Cultural Differences in Child Rearing

To study cultural differences in child-rearing practices, 38 middle-class immigrant Chinese mothers and 38 middle-class Caucasian American mothers of 3- to 8-year-old children completed the Parenting Dimensions Inventory (PDI) and the Parenting Goals Questionnaire (PGQ). Comparison of the PDI scale scores revealed differences on all but the reasoning dimension. Caucasian American mothers scored higher on sensitivity, consistency, nonrestrictiveness, nurturance, and rule setting, whereas immigrant Chinese mothers scored higher on physical punishment and yelling at the child. Examination of the parenting goals revealed no cultural main effect, however, a main effect was found for child's age. Both immigrant Chinese and Caucasian American mothers place more emphasis on manners, school-related skills, and emotional adjustment during the early elementary school years (6 to 8 years of age) than during the preschool years (3 to 5 years of age). Results related to terns of the need for immigrant Chinese to maintain ties to their culture of origin and to accommodate to the socialization practices of the host culture.