Emotion socialization in cultural context: Lessons from Asian‐heritage families

Abstract

Emotion socialization is a critical pathway via which children develop emotional competence valued in their cultural community. This article introduces a multi-level analysis approach as a conceptual and methodological framework to study family emotion socialization in cultural context.Each of the studies in this Social Development Quartet is discussed within the framework in light of emotion socialization in Asian-heritage families. A theoretical synthesis is then provided to highlight a few take-home messages that will help to guide future research endeavors on emotion socialization and development.

From the margins to the center: Advancing research on caregiver socialization of emotion in Asia

“…Third, contextual sensitivity is important for parents' emotion‐related socialization behaviors in communities in Asia. Consistent with Wang's (2022) situational level of analysis, during middle childhood, mothers' responses to children's anger and sadness in urban, predominantly Hindu families with low to middle incomes in India differed across interpersonal versus academic situations (Raval et al, 2016), and across situations with parents versus peers (Raval & Martini, 2009). Relatedly, who is providing the information matters: Parents' and children's reports of parents' responses to children's emotions were differentially associated with children's internalizing and externalizing problems during middle childhood in urban China (Fan et al, 2023).…”

“…Studies should assess developmental changes in emotion socialization as children's understanding of emotions, social norms, and skills for regulation develop, along with increasing independence from infancy to emerging adulthood. Consistent with Wang's (2022) temporal level of analysis, assessing changes in caregivers' emotion socialization as a result of increasing connections with multiple worldviews through globalization is also relevant.…”

“…We also specified culturally embedded factors that may moderate the relation between caregivers' socialization and children's well‐being (e.g., exposure to different cultural worldviews and culturally grounded appraisals). In the second framework, Wang (2022) proposed conceptualizing emotion socialization at multiple levels, including individual (i.e., individual variation in the extent to which parents adopt cultural beliefs), dyadic (i.e., parents' socialization practices and behaviors), situational (i.e., differences across settings like home and school), temporal (i.e., attending to historic contexts like economic growth), and group (i.e., beliefs and norms regarding emotions).…”

Social‐distancing memories and well‐being in the cultural context

“…While it is important to study cultural groups in different geographic locations to understand the role of culture in shaping cognition and behavior, studying different cultural‐ethnic communities in the same society is just as important and offers methodological advantages (Roberts et al, 2020; Wang, 2018). Research has shown that ethnic minority groups in the US often actively preserve their cultural traditions, values, and practices that are different from the mainstream culture (Ford, 2016; Gonzalez & Méndez‐Pounds, 2018; Wang, 2023). Studying the diverse groups in the US would thus allow us to understand how the unique cultural experiences of different communities influence memory and mental health in the same macro‐environment with implemented social distancing measures during the pandemic.…”

Social change and human development in Chinese context: A pluralist-constructivist perspective

“…−发展(contextual-developmental)模型 是我们用于儿童发展跨文化研究中的一个动态理 论模型(Chen & Schmidt, 2015), 它可以帮助我们从 图 1 社会变迁和人的心理特征与行为的情境−发展观模型(Revised based on Chen & Schmidt, 2015)平较低(Camras et al, 1998;Wang, 2022)。Chen 和 French (2008) 认为, 中国和西方儿童在行为和情 绪上的差异可以通过 Rothbart 模型中的气质反应性 (temperamental reactivity)和自我控制(self-control) 回 避 行 为 以 及 积 极 或 消 极 情 绪 的 反 应 (Rothbart, 2011)。在学术界受到高度关注的一种特 定 的 气 质 反 应 是 行 为 抑 制 (behavioral inhibition), 经 常 得 出 不 一 致 或 令 人 困 惑 的 结 果 ( 如Chen-Bouck et al, 2019;Gao et al, 2015;Stewart et al, 2002), 这可能与 guan 这个概念比较模糊, 依 赖 西 方 理 论 ( 如 Elder 生 命 历 程 理 论 , Greenfield 的社会变迁和人类发展理论)和方法(如 Bandura 等道德推脱量表,Cable & Edwards (2004) .-W.-S., Cai, H. J., & Jing, Y. M. (2024). Understanding the rise of unique names: The emphasis on uniqueness matters.…”