NHỮNG QUAN điểm KHÁC NHAU về PHƯƠNG PHÁP NUÔI dạy CON cái của NGƯỜI mỹ gốc HOA và NGƯỜI mỹ DA TRẮNG ở nước mỹ THẾ kỷ 21

This study examined the differences between Chinese American and White American parents on childrearing viewpoints in the 21st century. Factors affecting their viewpoints on parenting styles, such as culture and parents’ beliefs and expectations were specifically considered. For White American parents, the parenting style mostly adopted is related to psychological wellbeing for adolescents called authoritative parenting. WhiteAmerican parents were found to be less controlling, show more encouragement of independence, and emphasize less achievement than Chinese American parents. For Chinese American parents, meanwhile, the parenting style mostly favored is related to the theme called authoritarian parenting. Chinese American parents were found to use strict rules, high expectations. They are highly demanding in their directions but are not typically responsive: they are more interested in strict obedience and provide a wellordered and structured environment. The research also revealed that culture has a big effect on how parents raise children because norms and standards differ from culture to culture. Moreover, this paper also demonstrated that it is difficult to evaluate whether parenting methods of Chinese American or white American parents are better. Both authoritarian childrearing of Chinese American parents and authoritative childrearing of White American parents have their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, each person, with the role of parents should consider the benefits and drawbacks of both parenting methods to choose the most suitable one to parent their children.

ABSTRACT

This study examined the differences between Chinese American

and White American parents on childrearing viewpoints in the 21st century.Factors affecting their viewpoints on parenting styles, such as culture andparents’ beliefs and expectations were specifically considered For WhiteAmerican parents, the parenting style mostly adopted is related to

psychological well-being for adolescents called authoritative parenting.

White-American parents were found to be less controlling, show moreencouragement of independence, and emphasize less achievement thanChinese American parents For Chinese American parents, meanwhile, the

parenting style mostly favored is related to the theme called authoritarian

parenting Chinese American parents were found to use strict rules, highexpectations They are highly demanding in their directions but are nottypically responsive: they are more interested in strict obedience and provide

a well-ordered and structured environment The research also revealed thatculture has a big effect on how parents raise children because norms andstandards differ from culture to culture Moreover, this paper alsodemonstrated that it is difficult to evaluate whether parenting methods ofChinese American or white American parents are better Both authoritarianchild-rearing of Chinese American parents and authoritative child-rearing ofWhite American parents have their own advantages and disadvantages.Therefore, each person, with the role of parents should consider the benefitsand drawbacks of both parenting methods to choose the most suitable one toparent their children

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic/ Rationale 1

1.2 Research Question(s) or Objectives 2

1.3 Research Methodology 2

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the research 3

1.6 Organization of the research 3

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 5

2.1 An overview of Chinese Americans and White Americans in the USA 5

2.2 Overview of childrearing practices and childrearing methods 8

CHAPTER 3: DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS ON CHILD-REARING METHODS OF CHINESE AMERICAN AND WHITE AMERICAN PARENTS IN THE USA IN THE 21ST CENTURY 13

3.1 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of White American parents

3.2 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of Chinese American parents 15

CHAPTER 4: FACTORS AFFECT VIEWPOINTS ON CHILD-REARING METHODS OF CHINESE AMERICAN AND WHITE AMERICAN PARENTS 20

4.1 Factors affect Child-rearing methods of White-American

4.2 Factors affect Child-rearing methods of Chinese American

parents 22

CHAPTER 5: WHICH IS BETTER: CHILD-REARING METHODS OF CHINESE AMERICAN OR WHITE AMERICAN PARENTS? 28

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 34

6.1 Major findings and contribution of the research 34

6.2 Limitations of the research 36

6.3 Suggestions for further studies 36

REFERENCES 38

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Reasons for choosing the topic/ Rationale

Child-rearing methods among parents have long interested childdevelopment professionals Beginning with Baldwin’s classic study of child-rearing in 1948, child development researchers learned that parents could beclassified according to various parenting styles (Chao, 2011) By associatingthese parenting styles with child outcomes, researchers have begun tounderstand which child-rearing attitudes and behaviors are predictive of more

or less successful child development This information has been vital inassisting child development professionals to teach parents more optimalmethods for raising their children Thus, research aimed at child-rearingattitudes has historically been important and continues to provide usefulinformation for optimizing children’s development in the society

