Parental Expressions of Love and Care Among Chinese Immigrant Families: The Role of Bilingual Language Choice

• In Event: Using Intensive Longitudinal Approaches to Understand Child Development

Abstract

Parents’ love for their child is arguably universal (Harlow, 1958). Yet expressions of love and care are multi-faceted, and vary across cultures (Cheah, et al., 2015; Wu & Chao, 2005, 2011). Building on theories of culture, emotion, and parenting, the present study used affirmation discussions in Chinese immigrant families to examine the multiple ways in which parents express love and care. Further, we examined how bilingual language choice among parents serves as a vehicle for transmitting culturally-distinct affective goals.

Using multilevel models (Snijders & Bosker, 1999), allowing for accommodation of dependencies for repeated measurements of individuals, we examined the contemporaneous associations between bilingual language choice (Chinese or English) and affirmation type in parent-child conversation. We hypothesized that Chinese use was positively associated with the discussion of training (parental control motivated by warmth, representing Chinese concepts of guan; Chao, 1994) and relational affection (affirmation of parent-child or family relationship). On the other hand, we hypothesized that English use was positively associated with validation (acceptance and support of child’s independent expression building self-esteem).

The present sample included 1st generation Chinese American immigrant parents (N =110; 92% mothers) and their children (7-11 years old, M = 9.16 years, 48.5% girls). Almost all parents were born in China (n =108). On average, parents had 15.1 years of formal education (SD = 4.10). The average annual household income was $98,653 (range = $2,423-400,000). Parents had been in the US for an average of 12 years (SD = 7.35).

Parents engaged in a 3-min affirmation discussion, in which they were instructed to help their child understand how much they love and care for them. Parents were instructed to use any language(s). The interaction was videotaped and transcribed in the original languages. At each proposition (subject-verb construction), transcripts were coded for the presence or absence of 15 affirmation codes (Table 1; instrumental support, behavioral expectation, academics, criticism, moral rules, role relationship, sacrifice, filial piety, physical touch, emotion teaching, emotional consequence, verbal affection, emotional support, praise, democratic relationship) and data was reduced into three composite codes (training, relational affection, and validation) using confirmatory factor analysis. Parent’s language choice was treated as a continuous variable, indicated by the proportion of Chinese and English in each proposition. Code-switching was measured as the frequency of Chinese to English or English to Chinese switch per proposition.

Using multilevel modeling, we found contemporaneous associations between language choice and training at the within-person level (γ= -.36, p = .01). That is, parents discussed more training when using more Chinese (and less English). A similar trend for relational affection was found (γ = -.85, p < .001), such that parents discussed relational affection more when using more Chinese. On the other hand, contemporaneous associations between English use and validation were not found (γ = .06, p = .67). Above and beyond language choice, bilingual parents were more likely to code-switch into English to discuss validation (γ = .59, p < .001), and less likely to code-switch into English to discuss training (γ = -.71, p = .03) with their children.

Authors

• Aya Williams, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Chang Liu, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jinli Wu, Georgetown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lionel Hsien Meng, University of California - Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xue Fang Deng, Wellesley College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Qing Zhou, University of California - Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephen H Chen, Wellesley College
  Non-Presenting Author