Parenting behaviors and beliefs and children's social development in urban China.

摘要

This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore parenting and its effects on child social and academic development in modern urban China.; In the qualitative phase of the study, 47 parents in Beijing were interviewed using a design that was unstructured and allowed free conversations and responses. The results are as the following: Confucianism has lost its dominant role in parenting beliefs. Most parents held the view that the relationship between parents and children should be equal rather than hierarchical and girls and boys should be treated equally. Collectivism is not regarded as the standard in regulating children's social behavior. Most parents were not aversive toward aggression but were very negative about social withdrawal. Chinese parenting is characterized by a stronger presence of warmth rather than control. Parents showed high levels of warmth which was related to children both psychologically and physically. Parental control, on the other hand, was exercised with children's input and understanding. Children's academic and cognitive development represents a particularly strong focus in Chinese parenting. Most parents invested heavily in advancing children's academic performance in terms of both time and economic expenditure.; In the quantitative phase of the study, 645 children and their parents were administered a set of questionnaires. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling and other analyses yield the following findings: The data analysis support the multi-dimension structure of Chinese parenting. Besides the dimension proposed by the western researchers Chinese parents also show their warmth and control to the children physically. Mean levels in modern parenting beliefs, authoritative parenting style, psychological and physical warmth, and behavioral control were higher than those of traditional parenting beliefs, authoritarian parenting style, psychological and physical control, respectively. Modern parenting beliefs, psychological and physical warmth, authoritative parenting style played positive roles in children development. Traditional parenting beliefs, psychological and physical control, and authoritarian parenting style were negatively associated with children's self-concept and academic achievement, and were positively associated with aggression and withdrawal. Children's self-concept play a mediating role in the relationship of parenting and children's development. Finally, the effects of gender and age was also discussed.