As American society becomes more diverse, with individuals fromvarious social, ethnic, and immigrant/generational background, research onchild-rearing attitudes becomes more critical Child-rearing methods ofChinese Americans and White Americans tend to differ based on varyingtraditions and values There was an article published under the headline “WhyChinese Mothers Are Superior” in the Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2011,contained excerpts from Amy Chua’s book (Amy Chua-Jr Professor of Law

at Yale Law School) In the book, she describes her efforts to give herchildren what she describes as a traditional, strict “Chinese” upbringing Thispiece was controversial and attracted much attention from not just the peopleresiding in America, but also a lot of people in other countries interested inthis issue Amy Chua’s work is also considered to touch the “nerve” of WhiteAmericans (Seal, 2011)

There has been a mountain of speeches, works, articles, documents and

cultures in the United States, especially since Amy Chua’s book with the title

“Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” was published in 2011 However, to date,very little literature systematically compares and contrasts differentviewpoints on childrearing methods of white American parents and those ofChinese immigrant parents in the United States in the 21st century Inaddition, the researchers have not focused on explaining the reasons whythese differences existed based on their different beliefs and values.Therefore, this research will specifically focus on comparing and contrastingdifferent viewpoints on child-rearing between Chinese American and WhiteAmerican parents, and discussing beliefs and values affecting theseviewpoints in order to bridge cultural gaps between the cultures of WhiteAmericans with that of immigrant Chinese With the rise in Chineseimmigration to the United States, it is important to consider this culture andadd to the body of knowledge in the area of child-rearing practices in the 21stcentury

Considering the above mentioned, the researcher made a decision tocarry out a research named “Different viewpoints on child-rearing methods ofChinese American and White American parents in the United States in the21st century.”

1.2 Research Question(s) or Objectives

The research is aimed at answering the following questions:

1 What are the different viewpoints on child-rearing of ChineseAmerican and White American parents in the 21st century?

2 What factors affect viewpoints on child-rearing of ChineseAmericans and White Americans?

3 Which is better: Child-rearing methods of Chinese Americanparents or those of White American parents?

1.3 Research Methodology

This research is carried out with secondary research method The

research will collect relevant data from various reliable sources, both primaryand secondary researches which are available on the Internet or in thelibraries, including research reports, articles from reliable websites,magazines, books, journals In the next step, the information collected will beanalyzed, synthesized, compared and contrasted, and evaluated Then, theconclusion for each research question will be drawn from the analysis of theresearcher.

Overall, this paper is carried out through following phases:

Phase 1: Collecting data

Phase 2: Processing data: the data are analyzed, synthesized, compared,contrasted, and evaluated

Phase 3: Summarizing and concluding

1.4 Scope of the study

This study focuses on examining the differences between ChineseAmerican and White American parents on childrearing viewpoints in the 21stcentury and factors affecting their viewpoints on parenting styles, such asculture and parents’ beliefs and expectations are also considered There may

be other factors influencing on their parenting viewpoints such associoeconomic status or parental education However, in the scope of thegraduation paper, they cannot be covered

1.5 Significance of the research

Once the study is completed, it is expected to be significant in anumber of ways:

In the first place, it will serve as a reference source for other scholarsand researchers who are interested in the same or related topics

Secondly, this paper can serve as a supplementary material for thoseteachers and parents who are interested in teaching children when they needdifferent viewpoints on the issue

insightful and profound research for the students at HULIS on this issue indifferent countries in the world in general and in the USA in particular.

1.6 Organization of the research

The first parts of the research are Acceptance, Acknowledgement,Abstract, and Table of contents The acknowledgement part shows theresearcher’s gratitude towards some people helping the researcher duringfinishing the study The abstract presents very concise contents and results ofthe work done in the research The table of contents lists the sections chapters,and corresponding page numbers

The main part of the research consists of six chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction (background of the study, research questions,research methodology, significance of the study)

Chapter 2: An overview of Chinese Americans and White Americans

in the USA and child-rearing methods

2.1An overview of Chinese Americans and White Americans in theUSA

2.2An overview of child-rearing methods

Chapter 3: Different viewpoints on child-rearing methods of ChineseAmericans and White Americans in the United States in the 21st century 3.1 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of White American parents 3.2 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of Chinese American parents Chapter 4: Factors affecting viewpoints on child-rearing methods ofChinese American and White American parents

4.1 Factors affecting viewpoints on child-rearing methods of WhiteAmerican parents

4.2 Factors affecting viewpoints on child-rearing methods of ChineseAmerican parents

Chapter 5: Which child-rearing methods are better: child-rearingmethods of Chinese American or White American parents?

