TRENDS IN ASIAN PARENTING:
STYLES, PRACTICES, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Convenor: Allan B. I. Bernardo
Co-convenor: Catherine McBride-Chang
Studies on parenting in the Asian context highlight the debates regarding how to
understand cultural variations in developmental processes. This symposium samples
current research on Asian parenting styles with a focus on how these relate to academic
achievement in different groups of Asian students. Nelson et al’s paper sets a general
theoretical backdrop within which the four other papers linking Asian parenting and
academic achievement can be viewed. The paper contrasts the unique-process vs.
common-process views of Asian parenting. In what can be viewed as elaborations of
the unique-process view, the other four papers examine how constructs related to
parenting (e.g., control; socialization) and to achievement (e.g., meaning of learning;
achievement in schools) may be specific to Asian contexts. The four papers use a
variety of methodological and analytic approaches; in some cases working on
indigenous constructs and emic methodological approaches, and in others drawing from
Western constructs and measures applied in Asian contexts. Alampay and Fernandez’s
paper explores how Filipino adolescents understand the nature of parental control and
its consequences in the academic domain. Jose and Li examine how parenting
strategies of Chinese parents influence how children’s perspectives on learning and their
achievement levels. Cheung and McBride-Chang’s paper discusses how specific
dimensions of parent’s socialization practices relate to students’ achievement outcomes.
Bernardo’s paper also examines how parents' socialization practices relate to student
achievement outcomes by way of influencing students’ achievement goals.
Paper #1:
Parenting and Developmental Processes:
Unique-Process vs. Common-Process Views of Asian Parenting
David Nelson
Brigham Young University, USA
Craig Hart
Brigham Young University, USA
Chongming Yang
Duke University, USA
Jin Shenghua
Beijing Normal University, China
Debates regarding the Asian child’s experience of parenting in the past decade
mirror a larger debate regarding possible variation across cultures in developmental
processes. The first position, a unique-process view, espouses the belief that parental
control may differ by culture in its effects on child outcomes. Accordingly, Chao (1994)
asserted that parental control among Asians should be defined by indigenous notions,
rather than Western parenting constructs. In particular, Chao argued that authoritarian
parenting is not relevant for Asian parenting and that an indigenous parenting style
(chiao shun, or “training”), in which strictness is equated with parental concern, caring, or
involvement, is uniquely representative of Asian parenting (and therefore a variation on
the typical authoritarian theme).
However, a number of more recent studies suggest that the authoritarian style,
when encompassing behaviors reflecting parental rejection, has predictable negative
consequences for Chinese children. These studies are consistent with the second
position on the control debate, a common-process view of child socialization, in which
developmental processes are presumed to be universal across cultures. This paper will
assess the current state of this debate, and review recent studies that expectedly
demonstrate that authoritarian (harsh, power assertive) parenting in the Chinese culture
is associated with children’s externalizing (aggressive/disruptive) behaviors. These
findings are also placed in the context of research with other cultures (e.g., AfricanAmerican) which are focused on the larger debate (unique vs. common-process views)
and directions for further research are proposed.
Paper #2
The Consequences of Parental Control on Academic Achievement
and Well-being in Filipino Urban Adolescents
Liane Peña Alampay and Karina Galang-Fernandez
Ateneo de Manila University
Research in Western contexts has validated the view that authoritative
parenting—characterized by high support and appropriate behavioral and psychological
control—results in overall positive outcomes for adolescents. The construct and
consequences of parental control, however, need further investigation in the Philippine
context, where the cultural emphasis on parental authority remains strong. Filipino
adolescents have reported that their parents continue to impose a high number of rules
regarding their behavior through late adolescence, despite the adolescents’ beliefs that
their parents have less legitimate authority to set rules and decreasing sense of
obligation to obey.
The present study considers parental control in the context of academic
achievement, expectations which have been found to be high among Asian cultures. The
consequences of high academic expectations or pressure have been investigated
among Chinese and Japanese students, but remain to be seen among Filipino
adolescents. Thus, the study answers the following questions: First, how do Filipino
parents exert control on their adolescent children’s academic performance? Second,
how are Filipino parents’ academic expectations related to adolescents’ academic
achievement? Third, how are Filipino parents’ academic expectations related to
adolescents’ experience of school-related stress, anxiety, and depression? These
questions are also investigated in the context of relevant variables such as adolescents’
age, parenting style, and beliefs regarding filial authority and obligation.
A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is applied in the study.
Self-report questionnaires and interviews are administered to 13 to 21 year-old
adolescents and their mothers and fathers residing in metropolitan Manila. Qualitative
results will be subjected to thematic analysis, while quantitative data will be analyzed via
multivariate correlational analyses.
