International Journal of Behavioral Development
2005, 29 (6), 489–495
# 2005 The International Society for the
Study of Behavioural Development
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/01650254.html
DOI: 10.1080/01650250500147063
Autonomy- vs. connectedness-oriented parenting
behaviours in Chinese and Canadian mothers
Mowei Liua, Xinyin Chenb, Kenneth H. Rubinc, Shujie Zhengd,
Liying Cuie, Dan Lie, Huichang Chenf, and Li Wangg
The purpose of the study was to investigate maternal socialization goal-oriented behaviours in
Chinese and Canadian mothers. Participants were samples of children at 2 years of age and their
mothers in P.R. China and Canada. Data on child autonomy and connectedness and maternal
encouragement of autonomy and connectedness were collected from observations of mother–child
interactions in a laboratory situation. Cross-cultural similarities as well as differences were found in
the study. Chinese mothers had higher scores on overall involvement than Canadian mothers during
mother–child interaction. When overall involvement was controlled, Chinese mothers had higher
scores than Canadian mothers on encouragement of connectedness. In contrast, Canadian mothers
had higher scores than Chinese mothers on encouragement of autonomy. The results suggest that
culturally general and specific socialization goals and values are reflected in maternal parenting
behaviours.
Introduction
a
Trent University, Peterborough, Canada; b University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada; c University of Maryland, College Park,
USA; d Inner-Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, China;
e
Shanghai Teachers’ University, China; f Beijing Normal University,
China; g Peking University, Beijing, China.
authoritative and authoritarian styles. Although findings about
the broad categories are helpful for us to discern general
features of parenting in Chinese culture, they may provide little
information about the processes that account for the effects of
parenting on child behaviours (Parke & Buriel, 1998). To
acquire an in-depth understanding of Chinese parenting, it is
essential to examine specific dimensions or ‘‘components’’
(Darling & Steinberg, 1993).
Second, most of the studies focus on parents’ self-reports
of their child-rearing beliefs and attitudes. Whereas parental
child-rearing beliefs and attitudes are important to consider,
their relations with parental behaviours are not straightforward. According to Sigel (1985), it may be simplistic to
expect that a one-to-one correspondence between attitudes
and behaviours will explain the ‘‘mental steps leading to the
expression of intended action.’’ The magnitude of the
attitude–behaviour association is modest at best (e.g.,
Kochanska, Kuczynski, & Radke-Yarrow, 1989), suggesting
that parental attitudes may not necessarily be reflected in
parenting behaviour. Conceptually, parental behaviour in
parent–child interactions is a more proximal and direct
predictor of child behaviour (Belsky, 1984; Rubin & Burgess,
2002). Parental behaviour may be influenced by cultural
values and, at the same time, may have a direct bearing on
child behaviour.
Third, although many cross-cultural researchers have
recognized the importance of the general cultural background
for socialization, much existing research is ‘‘context-free’’
because little attention has been paid to specific aspects of
parenting behaviours that are relevant to cultural beliefs and
socialization goals. For example, although Chinese parents
have been found to be more authoritarian than Western
Correspondence should be sent to either Mowei Liu, Department of
Psychology, Otonabee College, Trent University, Peterborough,
Ontario, Canada K9J 7B8; e-mail: moweiliu@trentu.ca; or Xinyin
Chen, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2; e-mail: xchen@uwo.ca.
The research described herein was supported by grants from the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and by a
Scholars Award from the William T. Grant Foundation to Xinyin
Chen. We are grateful to the children and parents for their
participation.
Developmental and cross-cultural researchers have long been
interested in socialization patterns in different societies (e.g.,
LeVine, Miller, & West, 1988). During the past 15 years, for
example, a number of researchers have compared parenting
styles and practices in Chinese and North American parents.
For the most part, these researchers have relied on Baumrind’s
framework for the conceptualization and categorization of
socialization practices (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian, and
permissive styles; Chao, 1994; Chen et al., 1998; Dornbusch,
Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987; Wu et al.,
2002). Generally, Chinese parents have been described as
more authoritarian than North American parents (Steinberg,
Dornbusch, & Brown, 1992). It has been found that compared
with their Western counterparts, Chinese parents tend to
endorse the use of coercive and high-power parenting and
emphasize child obedience (e.g., Chao, 1994; Chen et al.,
1998; Dornbusch et al., 1987; Lin & Fu, 1990). Moreover,
Chinese parents are less likely than North American parents to
use democratic, authoritative styles in child-rearing (e.g.,
Chao, 1994; Dornbusch et al., 1987).
