A Qualitative Study of Urban, Chinese Middle-Class Mothers’ Parenting for Adolescents

Abstract

Through interviews with 22 middle-class mothers and their adolescent children, we explored contemporary approaches to parenting in urban China. The participants provided evidence of authoritative parenting style. We also examined the applicability of Chao's construct of Chinese parenting guan (管) for adolescence; the participants seemed to support the idea, but viewed the underlying meaning of guan differently than described in earlier studies conducted with mothers of younger children. We thus argue that guanjiao (管教), which means "to govern and to educate/teach," may be a more appropriate word to use than guan to describe urban, middle-class Chinese mothers' approach to parenting of adolescents. The findings also suggest that neither Chao's construct of guan nor Baumrind's prototypes could fully capture its essence. Additional elements, such as modeling, selfsacrifice, and expression of affection through behavior, also emerged as common themes.

Relations of Collectivism Socialization Goals and Training Beliefs to Chinese Parenting

“…In this new context, many Chinese parents must negotiate between Chinese heritage cultural values and newer global influences (Lau & Fung, 2013). For example, mainland Chinese parents have begun to place greater emphasis on children’s independence, creativity, self-sufficiency, and emotional well-being, and less emphasis on academic performance, over the last decade (Chen-Bouck, Duan, & Patterson, 2017; Wang & Chang, 2008; Way et al, 2013; Woronov, 2007). These trends are consistent with global sociodemographic trends (e.g., from rural to urban residence and higher technology environments) and concomitant trends in human development (e.g., more independent social behavior; Greenfield, 2009).…”

“…Under the rapidly changing social context, mainland Chinese mothers, compared with Chinese American mothers, have far greater challenges in finding balance between Chinese traditional cultural values and beliefs and new global influences and societal expectations (Lau & Fung, 2013). Mothers may thus apply an approach of using both authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles to cultivate optimal behaviors in their children (Chen-Bouck et al, 2017; Xu et al, 2005). Therefore, the associations between mainland Chinese mothers’ cultural values and beliefs and their parenting could be different than those among Chinese American mothers.…”

“…Parents modify their parenting based on their beliefs about a child’s developmental needs (Chao, 1994; Kim et al, 2013). For example, in a child’s early years, a mother might provide more nurturance and prompt attention to the child’s needs, whereas when the child reaches school age, the mother might focus more on helping the child to achieve in school and meet societal and familial expectations for success (Chen-Bouck et al, 2017; Wu, 1985). Consistent with these shifts as children age, many Chinese parents are inclined to be indulgent when children are young and become stricter as children grow more mature (Ho, 1989).…”

“…Thus, Chinese parents’ parenting styles and behaviors with adolescents may be quite different from those used with younger children. For example, a recent study revealed that as children entered adolescence, Chinese mothers started to use physical actions (e.g., hugging) less frequently to express their affection since adolescents would feel awkward about having physical contact with their mothers, and when educating their children, mothers would use less physical punishment and more reasoning (Chen-Bouck et al, 2017).…”

Chinese Mothers’ Cultural Models of Children's Shyness: Ethnotheories and Socialization Strategies in the Context of Social Change

“…Based on the shared cultural belief about the malleability of children's personal traits, the onus of responsibility for changing children's undesirable behaviors was believed to be on parents. These mothers’ strong beliefs about parental responsibility in the cultivation of children's personality are consistent with the Chinese cultural model of guanjiao (“to govern and to educate/teach”: Chen‐Bouck, Duan, & Patterson, 2017). Chen‐Bouck and her colleagues (Chen‐Bouck et al.)…”