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 An overview of Chinese Americans and White Americans in the USA.

2.1.1 An overview of Chinese Americans in the USA.

The Chinese were the first Asian group to arrive in significant numbers withthe large scale immigration beginning in 1852 when 52,000 Chinese came that yearalone (Fong, 2002) The first stop over for the Chinese as for some subsequentAsian groups was Hawaii and not California Workers from China were imported towork on the sugar plantations and were preferred over the native Hawaiian workers

by the plantation owners because the Chinese workers were seen as more working, disciplined and efficient In fact, one of the white supervisors in 1838wrote to the owner of the plantation that “A colony of the Chinese would, probably,put the plantation in order” (Takaki 1989, p 11) In addition to sugar plantation andrail road workers, there were merchants from China who migrated as well

In fact, when arriving in the U.S, these immigrants realized that there wasnot only rumoured gold in California, but there were also opportunities foremployment The stories of such opportunities and those of the success of manymigrants were carried to the villages by the returning migrants reinforcing themotivation to emigrate As early as 1870, the Chinese were 9 percent of California’spopulation and 25 percent of the state’s work force (Takaki, 1989) Most of theChinese, came as “sojourners”, expecting to work for some time, earn money andthen go back home (Bonacich, 1973) This “sojourner” image has been attributed byscholars as the reason for the unwillingness on part of Chinese to assimilate and ascontributing to discrimination and exclusion of the Chinese (Kitano and Daniels2001)

The presence of Chinese laborers in California and Hawaii aroused greatanti-Chinese sentiment during the period between 1850 and 1900, which resulted inthe passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1892 for another ten year period andreenacted without temporal limits in 1902 (Kitano and Daniels, 2001) However,

officials, merchants, teachers, students, travelers and students of Chinese Americancitizens were still allowed to enter although subject to considerable harassment(Lyman, 1974) The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed in 1943 andChinese immigration rose to modest levels in the late 1940s and 1950s (Nee andNee, 1972).

Chinese immigration is often seen and, today, large populations of Chinese,either immigrants themselves or related to immigrants, are focused mainly inCalifornia and New York, though populations are growing elsewhere Over theyears, they have moved to the United States for many different reasons (MarkOrwell, 2000)

One of the major reasons for Chinese immigration to the U.S is economics.Starting around 1849, when Chinese immigrants first began flocking to the U.S.,money was the reason It was the time of the California Gold Rush, and manyyoung Chinese peasants wanted in on the action Eventually, they began to openstores and restaurants and businesses in order to make more money Theseimmigrants were faced with prejudices that forced many to go back home Otherssimply came to save money, knowing they would return to China to spend it ontheir family Today, economics is not as big of an issue, though many lower-classChinese workers find opportunities in the United States to make higher wages,either to send back to their families in China or to start a life in the new country.(Mark Orwell, 2000)

For many educated Chinese individuals, the United States serves as abreeding ground for high-paying jobs For this reason, many emigrate to the U.S inorder to further their career, or simply to find a job that may be scarce in China Inparticular, individuals travel to the U.S to find jobs in the technology andengineering fields Tying into the economic reasons for immigration, many of theseskilled workers find that wages in the U.S are higher, which allows them to savemoney and better provide for themselves and their families (Mark Orwell, 2000)

White Americans are people of the United States who are considered orconsider themselves White The United States Census Bureau defines White people

as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East,

or North Africa It includes people who reported “White” or wrote in entries such asIrish, Polish, German, Swedish, Italian, Dutch, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Czech,Latvian, Greek, Near Easterner, or Arab Like all official U.S racial categories,

"White" has a "Not Hispanic or Latino" and a "Hispanic or Latino" component, thelatter consisting mostly of White Mexican Americans and white Cuban Americans.The term "Caucasian" is often used interchangeably with "White", although theterms are technically not synonymous (Census Bureau)