Several theoretical and methodological weaknesses limit
current research on Chinese parenting. First, researchers have
focused mostly on such broad categories of parenting as
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LIU ET AL. / MATERNAL PARENTING BEHAVIOURS
parents, it is unclear why Chinese and Western parents use
particular parenting styles. Is there a logical connection
between such cultural values as a collectivistic orientation
and authoritarian parenting styles? Might it be that authoritarian parenting helps achieve specific socialization outcomes
in Chinese culture? The question may be difficult to answer
given that the association between general cultural beliefs and
socialization practices is rather complicated.
In the present study, we attempted to investigate parenting
behaviours that are directly associated with specific cultural
values, particularly those relevant to socialization goals, in
Chinese and Canadian mothers. By identifying and examining parental behaviours that reflect socialization goals, a
better understanding of the involvement of the cultural
context in the processes of human development may be
acquired.
Anthropologists and psychologists have been interested in
two basic developmental scripts in terms of the endpoints
that individuals are socialized to meet; one is concerned with
individual autonomy or independence and the other with
connectedness or interdependence (e.g., Greenfield, 1994;
Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989). The primary
goal of the socialization of autonomy is to help children to
become self-reliant individuals who enter ‘‘into social
relationships and responsibilities by personal choice’’
(Greenfield & Suzuki, 1998). In contrast, the connectedness
goal is to socialize children to be embedded in a network of
relationships and social responsibilities, with an emphasis on
personal achievement in the service of a collective such as
the family (Greenfield & Suzuki, 1998). Cultural values
pertaining to personal autonomy or independence are
traditionally viewed as a part of individualism—a construct
that encourages privacy, autonomy, and the freedom of the
individual (Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002; Triandis, 1989). From a developmental perspective, socializing
agents focus on the individual as the ‘‘unit of experience’’
and on ‘‘becoming one’s own person’’ (Larson, 1999;
Triandis, 1990). Consistently, the role of parents is to help
children acquire self-sufficiency, self-direction, and decisionmaking abilities. In contrast, the socialization goal of
connectedness is consistent with an orientation that encourages responsibilities to the group and others and respect
for authority (e.g., Oyserman et al., 2002). Therefore, the
role of parents is to ensure that their child-rearing efforts are
conducive to the development of compliance and cooperation. Children are expected to develop a sense of affiliation
and learn the skills to cooperate with others (Greenfield &
Suzuki, 1998).
It should be noted that many current theorists and
researchers hold less dichotomous views on culture and
development (e.g., Miller, 2002). It is generally believed that
both autonomy and connectedness are important developmental goals in most cultures. Thus, parental behaviours
oriented to both autonomy and connectedness should be
observed within any given culture to a greater or lesser
degree. Nevertheless, given the distinct belief systems concerning socialization in Chinese and Western cultures, it
would seem important to examine the relative prevalence of
autonomy- and connectedness-oriented parenting behaviours;
this might allow a better understanding of the common and
specific socialization conditions for Chinese and Western
children and the cultural involvement in the process of
individual development.
The present study
In the present study, we attempted to explore, from a crosscultural perspective, socialization goal-relevant parenting
behaviours in Canadian and Chinese mothers. Samples of
children at 2 years of age, and their mothers, in Beijing, P.R.
China, and Southern Ontario, Canada, were selected for the
study. Information on maternal and child behaviours was
obtained from observations of mother–child interactions in a
laboratory situation.
Based on the literature (e.g., Greenfield & Suzuki, 1998),
we were interested in two socialization goal-oriented behaviours: encouragement of autonomy and encouragement of
connectedness. Autonomy is often viewed as being derived
from the need to act independently of others or to follow
one’s inner interests (self-determination and self-governance)
(e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985; Gough & Heilbrun, 1983;
Hodgins, Koestner, & Duncan, 1996; Jackson, 1984). In
the present study, we focused on the child’s attempt to
explore the environment as a behavioural manifestation of
underlying motives to seek independence and self-governance. Accordingly, parental encouragement of autonomy was
indicated mainly by parental behaviours that serve to promote
the child’s engagement of autonomous and exploratory
activities.
