The Influence of Parenting on Children's Academic Achievement: Comparison Between the United States and Japan

ABSTRACT\ud THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTING ON CHILDREN???S ACADEMIC\ud ACHIEVEMENT: COMPARISON BETWEEN THE\ud UNITED STATES AND JAPAN\ud by\ud Akiko Watabe\ud Master of Arts in Psychology\ud Psychological Science Option\ud California State University, Chico\ud Spring 2011\ud This study examined the influence of parenting on academic achievement\ud among elementary school children in the United States and Japan based on Baumrind???s\ud parenting typology. The applicability of Baumrind???s parenting typology to Japanese\ud children???s academic outcomes is not clarified yet. Previous works have shown that\ud authoritative parenting tends to yield positive academic outcomes for Western children.\ud Conversely, Asian children are likely to attain better academic goals with authoritarian\ud parenting. These two parenting styles have been revealed as typical parenting models in\ud both Western culture and Asian culture. However, in modern times, the characteristic\ud parenting style that belongs to each culture may be changed by a new generation of\ud parents. Thus, it was hypothesized that (a) authoritarian parenting will be associated with\ud higher academic achievement among modern American children, and (b) authoritative\ud parenting will be associated with higher academic achievement for modern Japanese\ud children. Two hundred and eight students from an American elementary school and 312\ud students from a Japanese elementary school completed each measure of achievement goal\ud orientations and parental attitudes toward them. After the data was collected, bivariate\ud correlations, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance, and a two-way factorial\ud analysis of variance were utilized to analyze the data. Support was found for the\ud hypothesis that American children acquire the benefit of academic achievement with\ud authoritarian parenting style today. There was no support for the hypothesis that\ud contemporary Japanese children obtain higher academic achievement with authoritative\ud parenting style.CSU, Chic