Maternal Beliefs about Gender in China: Cohort and Developmental Changes from 2007 to 2016

• In Event: 2-069 - How changing macro-contexts shape child development and parenting: Examples from China

Integrative Statement

Decades of research indicates that maternal gender beliefs have significant influences on child development (Ruble, Martin & Berenbaum, 2006; Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2002). However, maternal gender beliefs were mostly studied as a static construct; how do they change as a product of child development as well as change in the social context is underexplored. The fast pace with which China modernizing presents a unique opportunity to examine how social changes may affect parental beliefs over time (Yoshikawa, Way & Chen, 2012). To study how maternal gender beliefs change across developmental time and contextual time, we examined the following questions with mothers from China: 1) How do Chinese mothers’ beliefs about gender change as their children develop from infancy into late childhood? 2) How do Chinese mothers with similar age children (10-12 years old) differ in their gender beliefs in 2007 versus 2016?

Data were drawn from a larger mixed-method longitudinal study in Nanjing, China (Zhang et al., 2018; Way et al., 2013). To answer the first question, we used semi-structured interview data from 35 mothers (46% boys) who were interviewed when their children were 14 months old in 2007, and in 2016, the same mothers were interviewed again when their children were 10 years old. To answer the second question, we draw from two cohorts of mothers with children in late childhood (ages 10-12). Cohort 1 mothers (n=54, 54% boys) were interviewed in 2007 when their children were 12 years old. Cohort 2 mothers (who are the same mothers in question 1) were interviewed when their children were 10 years old. Content analysis (was used for analyzing and summarizing mothers’ narratives.

For the first question, we found that during infancy, mothers typically believed that boys and girls have few differences (see quotations in Table 1). During late childhood, in contrast, mothers typically believed that boys and girls are inherently different physically, intellectually and emotionally. Moreover, mothers with infants believed both boys and girls need to be independent; during late childhood, the same mothers desire for their boys to be independent appeared to grow more intense while mothers of daughters began to put more restrictions on their daughters’ independence.

For the second question, Cohort 1 mothers in 2007 typically believed boys and girls should be raised similarly, whereas Cohort 2 in 2016 mothers believed boys and girls need to be raised in distinct ways. In addition, Cohort 2 mothers emphasized boys’ masculinity, included physical toughness, dominance of others, more than Cohort 1. Meanwhile, Cohort 1 mothers typically prioritized marriage before career for daughters; whereas Cohort 2 mothers emphasized that their daughters needed to not only to be a successful career woman but also a good mother and an attractive wife.

The findings suggest, in contrast to our expectations, that the gender beliefs of Chinese mothers have become less egalitarian from 2007 to 2016. Our paper will address why this may be the case but it raises interesting questions about the meaning of “modernity” and how it shapes parents’ beliefs about gender.

Authors

• Rui Yang, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Xuan Li, New York University Shanghai
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cong Zhang, Fudan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Niobe Way, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xinyin Chen, University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zuhong Lu, Southeast University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Guangzhen Zhang, Southeast University
  Non-Presenting Author