Connectedness taps the need for social belongingness and
intimacy, as reflected in the tendency to be affiliated with, or
maintain social contact with, others (Baumeister & Leary,
1995). In the present study, engaging in a common activity,
seeking emotional closeness, and maintaining physical proximity were considered major indicators of the child’s underlying
motivation to maintain connectedness with the mother.
Accordingly, parental encouragement of connectedness refers
to parental behaviours that serve to promote the child’s
relationship, connectedness, and affiliation.
Based on the argument that children’s autonomy, such as
self-initiation, is not as valued in Chinese society as in the West
(Ho, 1986), we first hypothesized that Chinese children would
have lower scores on autonomy than Canadian children. In
contrast, given that Chinese cultural values such as filial piety
and group harmony emphasize compliance, cooperation and
interpersonal relationships, we hypothesized that Chinese
children would have higher scores on connectedness than
Canadian children. Accordingly, we expected that cultural
differences would be reflected in maternal socialization goaloriented behaviours. Specifically, we hypothesized that Canadian mothers would be more likely to encourage their children
to display assertive and independent behaviours. In contrast,
Chinese parents would be more likely than their Canadian
counterparts to encourage child connectedness.
Method
Participants
Participants in the study were 110 toddlers (50 boys, 60 girls)
and their mothers in Beijing, P.R. China, and 102 toddlers (51
boys, 51 girls) and their mothers in Southern Ontario, Canada.
The participants in the Chinese sample were recruited through
local birth registration offices. The average age was 24.72
months (SD ¼ 1.98 months) for the children and 29.97 years
(SD ¼ 2.97 years, ranging from 24–39) for the mothers. The
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT, 2005, 29 (6), 489–495
participants in the Canadian sample were recruited through
newspaper birth announcements. The average age was 25.06
months (SD ¼ 1.18 months) for the children and 31.05 years
(SD ¼ 4.10 years, ranging from 23–41) for the mothers.
In the Chinese sample, 45% of the children were from
families in which parents were workers; the other 55% of the
children were from families in which one or both of the parents
were teachers, doctors, secretaries, accountants, or civil
officials. Thirty-nine per cent of mothers had an educational
level of high school or below high school, and 61% of mothers
had a vocational school, college, or university education. Of the
children, 38% had out-of-home daycare experience (attending
daycare for 10 hours or more per week for 6 months). All
children were only children in the family. Like other demographic variables, the only-child phenomenon has been an
integral part of the sociocultural background for child
development in contemporary Chinese society.
For the Canadian sample, all participants were Caucasian,
except for three mothers who did not indicate ethnicity. Of the
mothers, 46% had no out-of-home jobs. Among the working
mothers, 71% were teachers, doctors, secretaries, accountants,
or civil officials. Thirty-one per cent of mothers had no more
than a high school education; 69% of mothers had a college,
university, or post-graduate education. Twenty-eight per cent
of the children had out-of-home daycare experience. Twentyeight per cent of the children were only children in the family,
and 19% were first-borns. Most of the remaining 53% were
second- or third-borns in the family (two were the fourth child
in the family, one was the fifth, and one was the sixth).
Nonsignificant differences were found in both samples
between children and mothers from the different types of
families on the variables in the study. The two randomly
selected samples were representative of the urban population of
toddlers in each country.
Procedure
Data for the present study were drawn from a larger crosscultural project (e.g., Chen et al., 1998). Mothers and toddlers
were invited to visit the university laboratory within 3 months
of each child’s second birthday. During the visit, each toddler–
mother dyad entered a room with one large chair, one small
chair, a low table, and an assortment of toys. The visit started
with a 10-minute free-play session, followed by a series of
sessions assessing the child’s reactions to various challenging
tasks such as inhibition and frustration tolerance. The free-play
session was of particular interest in the present study, because
it was expected to induce the most naturalistic mother–child
interactions without any experimental intervention. Child
behaviours and parental goal-oriented behaviours were coded
based on the free-play session.
The administration of the laboratory sessions was conducted by the authors, as well as by graduate and senior
undergraduate students. Identical procedures, including the
toys in the session (mostly made in China and purchased in
Canada), were used in China and Canada, with detailed
instructions concerning preparatory activities and the formal
session in the study. The researchers were trained following the
same procedures. Written consent was obtained from all
parents. All laboratory sessions were videotaped through a oneway mirror and coded in Canada. Data for the Chinese sample
were coded by two Chinese graduate students, and the data for
the Canadian sample were coded by a senior undergraduate
491
student in psychology. All coders were trained by the first
author, following the same procedure.
