Cross-National Perspectives on Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory

Parental acceptance-rejection theory (PARTheory) is a theory of socialization that seeks to predict and explain major causes, consequences, and other correlates of parental acceptance-rejection worldwide. In effect, the theory searches for verifiable universals in parent-child relations insofar as these universals relate to issues surrounding perceived parental acceptance-rejection. In this article, we focus on four major issues within the theory. First, we review the common meaning-structure used by children cross-nationally to assess the extent to which they are accepted or rejected by their parents. Second, we describe the apparently universal psychological outcome of experiencing specific degrees of parental acceptance or rejection. Third, we review sociocultural factors that tend to be associated cross-nationally with variations in parental acceptance-rejection. Finally, we review other sociocultural factors, especially expressive correlates such as a people's institutionalized religious beliefs, that are known to be associated cross-nationally (universally) with perceived acceptance-rejection.