German Americans (16.5%), Irish Americans (11.9%), English Americans(9.0%), Italian Americans (5.8%), French Americans (4%), Polish Americans (3%),Scottish Americans (1.9%), Dutch Americans (1.6%), Norwegian Americans(1.5%), and Swedish Americans (1.4%) constitute the ten largest White Americanancestries (United States Census Bureau, 2010) Whites constitute the majority,with a total of 223,553,265 or 72.4% of the population in the 2010 United StatesCensus

2.2 Overview of childrearing practices and childrearing methods

There are many classic studies which identified various categories ofchildrearing One classic study that helped set the stage for the study ofchildrearing practices was conducted by Baldwin (1948) who based his research

on observations at a school nursery and home visits He used behavioral ratingscales which included factors such as affectionateness, nonconformity,impatience, disobedience, curiosity, competitiveness, quarrelsomeness, andleadership Through relationships of these factors, he was able to identify twomajor childrearing dimensions: control and democracy Control is defined ashaving clear restrictions for a child where occurrences of friction overdiscipline are rare Democracy refers to having open communication with a

child where reasons are offered along with decisions and where mutualagreements occur between parent and child (Baldwin, 1948)

Democracy and control are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they are bestunderstood when they are considered as an interaction When a parent is high

on control, but low on democracy, there is little or no discussion betweenparent and child regarding decisions Since restrictions are made very clearthere is seldom any confusion over the expectations of a child The questioning

of parental authority is not tolerated and high levels of conformity are required.According to Baldwin, children of parents high on control and low ondemocracy are conforming, obedient, quiet, and well-behaved They aretypically not quarrelsome, and determined

In comparison, Baldwin's (1948) study suggests that parents who arehigh on democracy and low on control have much verbal contact with theirchildren, which includes explanations for parental actions and discussions tosatisfy the child's curiosity This verbal contact decreases any confusionregarding parental decisions Baldwin describes children of parents high indemocracy and low on control as active, and curious However, these childrenmay also lack discipline, and be crueler than an average child

The combination of low control and low democracy is evident whenparents have few restrictions on their children and communication isinfrequent and casual Parents do not play a leader's role in discussions andthere is generally little interaction between parent and child in the home.Children raised in uncontrolled, undemocratic homes are detached from theirparents, show little affection

Of all the possible combinations of control and democracy, Baldwindescribes high democracy and high control as the optimal situation Theseparents tend not to break on the personal freedom of their children whichallows them a degree of independence They also encourage some conformity

and require their children to be socially responsible This combination results

in a creative child who participates in his or her own socialization

Following on Baldwin's work, Baumrind (1967, 1973, 1977) has doneextensive research on parenting dimensions and styles that have been veryinfluential in the study of childrearing She considered two dimensions ofparental behavior: demandingness and responsiveness which are related toBaldwin's control and democracy, respectively Demandingness refers to theamount of control a parent exerts over a child, as in Baldwin's dimension ofcontrol, and encompasses the expectations that parents have for their children

to excel cognitively, emotionally, and socially A highly demanding parentwill have clear, strict expectations of a child, whereas a less demanding parentwill have fewer expectations of a child Responsiveness is defined as the levels

of acceptance and warmth a parent offers a child, similar to Baldwin'sdemocracy A highly responsive parent will offer a great deal of acceptanceand warmth, and parent-child issues are more child-centered In contrast, alow responsive parent will be more rejecting of the child and show littlewarmth, and parent child issues are considerably more parent-centered(Baumrind, 1967).The parenting dimensions of control/democracy anddemandingness/ responsiveness described by Baldwin and Baumrind arecentral theoretical constructs in current research on parenting strategies, and

in the influence of various parenting styles on child and adolescentdevelopment By comparing different levels of demandingness andresponsiveness, Baumrind and others (e.g., Baldwin, 1948; Baumrind &Black, 1967; Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987) haveconsidered different parenting styles in their research

Baumrind's (1979) childrearing methods were derived by interacting lowand high levels of demandingness and responsiveness, as shown in Table 1.High levels of demandingness and low levels of responsiveness are associatedwith authoritarian parenting, whereas high levels of demandingness and high

levels of responsiveness are related to authoritative parenting Permissiveparenting is denied by low levels of demandingness and high levels ofresponsiveness.