Data coding
Child behaviours. Child behaviours were coded using a coding
scheme developed by the authors. An event-sampling or
episodic approach was used in this study, as suggested by
other researchers (e.g., Kucyzynski & Kochanska, 1990). Child
behaviours were coded into two broad categories: autonomy
and connectedness. At the operational level, autonomy was
defined as a child’s self-initiated/self-propelled purposive and
independent exploration. Scores of child autonomy included
(a) the frequency of child’s initiations of autonomous activities
(e.g., explore the environment, play with toys independently,
initiate own activities), and (b) the amount of time (in seconds)
in which child engaged in independent activities. Connectedness was defined as child’s effort to affiliate/connect with his/
her mother. Specifically, scores of connectedness included (a)
the frequency of child’s initiations of connectedness, including
initiation of cooperation, expression of emotional closeness,
and physical/behavioural proximity to the mother (e.g., invite
mother to play, kiss or hug mother, physically approach
mother), and (b) the amount of time (in seconds) in which
child stayed with and/or engaged in common activities with the
mother.
Inter-observer reliabilities were calculated based on 20
randomly selected dyads for each sample (approximately
20%). Inter-rater agreement (Cohen’s k) was .91 and .86 in
the Chinese sample and .91 and .88 in the Canadian sample,
for child’s initiation of autonomous activities and connectedness, respectively. Reliabilities for the durations were calculated based on the agreement and disagreement on the total
number of seconds. In addition, correlations between the
coders were calculated. Inter-rater agreement was 86% and
85% (r ¼ .97 and .92) in the Chinese sample and 81% and
86% (r ¼ .92 and .95) in the Canadian sample, for the duration
of autonomous activities and connectedness, respectively.
Socialization goal-oriented maternal behaviours. Maternal encouragement of autonomy and encouragement of connectedness were coded using an event sampling or episodic approach.
Maternal encouragement of autonomy included maternal
behaviours that served to promote the child’s initiation and
exploration. It was indexed by the frequency of maternal
behaviours that supported the child’s initiation (e.g., When
mother and child enter the room, the mother says, ‘‘Wow,
there are so many toys for you to play with. Why don’t you go
ahead and play?’’; ‘‘Would you like to play with the bunny by
yourself?’’) or continuation (e.g., When a child is playing with a
dump truck, the mother says, ‘‘You have done a wonderful job,
keep working on it’’; ‘‘That’s amazing, keep going!’’) of selfdirected activities. Maternal encouragement of connectedness
included maternal behaviours that served to promote the
child’s connectedness and affiliation. Corresponding to child
connectedness-related behaviour, maternal encouragement of
connectedness was indexed by the frequency of maternal
behaviours that supported the child’s cooperation, emotional
closeness/communication, and physical/behavioural proximity
(e.g., ‘‘Do you want to build the house together with Mom?’’;
When a child is playing with the telephone, mother says, ‘‘How
about giving Mommy (daddy, or other people) a call’’; ‘‘Bring
the truck over, and play near Mommy’’). Inter-rater agreement
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(Cohen’s k) was .91 and .85 in the Chinese sample and .86 and
.81 in the Canadian sample for maternal encouragement of
autonomy and maternal encouragement of connectedness,
respectively.
Results
Comparisons across cultures on child behaviours
A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted
to assess whether there were country (China and Canada) and
sex differences in child autonomy and connectedness. A
significant multivariate main effect was obtained for country,
Wilks ¼ .67, F(4, 202) ¼ 24.58, p 5 .001. The effects of child
gender and the interaction between country and sex were
nonsignificant. Follow-up univariate analyses of variances
(ANOVAs) were conducted for each of the variables. Means
and standard deviations of child behaviours for Chinese and
Canadian children and F-ratios are presented in Table 1.
The results of these analyses revealed a significant main
effect of country for (a) length of time child engaged in
autonomous activities, (b) child’s initiation of connectedness,
and (c) child’s engagement (time duration) of connectedness.
Nonsignificant differences were found for child’s initiation of
autonomous activities. The results indicated that Chinese
children spent less time on the autonomous activities in a novel
situation. Moreover, compared with the Canadian children,
Chinese children exhibited more connectedness to mother as
reflected by both the frequencies of initiation and the time
duration.
Comparisons across cultures on maternal goal-oriented
behaviours
.001. The effects of child sex and the interaction between
country and sex were nonsignificant.
