Poster #91 - Socialization of Self: Links between Mother’s Socialization Goals in Middle Childhood and Children’s Representation of Self in Late Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 02

Abstract

Cross-cultural research has shown that qualities of self-descriptions and autobiographical memories (as representation of self) vary in different cultural contexts (Wang, 2004). This variation has been theoretically related to the values of the context and the socialization practices associated with the values (Ross & Wang, 2010; Wang, 2013).
Socialization goals are qualities that parents consider important for their children to acquire (Knafo & Galansky, 2008). The autonomy-oriented socialization sensitizes children to their own mental states and uniqueness, whereas relatedness-oriented socialization to social responsiveness (Kärtner, 2005). Parents with stronger interdependence orientation socialize children towards obedience, proper conduct, respect for other people, and responsibility (Greenfield et al., 2003).
In the present study, we hypothesize that mother’s self-maximization goals are associated with autonomy-related qualities of children’s self and that mother’s social-conformity-related goals predict relatedness-related qualities of children’s self. Gender and age of the child and maternal education are included in the analyses.
The sample for the present study includes 209 children (47.8% boys) and their mothers; the mean age of the participant children was 10.2 (range 9 – 12). 52.2% of the mothers had university education and 47.5% high school education or lower.
Socialization values were collected in 2009 when mothers filled in a written questionnaire (Tulviste, 2013). The computation of self-maximization and social conformity-related value scores (range 0 – 5) was based on Tulviste et al. (2017). Children’s self-descriptions and autobiographical memories were collected in 2014 in written format in school. A coding system based on Rhee et al. (1995) and Wang (2004) was devised. Dichotomous coding was used for all qualities and scores were computed for autonomy-associated qualities of self (range 0 – 7) and relatedness-associated qualities of self (range 0 – 5). Two coders coded 20% of the material and the average intercoder agreement across qualities was 99%.
The hypotheses were tested by a path analysis with maximum likelihood estimation in AMOS 28.0 (see Figure 1). Background variables and maternal socialization goals explained 4.8% of variance in children’s autonomy-associated qualities of self and 12.3% of variance in relatedness-associated qualities of self. All results are presented in Table 1.
In accordance with prior studies, older children displayed more autonomy-associated and relatedness-associated qualities of self, while girls used more relatedness-associated qualities than boys (Harter, 2015; Buckner & Fivush, 1998). Surprisingly, social conformity-related socialization values were negatively linked to both autonomy-associated and relatedness-associated qualities of children’s selves. The more mothers stressed conformity-related socialization values when children were younger, the lower is the score for children’s autonomy-associated and, curiously, also for the relatedness-associated qualities of self. The study shows that although individual and cultural differences in both socialization values and self are sometimes explained as characteristic of relatedness or autonomy orientation, the relationship between the constructs is not as straightforward as one might expect.

Authors

• Pirko Tõugu, University of Tartu, Estonia
  Presenting Author

• Anni Tamm, University of Tartu

• Tiia Tulviste, University of Tartu