Paper #3
Relationships among Parenting Strategies and Children’s Academic Performance for
Hong Kong Parents and Children
Paul E. Jose and Judy Li
Victoria University of Wellington
This report describes efforts to construct a new measure called the Chinese Parenting
Strategies Scale. The measure is composed of a Parent Form and a Child Form; the
former is a self-report measure of what parents believe that they do, and the latter
contains a subset of items from the Parent Form and allows the children to report what
they perceive that their parents do. Participants were recruited from seven primary
schools in Hong Kong (1,188 child participants and 1,025 parents and caregivers).
Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggested that the two forms share a five-factor structure:
1) Expectations, 2) Family Teaching, 3) Attitudes towards Schooling and Learning, 4)
Active Involvement, and 5) Attention to Schoolwork Completion. The child participants
completed several additional Western measures including the SRQ-A and GOALS-S,
and reported on their standards for academic work. Their parents and homeroom
teachers were also asked to rate the children on several academic domains. With this
additional data, path analyses were performed to examine the hypothesized process
model involving parents’ self-reported parenting strategies, children’s perceived
parenting strategies, children’s orientation towards learning, and children’s academic
outcomes. The path analysis supported the above described process model, and
identified specific paths within the model. It is concluded that the Chinese Parenting
Strategies Scale has the ability to predict children’s academic outcomes in Hong Kong
samples. In addition, the path model explains how these five parenting strategies impact
on academic achievement through the mediational variables of: 1) standards set by
children, 2) their seeking for teacher’s approval, 3) use of learning strategies, and 4)
degree of internal motivation. The model shows that parenting strategies predicted
children’s perceptions of parenting strategies, which in turn predicted child perspective
on learning, which in turn predicted actual academic performance. Implications
concerning how Chinese parenting affects children’s academic performance are
discussed.
Paper #4
An Alternative Explanation for Academic Achievements in Chinese Children: Implications
from the Maternal Parenting Practice Questionnaire (MPPQ)
Cecilia S-. S. Cheung & Catherine A. McBride-Chang
Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Although American children’s academic achievement can be distinguished based
on perceptions of parenting styles (e.g., Steinberg et al., 1989; 1994), such parenting
styles fail to consistently explain much of the variability in children’s academic
achievement, particularly among Chinese children. Following the notion that situationspecific behaviors may be particularly useful for explaining children’s socialization
outcomes (e.g., Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Stewart & Bond, 2002), in the present study
we developed the Maternal Parenting Practice Questionnaire (MPPQ) to measure childperceived academic socialization practices in Hong Kong. This instrument was created
as a result of qualitative interviews with teachers and parents of fifth grade children on
typical Chinese academic socialization practices. Ninety-one grade five children from a
local primary school completed questionnaires about parenting practices, parenting
styles, motivation to learn and academic outcome. Results revealed two distinct
dimensions of academic socialization: aspiring and fostering practices. Aspiring
practices, which involve relatively clear valuing of training on educational achievement
(e.g., ‘My mother keeps telling me to excel in my studies’ and ‘My mother says it is
extremely important to get into a good secondary school’), uniquely explained 12% of
the total variance in school grades after statistically controlling for parenting style
(restrictiveness and concern), socioeconomic status, and motivational orientations.
Interestingly, aspiring practices were not related to either maternal restrictiveness or
concern, suggesting that this dimension may represent a unique dimension of Chinese
parenting. Results underscore the importance of measures of parenting practice to
explain specific socialization outcomes, such as academic performance.
Paper #5
Parental Socialization of Achievement and its Relationship to Filipino Adolescents’ Goal
Orientations and Academic Performance
Allan B. I. Bernardo
De La Salle University-Manila, Philippines
Previous research among Filipino adolescents (Bernardo & Ujano-Batangan, in
press; Bernardo, 2005) suggest that the relationship between parenting styles and
achievement goals of Filipino students is mediated by beliefs and goal orientations that
relate to personal competency beliefs, goals, and standards. In order to further
understand the relationship between parenting and academic performance, the present
study explores the relationship of parental socialization of personal academic
achievement goals, achievement goals, and academic performance of Filipino
adolescents. A sample of 187 Filipino adolescent university students were asked to
report their perceptions of their parents’ educational achievement socialization practices,
and their achievement goal orientations. Parental socialization of achievement was
measured using a scale developed by Bempechat, Graham, and Jimenez (1999), which
was adapted for use with adolescent students in the Philippine context. Achievement
goals were assessed using the scales developed by Elliot and Church (1997). The
impact of these variables on the students’ academic achievement was explored using
multiple regression and path analysis. It was hypothesized that how parents socialize
academic achievement beliefs with their children influence the kinds of achievement
goals that the children adopt (particularly the mastery and performance-approach goals),
which in turn influences their academic performance. The specific paths linking
socialization practices, achievement goals, and achievement are discussed using a
social cognitive perspective, with emphasis on how academic achievement may be
construed in specific subcultures and contexts of achievement in Philippine society, with
reference to similar and/or related studies with students from other Asian (e.g., China)
and non-Asian (e.g., Mexican-American) cultures.