Follow-up ANOVAs based on raw scores of maternal goaloriented behaviours indicated a significant main effect of
country for all the variables. Specially, Chinese mothers
had significantly higher scores than Canadian mothers on
both encouragement of autonomy and encouragement of
connectedness. The results suggested that Chinese mothers
were generally more involved than Canadian mothers in
mother–child interactions.
To understand the nature of maternal parenting in Chinese
and Canadian mothers and to examine whether there were
cross-cultural differences in the qualitative aspects of maternal
parenting, further analyses were conducted, controlling for the
differences in the total number of maternal interventions. In
these analyses, relative scores of maternal goal-oriented
behaviours were computed by dividing the frequency of a
behaviour by the total number of maternal goal-oriented
behaviours.
A MANOVA was conducted to examine whether there were
country and sex differences in the relative scores of maternal
goal-oriented behaviours. A significant multivariate main effect
was obtained for country, Wilks ¼ .96, F(1, 164) ¼ 7.23, p 5
.01. The effects of child gender and the interaction between
country and sex were nonsignificant. Follow-up ANOVAs
indicated a significant main effect of country for both maternal
encouragement of autonomy and maternal encouragement of
connectedness. Specifically, Canadian mothers had higher
scores on encouragement of autonomy, and lower scores on
encouragement of connectedness than Chinese mothers.
Means and standard deviations of raw and relative scores of
maternal goal-oriented behaviours and F tests are presented in
the lower part of Table 1.
Correlations between child behaviours and maternal
behaviours
A MANOVA was conducted first to examine whether there
were country and sex differences in the raw scores of maternal
goal-oriented behaviours. A significant multivariate main effect
was obtained for country, Wilks ¼ .64, F(2, 202) ¼ 56.53, p 5
Child behaviours were standardized and then aggregated to
form two major variables, child autonomy and child connectedness. The correlations between child behaviours and
maternal behaviours (raw scores) are presented in Table 2. A
Table 1
Means and standard deviations of child behaviours and maternal goal-oriented behaviours in China and Canada
China
Variable
Mean
SD
Canada
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
SD
Minimum
Maximum
F value
Child behaviours
Autonomy
Initiation
Length of time
Connectedness
Initiation
Length of time
13.02
396.80
8.34
113.74
1.87
20.30
71.45
630.98
11.40
512.62
4.51
88.27
0.00
260.70
24.68
633.33
ns
66.78***
6.47
187.64
4.64
162.99
0.00
0.00
23.78
654.24
2.99
122.02
2.31
121.27
0.00
0.00
10.98
524.71
44.40***
11.29***
Maternal goal-oriented behaviours
Raw scores
Encourage. of
Encourage. of
Relative scores
Encourage. of
Encourage. of
autonomy
connectedness
11.43
7.68
10.28
8.35
0.00
0.00
50.00
43.98
1.90
0.94
2.97
2.05
0.00
0.00
22.76
14.49
76.41***
59.81***
autonomy
connectedness
0.62
0.38
0.30
0.31
0.00
0.00
1.00
1.00
0.76
0.24
0.33
0.33
0.00
0.00
1.00
1.00
7.23*
7.23*
* p 5 .05; *** p 5 .001.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT, 2005, 29 (6), 489–495
similar pattern of correlations was revealed for the two
samples. In general, child connectedness was positively
associated with maternal autonomy- and connectednessoriented behaviours, whereas child autonomy was negatively
associated with maternal variables. The magnitude of the
correlation coefficients did not differ between the samples.
Discussion
The role of parenting in children’s socioemotional and
cognitive development has been one of the central issues in
developmental research. It has been found that parental
behaviours toward the child may have a long-term impact on
parent–child relationships and the child’s adaptive and
maladaptive functioning (e.g., Parke & Buriel, 1998; Whiting
& Edwards, 1988). Among various aspects of parenting,
psychologists have been interested in fundamental dimensions
such as parental warmth/responsiveness and control (e.g.,
Baumrind, 1967, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Findings
from empirical research has indicated that parental warmth,
control, and categories based on these dimensions, such as
authoritative and authoritarian styles, are associated with
children’s social competence and behaviours in various areas
(e.g., Booth, Rose-Krasnor, McKinnon, & Rubin, 1994;
Dishion, 1990; Hart, DeWolf, Wozniak, & Burts, 1992;
Russell & Russell, 1996). Given this background, it is not
surprising that cross-cultural research has focused on parental
warmth and control and related issues (e.g., Chen, Dong, &
Zhou, 1997; Chen, Liu, & Li, 2000; Rohner, 1986). As
indicated above, however, it is important to investigate aspects
of parenting behaviours that are more culturally relevant in
order to better understand how cultural values are involved in
the socialization processes. In the present study, we attempted
to explore, in Chinese and Canadian samples, two specific
parenting behaviours in mother–child interactions that are
directly associated with important socialization goals.
