents with high child-based worth might experience heightened negative affect and dampened positive affect because their own self-worth is undermined.
2) Parents also use their affect to signal to children what is desired. hence they use affective cues to signal to children their view of the child’s performance.

Question 18

What are some strengths of daily interview approach? (3)

Answer 18

1) better recall of specific event
2) less prone to social desirability biases. each day is juts one of the many days they are reporting.
3) provide information on duration. (eg. current day, next day etc.)

Question 19

What is the 1-day lagged design?

Answer 19

Examine whether failure/success on previous day predicted mothers’ affect the next day.

Question 20

In the analyses of children’s failure, what did the findings show?

Answer 20

On days children failed, mothers showed dampened warmth toward children. By the next day, this effect weakened but remained significant.

Question 21

Describe how child-based worth moderated the relationship between children’s failure and mothers’ affect.

Answer 21

On failure days, mothers’ child-based worth did not moderate their affect. Means that regardless of their child-based worth, mothers showed dampened warmth when children failed.
BUT on the next day following failure, mothers’ child-based worth moderated the effect of children’s failure on mothers’ warmth. Mothers with high child-based worth continued to be

Question 22

Was country a moderator of child’s performance on mothers’ affect?

Answer 22

No.

Question 23

In the analyses of children’s successes, what did the findings show?

Answer 23

On days children succeeded, mothers reported marginally heightened warmth toward children compare to previous day. But this effect did not extend to the next day.

Question 24

Why was child-based worth a moderator only for failure days but not success days?

Answer 24

Mothers may respond more strongly to child’s failures possibly because successes may only provide temporary evidence of one’s achievement with no assurance of future success. (cautious of subsequent failure)

Question 25

in study 2, describe the failure analyses.

Answer 25

mothers showed less warmth following child’s failure. this was moderated by child-based worth. mothers with average or high child-based worth showed less warmth but mothers with low child based worth did not show less warmth.

Question 26

Child-based worth moderated mothers’ warmth in children’s failure for mothers in which country?

Answer 26

China (American mothers’ warmth was not predicted by their child-based worth, regardless of whether children failed or succeeded)

Question 27

What is a possible reason to explain why findings were more consistent for Chinese mothers? (ie. moderating role of child-based worth found for Chinese mothers but not American mothers in study 2)

Answer 27

American mothers’ child-based worth could have more limited influence than Chinese mothers. For American mothers, their child-based worth may extend only to school related work, but Chinese mothers it may extend to less significant performances like the lab test.