A Comparative Study on Parenting of Preschool Children Between the Chinese in China and Chinese Immigrants in the United States

The goal of this questionnaire-based study was to compare the relative endorsement of specific parenting patterns among two ethnic Chinese groups rearing preschool children: Chinese parents in China (N = 117) and first-generation Chinese immigrant parents in the United States (N = 94). A significant interaction effect was found between country and gender on the nonreasoning/punitive dimension of authoritarian parenting, revealing that Chinese fathers endorsed this pattern more strongly than both Chinese immigrant fathers and Chinese mothers. There was also a significant interaction effect between country and gender on the practice of shaming/love withdrawal, indicating that Chinese fathers espoused this pattern more strongly than Chinese immigrant fathers and Chinese mothers, but Chinese immigrant mothers endorsed it more strongly than Chinese immigrant fathers. Furthermore, it was revealed that Chinese immigrants endorsed beliefs about maternal involvement more strongly than their Chinese counterparts. The results are discussed in the context of cultural and contextual influences