Cross-cultural differences in overall maternal
involvement
The results first indicated that, compared with Canadian
mothers, Chinese mothers had higher raw scores on both
encouragement of autonomy and encouragement of connectedness, indicating greater overall involvement in their interactions with the child. This is consistent with previous findings
that Chinese parents are more likely than Western parents to
Table 2
Correlations between child behaviours and maternal behaviours
Maternal encouragement of
China
Child
Child
Canada
Child
Child
Autonomy
Connectedness
autonomy
connectedness
–.37**
.35**
–.25*
.56**
autonomy
connectedness
–.26*
.41**
–.15
.60**
Analyses were conducted based on raw frequency scores.
* p 5 .05; ** p 5 .01.
493
report concern, control, and intervention in child-rearing
(Chao, 1994; Chen et al., 1998). The greater parental
involvement in Chinese mothers may be related to the
particular emphasis on the responsibility of parents for caring
and disciplining children in Chinese culture (Ho, 1986). This
responsibility has also been stressed in contemporary China
since the ‘‘only child’’ policy was implemented in the early
1970s. It is generally believed that ‘‘only’’ children in China are
likely to be indulged or over-indulged in the family and have
pervasive negative behavioural qualities and adjustment
problems including impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and selfishness (Jiao, Ji, & Jing, 1986). Thus, parents are encouraged
to exert greater supervision and control from the early years in
addition to provide care and guidance to the child.
The cross-cultural differences in overall maternal involvement may also be a function of the differences in behavioural
characteristics between Chinese and Canadian children. The
results indicated that Chinese children had higher scores on
connectedness than Canadian children, indicating that Chinese children were more likely to display affiliative behaviours
and physical proximity to the mother. These behaviours might
provide Chinese mothers with more opportunities to engage in
interactions and exert interventions on the child’s behaviours.
In addition, the overall high maternal involvement in
Chinese mothers may be related to the laboratory setting.
Although the same procedures were used for the Chinese and
Canadian samples, mothers in the two samples might interpret
and respond to the laboratory observation differently. Indeed,
some Chinese mothers explicitly expressed their concerns
about their children’s performance during the visit. Questions
such as ‘‘Was my kid good (normal, well-developed)?’’ were
often raised with the experimenter after the sessions were
completed in China. As such, Chinese mothers may have
exerted a high level of direction and involvement in mother–
child interactions.
Cross-cultural differences in the nature of maternal
behaviours
Besides overall maternal involvement in mother–child interactions, we were interested in the nature or ‘‘quality’’ of maternal
behaviours and differences between Chinese and Canadian
mothers on the relative scores of the behaviours. We expected
that Canadian mothers would display relatively more autonomy-oriented behaviours than Chinese mothers and that
Chinese mothers would display more connected-oriented
behaviours than Canadian mothers in their interactions with
the child. This hypothesis was supported by the results. After
controlling for the overall level of maternal involvement,
Chinese mothers had higher scores on the encouragement of
connectedness than Canadian mothers, whereas Canadian
mothers had higher scores on encouragement of autonomy
than Chinese mothers. Therefore, despite the cross-cultural
differences on the overall maternal involvement, when Canadian and Chinese mothers exerted interventions, Canadian
mothers’ behaviours were relatively more directed to the
encouragement of child autonomy, whereas Chinese mothers’
behaviours were more oriented toward the encouragement of
connectedness.
It has been argued that relative to Western cultures, Chinese
culture has traditionally placed great value on interpersonal
cooperation and harmonious relationships (Ho, 1986; Triandis, 1990; Yang, 1986). In contrast, individual self-direction
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and personal autonomy are considered more important in
North America than in Chinese, and perhaps some other,
group-oriented societies (Larson, 1999; Triandis, 1990). The
cultural values may serve as a basis for the formation of
parental socialization beliefs and goals (Ho, 1986; Larson,
1999). The results of the present study indicated that cultural
emphasis on autonomy or connectedness was reflected in
maternal parenting behaviours in mother–child interactions.
