Parenting and Family Relationships in Chinese Families: A Critical Ecological Approach

Abstract

Scholars have recently been paying greater attention to cultural and cross‐cultural research. However, studies have primarily been on between‐group comparisons, using White North American samples as a baseline. This approach results in misleading conclusions that overemphasize intergroup and underemphasize intragroup differences. We focus on Chinese families because they account for one‐fifth of the world's population, yet the understanding of Chinese families is limited. Our broad objective is a call to action, emphasizing the importance of moving beyond global and superficial assessments of Chinese parenting. On the basis of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, we critically explore the intra‐ and intergroup intricacies of Chinese parenting to illustrate how the study of culture and Chinese parenting has developed over the years. We provide in‐depth context for the various Chinese societies (i.e., China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and recent social transformations that emphasize the importance of considering the exo‐ and macrosystems.

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