Examining the Association Between Acculturation and Parental Psychological Control in Chinese Immigrant Mothers

• In Event: Chinese Parenting and Parent-Child Interactions: Roles of Cultural Context

Abstract

Introduction: Cultural-ecological theories (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1986; Super & Harkness, 1986) explain the importance of considering cultural contexts, and changes across cultural contexts, when studying parental psychological control. Immigrant Chinese parents adapt to a new culture via acculturation, a multipronged process that includes both various dimensions (mainstream and heritage) and domains (behavioral and psychological; Miller, 2007). Given the fast-growing rates of Chinese immigrant families in the U.S., it is important for family practitioners to develop a greater understanding of how and under what conditions acculturation is associated with parental psychological control (Echeverria-Estrada & Batalova, 2020). This study focuses on mothers, because mothers are the primary caregivers of children in most Chinese immigrant families, and they might experience more pressure to reconcile parental values and practices between their heritage and mainstream cultures (Ren et al., 2021).
Thus, this study aims to understand how different dimensions and domains of acculturation are associated with the use of parental psychological control in Chinese immigrant mothers of preschoolers. Specifically, the current study sought to answer: (1) are behavioral and psychological domains of mainstream acculturation associated with the use of psychological control of Chinese immigrant mothers?; (2) are behavioral and psychological domains of heritage acculturation associated with the use of psychological control of Chinese immigrant mothers?; and (3) is the use of maternal psychological control impacted by the interactions between psychological and behavioral acculturation to mainstream and heritage cultures?

Method: The dataset is comprised of 231 first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers of 2- to 6-year-old children (Mage = 4.48, SD = 0.91; 48.9% girls). Psychological and behavioral acculturation to mainstream culture and heritage culture (Hong et al., 2005; Kim & Hong, 2004; Lee, 1996) and maternal psychological control (Olsen et al., 2002; Yu et al., 2016) were measured. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine main effects, and hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the interaction effects.

Result & Discussion: Results revealed significant associations between maternal psychological control and behavioral and psychological acculturation to heritage culture but not mainstream culture, and acculturation to heritage culture was associated with shaming and guilt induction but not necessarily with love withdrawal (see Table 1). Also, when mothers scored high on psychological acculturation to mainstream culture, there was a negative association between behavioral acculturation to mainstream culture and psychological control (see Figure 1). Chinese immigrant mothers who are high on behavioral acculturation (e.g., practice U.S. traditions) may not alter their use of psychological control unless their internal beliefs and values (i.e., psychological acculturation) are also in line with the mainstream culture.
The current study advances the understanding of Chinese immigrant mothers, an understudied area in the parenting literature, who may struggle with the pressure to acculturate psychologically and behaviorally to the mainstream and their heritage culture. Findings also have broad implications for those working with Chinese immigrant families by suggesting that they consider parental psychological control as a multi-dimensional concept and highlighting the importance of considering the cultural processes of Chinese immigrant mothers.

Authors

• Yuan Zhang, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Linda C. Halgunseth, Michigan State University

• Preston A Britner, University of Connecticut

• Eric Loken, University of Connecticut