Ideas about Parenting in Argentina, France, and the United States

Abstract

Central to a concept of culture is the expectation that different peoples possess different ideas and behave in different ways with respect to child rearing. In this study, we investigated ideas that Argentine, French, and US American mothers hold about their own and their husbands' actual child rearing, as well as what they consider to be ideal child rearing, in three parenting domains: social, didactic, and limit setting. For each domain, we analysed mothers' reports of their actual behaviours and of their husbands' actual behaviours; mothers' ideal expectations of their own and their husbands' behaviours; and mothers' dissonance with respect to parenting (i.e. the extent to which mothers' actual and their husbands' actual behaviours each agrees with mothers' ideal expectations for themselves and for their husbands). The results showed consistent parent, country, as well as parent-by-country effects, interpretable in terms of overarching cultural beliefs. The study of parents' ideas contributes to understanding why and how parents behave the way they do toward children, and provides insights into the broader social context of child development.

What do mothers know? Maternal knowledge of child development

“…Studies to date suggest parental knowledge is related to socioeconomic status (Tamis-Lemonda, Chen, & Bornstein, 1998), maternal education (Richman, Miller, & LeVine, 1992), and culture (Bornstein et al, 1996). Little is known about whether the level of knowledge parents possess is influenced by such things as parenting experience (i.e., number of children), age, support with childcare, financial support through public assistance, or living situations.…”

Mothers’ conceptions of child competence in contexts of poverty: The Philippines, St Vincent, and the United States

“…Ogbu (1981) argued that even within the United States, views about competence diverge signi cantly and psychologists should use culturally relevant criteria of competence to assess minority children. Although few have followed his proposal, research on parents' beliefs about children has blossomed (Goodnow & Collins, 1990;Harkness & Super, 1992, 1996Siegel, 1985) and studies comparing parental beliefs across cultures have found signi cant intercultural and intracultural variation (e.g., Bornstein et al, 1996;Harwood, Schoelmerich, Ventura-Cook, Schulze, & Wilson, 1996).…”

Latent Growth Model of Maternal Depressive Symptoms: Predictors and Effects on Infant's Developmental Outcomes

“…Bornstein et al, 1996) were used in this study, comprised of affective and responsive parenting behaviors. The scale was a 5 point Likert-type Scale (1=not at all to 5=very much so), thus total scores ranged from 6 to 30.…”