Abstract
There is ongoing debate about the universal or culture-specific role of controlling parenting in children’s and adolescents’ development. This study addressed the possibility of cultural variability in how controlling parenting practices are perceived and dealt with. Specifically, we examined Belgian (N = 341) and Chinese (N = 316) adolescents’ perceptions of and reactions towards a vignette depicting parental guilt-induction, relative to generally controlling and autonomy supportive vignettes. Whereas Belgian adolescents perceived guilt-induction to be as controlling as generally controlling parental behavior, Chinese adolescents’ perception of guilt-induction as controlling was more moderate. Belgian and Chinese adolescents also showed some similarities and differences in their responses to the feelings of need frustration following from the controlling practices, with compulsive compliance for instance being more common in Chinese adolescents. Discussion focuses on cross-cultural similarities and differences in dynamics of controlling parenting.
Highlights
IntroductionResearch increasingly suggests that, when children perceive their parents as controlling (i.e., as pressuring, intrusive, and domineering), they are more likely to display maladjustment, an effect that has been observed across countries with a different cultural climate (e.g., Pomerantz & Wang, 2009)
Research increasingly suggests that, when children perceive their parents as controlling, they are more likely to display maladjustment, an effect that has been observed across countries with a different cultural climate (e.g., Pomerantz & Wang, 2009)
Accumulating evidence, part of which is based on research on parental psychological control and much of which is based on Western samples, has shown that perceived controlling parenting relates to internalizing problems such as depression, low self-esteem and anxiety (e.g., Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2005) as well as to externalizing problems, including delinquency, antisocial behavior, and substance use (e.g., Walker-Barnes & Mason, 2004)
Summary
Research increasingly suggests that, when children perceive their parents as controlling (i.e., as pressuring, intrusive, and domineering), they are more likely to display maladjustment, an effect that has been observed across countries with a different cultural climate (e.g., Pomerantz & Wang, 2009) To explain these findings, it has been argued that controlling parenting may frustrate universal psychological needs in children, that is, the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000; Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2010). Perceived autonomy-supportive parenting has been found to relate to adaptive motivational and developmental outcomes in a variety of life domains (e.g., Grolnick, 2003)
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