Autonomy- vs. connectedness-oriented parenting behaviors in Chinese and Canadian mothers

Despite the literature on the importance of cultural background for parental socialization and child development, research on cross-cultural differences in parental socialization practices and their significance to individual development has been generally weak. This study investigated (1) the differences in maternal socialization goal-oriented behaviors between Chinese and Canadian mothers, and (2) the unique contributions of maternal encouragement of autonomy and maternal encouragement of connectedness to the prediction of children's social behaviors. One hundred and ten children in China and 102 children in Canada, initially aged 2 years, and their mothers participated in the original study. Follow-up data were collected from the Chinese sample two years later. In the original study, information on child autonomy and connectedness, maternal encouragement of autonomy and maternal encouragement of connectedness, and maternal strategies was collected from observations of mother-child interactions in a laboratory situation. Data on children's prosocial orientation, social participation, organization/leadership and aggression were collected in the follow-up study for the Chinese sample.; Cross-cultural similarities as well as differences were found in the present study. In both cultures, mothers of 2-year-olds displayed more encouragement of autonomy than encouragement of connectedness. At the same time, the results indicated that mothers in China and Canada differed from each other on the socialization goal-oriented behaviors. Specifically, Chinese mothers displayed a high level of overall involvement in mother-child interactions. Further analyses of relative frequency data on maternal behaviors indicated that Chinese mothers displayed more encouragement of connectedness in mother-child interaction whereas Canadian mothers displayed more encouragement of autonomy. Longitudinal analyses revealed that maternal encouragement of connectedness made a unique contribution to the prediction of children's social and prosocial orientation over and above maternal encouragement of autonomy in Chinese society. The importance of culture values and socialization goals is discussed.