Given the proximal influence of parenting behaviours on child
development (e.g., Belsky, 1984; Booth et al., 1994; Hart et
al., 1992; Russell & Russell, 1996), it may be reasonable to
argue that the culturally directed parenting behaviours are
likely to lead to different developmental outcomes in Chinese
and Canadian children. The results concerning the crosscultural differences may also help us understand the findings
that Chinese parents are less authoritative than North
American parents in child-rearing (e.g., Chao, 1994; Dornbusch et al., 1987), because encouragement of autonomy is an
important component of inductive authoritative parenting style
(Baumrind, 1971; Steinberg, Elman, & Mounts, 1989).
Therefore, the encouragement of autonomy in Chinese
mothers and the display of autonomous behaviours in Chinese
children may be a result of recent macro-level social and
cultural changes.
Cross-cultural similarities were also reflected in the correlations between maternal goal-directed behaviours and child
behaviours. In both samples, maternal encouragement of
connectedness and autonomy was positively correlated with
child connectedness and negatively correlated with child
autonomy. The results suggested that mothers were likely to
be involved when children displayed connectedness-oriented
behaviour, but not when children were engaged in autonomous
activities. The high contingency between maternal involvement
and child connectedness-oriented behaviours is not surprising
given that they represent two integral components of mother–
child interactions. The results may also reflect a limitation of
the observational procedure and the behavioural coding
system. Other research methods such as interviews and selfreports may be more useful and effective in providing
independent data about maternal and child behaviours.
Cross-cultural similarities
Limitations and future directions
Although there were differences between Chinese and Canadian mothers on goal-oriented behaviours, cross-cultural
similarities were observed in the present study. In both
samples, mothers had higher scores on encouragement of
autonomy than on encouragement of connectedness. Chinese
and Canadian mothers both encouraged their children to
engage in more autonomous behaviours than affiliative and
cooperative behaviours. The similar within-culture patterns
concerning maternal encouragement of autonomy vs. connectedness might indicate some common features of the socialization and developmental processes.
During the toddler years, a major developmental task is to
learn self-sufficiency in various activities including toileting,
feeding, walking, exploring, and talking (e.g., Erikson, 1950;
Schaffer & Crook, 1980). The rapid growth in children’s
locomotor and cognitive abilities constitutes the necessary
condition for autonomous pursuits. Our results suggest that
parents in different cultures may understand the need of
toddlers to develop autonomous behaviours and, thus,
deliberately encourage them to explore the environment and
learn independence and self-governance. The cross-cultural
similarities indicate that, across cultural contexts, the socialization processes may be determined, to a large extent, by the
basic requirements in human development.
The higher encouragement of autonomy in Chinese
mothers may also be due to the fact that whereas Chinese
parents value interdependence and connectedness, especially
within the family, individual independence is not necessarily
discouraged (Chen et al., 1998; Lin & Fu, 1990). Chinese
mothers may realize that in order to function adequately in a
larger society and to adjust to the changing demands of
contemporary society, children need to learn independent and
assertive skills. This may particularly be the case in urban
China, as the large-scale economic reforms in the country
toward the capitalistic system and the introduction of Western
ideologies may lead to changes in parental child-rearing
attitudes and behaviours. In the new, competitive environment, behavioural characteristics that facilitate the achievement of personal goals such as social initiative and
independence may be increasingly valued and encouraged.
There were several limitations and weaknesses in the study.
First, based on the literature (e.g., Chen, 2000; Ho, 1986;
Maccoby & Martin, 1983), we believe that encouragement of
autonomy and encouragement of connectedness are two major
socialization goals adopted by parents in most societies,
although the degree to which they are emphasized may vary
across cultures. There may be other important socialization
goals such as encouragement of self-control and responsibility.
Future research should be expanded to examine parenting
behaviours related to other socialization goals.
Second, data in the present study were collected from
observing mother–child interactions and peer interactions in a
laboratory situation. Although the situation was designed to
induce maternal and child behaviours typically seen in the
naturalistic setting, it is still uncertain how accurately the
behaviours observed reflect maternal and child behaviours in
‘‘real-life’’ situations. To achieve better ecological validity, it is
important to observe parent–child interactions in naturalistic
settings such as home and daycare centres. Despite the
limitations, the study provided valuable information about
maternal goal-oriented behaviours from a cross-cultural
perspective.
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