Examining the relationship between parenting and young Chinese children’s emotional, sociocognitive, and academic development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The relationships parents build with their children meaningfully impact them as they age (Ainsworth, 1989; Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991). More recently, researchers have discussed how parenting in different cultures may have varying influences on children’s development (Pomerantz, Ng, Cheung, & Qu, 2014). However, the associations between parenting, parent-child interactions, and young children’s development in the Chinese society is much less understood. Using both parental questionnaires and structural observations of children’s behaviors, this symposium presents three papers to offer a more comprehensive insight into how parents can shape pre-primary school children’s development across different domains in the Chinese culture, extending our knowledge of parenting and parent-child relationships beyond the often-studied WEIRD populations (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010; Nielsen, Haun, Kartner, & Legare, 2017).

First, Paper 1 focuses on children’s emotional development, investigating how negative parenting, specifically psychological control and physical exertion, can lead to physical and relational aggression in pre-primary school children. Paper 2 focuses on the development of young children’s social cognition, examining parental attitudes on natural talent and effort and their potential impact on children’s learning and socializing preferences. Paper 3 examines the impact of parental involvement on children’s academic development, focusing on how parental participation and scaffolding can assist with child initiative and performance on mathematical activities. The discussant, drawing upon expertise in the field of early childhood development and education in East Asia, will consider the three papers together, assessing their joint contribution to our understanding of parenting and parent-child relationships in the Chinese society and beyond.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Eva E. Chen, National Tsing Hua University

Discussant

• Nirmala Rao, The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Individual Presentations

• Negative parenting and preschoolers’ aggression: Examining effortful control as a moderator - Presenting Author: Eva Y.H. Lau, The Education University of Hong Kong; Non-Presenting Author: Lei Chang, University of Macau; Non-Presenting Author: Juan F Casas, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Talent versus hard work: Examining the parental influence on children’s preferences for talent over effort - Presenting Author: Shaocong Ma, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Non-Presenting Author: Eva E. Chen, National Tsing Hua University

• Chinese mothers’ and fathers’ involvement in children’s mathematics: Examining the frequency and process of parent–child mathematics activities - Non-Presenting Author: Qi Huang, Education University of Hong Kong; Presenting Author: JIN SUN, Education University of Hong Kong