Child Rearing and Compliance

Abstract

The relation between parental child-rearing practices and child compliance was examined in two groups of middle- to upper-middle-class parents in Houston, Texas: 20 Japanese families temporarily living in the city and 18 Caucasian American families. The children were 4- to 7-year-olds enrolled in summer sessions in a private preschool/elementary school. Mothers and fathers were interviewed separately about their child-rearing practices, and parents and teachers completed child behavior questionnaires. In both Japanese and American families, child compliance with adult authority was positively associated with providing opportunities for appropriate behavior and negatively associated with reliance on punishment and physical intervention. Japanese parents relied less than Americans on external punishments and more on verbal techniques alone. American parents were more likely to provide opportunities and to use praise. For Japanese families, the length of exposure to American culture was associated with predictable shifts in parental child-rearing practices and child behavior.