Parents' responses to children's success and failure: Differences between Chinese and European American parents

This research examined cultural differences in how parents respond to children's performance. Whether such differences account for cultural differences in children's responses was also studied. In Study 1, Chinese fifth-graders (N = 188) reported that parents deemphasized their academic success and emphasized their academic failure, whereas their American counterparts (N = 233) reported that parents did the opposite. This partially accounted for Chinese (versus American) children responding less positively to success and more negatively to failure as well as for their dampened positive emotional functioning. In Study 2, mothers' responses to the performance of fourth- and fifth-grade children from China (N = 59) and the US (N = 69) were observed in the laboratory. The cultural differences in parents' responses found in Study 1 were replicated. Chinese (versus American) mothers showed heightened involvement but similar affect.