Elsevier

Cognitive Development

Volume 16, Issue 3, July–September 2001, Pages 793-809
Cognitive Development

Parenting attitudes and children's understanding of mind: A comparison of Korean American and Anglo-American families

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(01)00059-4Get rights and content

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between maternal parenting attitudes and children's understanding of mind through a comparison of Korean American and Anglo-American families. It was hypothesized that children of authoritative mothers would perform better on theory-of-mind tasks than children of authoritarian families. Understanding of mind was assessed for 45 Korean American children and 52 Anglo-American children from ages 3 to 6. Mothers of the children completed a Parenting Attitudes Inventory (PAI), which measured three aspects of parenting style—a focus on behavioral control, freedom in learning, and encouragement of autonomy. Korean American mothers were generally authoritarian, though not exclusively so, and their 5-year-olds performed better on the theory-of-mind tasks than their Anglo-American agemates. For Anglo-American children, a negative relationship between an understanding of mind and authoritarian parenting attitudes was found. A general positive effect of authoritative parenting was not found. These results suggest that the same developmental endpoint can be reached in different cultures by different means, and that what constitutes ‘good parenting’ depends on a complex of attitudes and behaviors that can only be understood in their sociocultural context.

Introduction

Cross-cultural literature (e.g., Harkness & Super, 1996, Whiting & Edwards, 1988) has suggested that child-rearing practices are influential in child development. Cultural values guide parental beliefs and attitudes, and these beliefs in turn shape the parent's response to the child, maintaining and modifying the developmental process. This study explores the relationship between parenting attitudes and one area of child development, young children's understanding of mind, through a comparison of Korean American and Anglo-American families. The aim was to see whether different attitudes toward mother–child interactions are related to the development of children's understanding of people as intentional beings whose behavior is driven by an inner, mental life.

Section snippets

Korean and Anglo cultural differences

That Asian American and Anglo-American parents have different ideas about childcare is well documented. Kim, Kim, and Rue (1997) note that traditional Korean values include family orientation, interdependency, authoritarian structure, and family loyalty, whereas mainstream American values include individual orientation, independence, democratic structure, and autonomy. While some traditional Korean values may be mitigated among immigrants, Farver, Kim, and Lee (1995), in an analysis of 16

Parenting styles and cultural difference

Since the landmark work of Baumrind in the early 1970s, her distinction between authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parents has charted the course for the study of parenting styles. Generally, findings provide evidence for Baumrind's original contention that authoritative parenting, with its emphasis on the child's autonomy within a structured family setting, is associated with prosocial behavior and strong academic performance. Yet as studies have begun to look at different ethnic

Parenting style and a developing understanding of mind

Why might parenting style have some effect on a young child's developing understanding of mind? The adult–child interaction is the major locus of child development. For the child to reach the point where she is able to independently predict the thoughts and behavior of others, she must have been involved in activities where this was modeled for her repeatedly. She must have been provided with the kinds of structured contexts in which she gradually participated in increasingly complex ways.

Participants

Forty-five Korean American families were recruited from a city in northern California. Fifty-two Anglo-American families were recruited from a city in northern California and from two cities in central Massachusetts.1

Results

For some of the analyses below children are grouped into three age groups: 3's, 4's and 5's. The 5's group includes all children 5 and over. For purposes of comparing Korean and Anglo children, the term culture is used. This does not imply, however, that the author believes that culture is a discrete, unified variable; it is merely a shorthand way distinguishing between the two groups of children and mothers in this study.

Discussion

The hypothesis that Korean mothers would be more authoritarian in their attitudes than Anglo mothers was partially supported by this study. Korean mothers did score higher than Anglo mothers on the authoritarian factor that focused on the child's conforming to the parent's wishes with strict obedience. Anglo mothers scored higher on authoritative parenting, particularly in the area of encouraging their children's autonomy. There was not, however, a clear split between authoritative and

Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part by a postdoctoral grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The author wishes to thank the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley and its members, especially Alison Gopnik, for hosting me during the initial stages of this research. I am grateful to the mothers and children who participated in this research, and also to a group of Berkeley and Clark undergraduates who assisted in data collection,

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