Deconstructing the myth of the “tiger mother”: An introduction to the special issue on tiger parenting, Asian-heritage families, and child/adolescent well-being.

Abstract

Chua's memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (2011, New York, NY, Penguin Books) drew a tremendous amount of media attention that thrust Asian American parents into the limelight. In this special issue, leading scholars studying parenting in Asian-heritage families use Chua's notion of the tiger mother as a launching pad to examine aspects of parenting that may be unique to Asian-heritage (encompassing both Asian American and native Asian) families. The goals of this special issue are to examine the prevalence and impact of tiger parenting and to unpack the complexity of Asian-heritage parenting and its relation to child and adolescent well-being. Collectively, the articles in the special issue offer a more nuanced and accurate perspective on Asian-heritage parenting by taking readers beyond the myth of the tiger mother and dispelling some of the stereotypical, monolithic notions of parenting within Asian-heritage families.

Ecological risk model of childhood obesity in Chinese immigrant children

“…Consequently, the predominant research emphasis on Asian Americans and immigrants has been on their academic achievement, resulting in little empirical attention given to the health conditions in this group (Juang, Qin, & Park, 2013; Tahseen & Cheah, 2012). Even though Asian Americans have been reported to have lower rates of overweight and obesity compared to non-Asian Americans, there is a general failure to recognize the diverse levels of health status among this heterogeneous group (Jain et al, 2012), likely because of the model minority stereotype depicting Asian Americans as having adapted successfully to the larger American culture (Matloff, Lee, Tang, & Brugge, 2008).…”

Defining Tiger Parenting in Chinese Americans

“…Motivated by the strong reaction in the media and the lively discussion of Amy Chua’s [2011] book on various social networking sites, three Asian American developmental scholars organized a special issue for the March 2013 issue of the Asian American Journal of Psychology entitled “Tiger parenting, Asian-heritage families, and child/adolescent well-being.” Organized by Linda P. Juang, Desiree Baolian Qin, and Irene J.K. Park [2013], the collection of six empirical papers and two commentaries offer scholarly insight into the debate surrounding the “tiger” method of parenting. My paper [Kim, Wang, Orozco-Laprary, Shen, & Murtuza, 2013b] was part of this special issue, and it refutes many of the claims made by Amy Chua about tiger parenting.…”

How Collectivism and Family Control Influence Depressive Symptoms in Asian American and European American College Students

“…The current paper focuses on Asian American young adults, many of whom have grown up in a household where at least some traditional Asian values are endorsed (Juang, Qin, & Park, 2013). This is a group where the intersection of cultural values and well-being is especially visible.…”

“…Parents may also emphasize obedience to authority (Juang et al, 2013), and may use forms of shaming as part of motivation, such as comparing their children to siblings and friends (Supple & Cavanaugh, 2013). An outcome is what has been called the "achievement/adjustment paradox" (Qin, 2008).This paradox is that Asian American high school and college students excel academically, but exhibit more depression and anxiety than White peers (Kanazawa, White, & Hampson, 2007;Okazaki, 1997;Kim et al, 2013).…”