Table 1: Levels of Demandingness and Responsiveness in Baumrind'sParenting Styles

Authoritarian Authoritative Permissive

Source: Baumrind's, 1979

In authoritarian parenting, there is a clear desire for children to be

obedient and respectful of authority; little responsibility is given to the childfor making personal decisions, and they are not often consulted on familydecisions; and there is a clear desire for children to be obedient and respectful

of authority Early studies suggested that the children of authoritarian parentsshowed little independence, were unhappy and socially withdrawn, and wereonly adequate in social responsibility (Baumrind, 1967; Baumrind & Black,1967)

Many studies have supported the child outcomes of authoritarianparenting that Baumrind found in her research Studies have suggested thatchildren of parents high in control and low in democracy, authoritarian parents,were obedient and conforming (Baldwin, 1948; Lamborn et al., 1991);aggressive (Maccoby & Martin, 1983); lacked curiosity, persistence, andoriginality; and were not quarrelsome, resistant, or very independent (Baldwin,1948) Academically, children of authoritarian parents do not score as high aschildren of authoritative parents (Donbusch et al., 1987) Authoritarianparenting can also affect moral development which is evidenced throughstudies by Hoffman (1970) and Salzstein (1976), which suggest that childrenwho have an external moral orientation are more likely to have authoritarianparents This parenting style is also related to low self-esteem, poor self-

concept, and external locus of control (Coopersmith, 1967; Lamborn et al.,1991).

As Table 1 shows, permissive parenting is characterized as theopposite of authoritarian; that is, low in demandingness and high inresponsiveness Permissive parents appeal to a child's sense of reasoningrather than using authority, status, physical strengths, or rewards andpunishments to control their children They are rarelydemanding of their children, but are warm and accepting of their children'simpulses, desires, and actions Children of permissive parents may lackindependence, responsibility, and impulse control and at the same time beaggressive (Baumrind, 1967; Baumrind & Black, 1967; Maccoby & Martin,1983) In addition, permissive parents do not have high expectations whichresults in poorer academic achievement (Dornbusch et al., 1987; Maccoby &Martin, 1983)

Authoritative parenting is high in both demandingness andresponsiveness (see Table 1) Parents use firm control, encourage rationaldiscussions and independence, expect responsibility, and respect the rights

of their children Authoritative parents set standards but explain theirdecisions in establishing expectations They are also accepting of andaffectionate with their children Many studies have linked authoritativeparenting with positive child outcomes such as: high self-esteem(Coopersmith, 1967); high levels of social responsibility, self-assertion, andindependence (Baumrind, 1967, Baumrind & Black, 1967; Maccoby &Martin, 1983); and high academic grades for adolescents (Dornbusch et al.,1987)

The importance of considering various aspects of parental behavior iscentral to most theories that have been influential in the study of parenting.The studies by both Baumrind and Baldwin reviewed here stress that highcontrol and/or demandingness are essential in order to insure positive

outcomes of parenting for children Both theorists suggest thatcontrol/demandingess alone do not result in positive outcomes, but must beaccompanied with high level of democracy/responsiveness The degree towhich parents employ these two dimensions in their childrearing attitudesdepends on many factors including culture, and generation

CHAPTER 3 DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS ON CHILD-REARING METHODS OF CHINESE AMERICAN AND WHITE AMERICAN PARENTS IN THE

USA IN THE 21 ST CENTURY.

3.1 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of White-American parents

For White American parents, the parenting style most related to

psychological well-being for adolescents is called authoritative parenting

(Chao, 2001)

The authoritative approach to childrearing of White American parentsbalances the dimensions of responsive and demandingness/control Parentsare characterized by the provision of ongoing warmth and support, especiallyduring times of uncertainty and stress, and yet their emotional care is notdevoid of the application of helpful guidelines, limits, and the structuring of apredictable routine White American parents do use disciplinary measures, butthese tend to be moderate in nature, proportionate to the offense, anddelivered calmly and with an eye towards restorative justice and the modeling

of relationship repair When appropriate, authoritative parents provide theirchildren with a rationale as to why their behaviours were inappropriate In thismanner, they facilitate the internalization of social norms and moral codes sothat their children can eventually socialize themselves in this regard, much asthey will be required to do as adult members of society (Kochanska & Aksan,2006)

Although authoritative parents are characterized by the consistent way

in which they balance the two dimensions of parenting, it is important to notethat they vary in the application of these elements as their child changes anddevelops During the first two years of life, research suggests that theresponsiveness dimension is critical (Sroufe, 2005) “Caregivers must attunethemselves to the physiological and safety needs of their infants Correctreading of their child’s signals is especially important in this regard as the

provision of sensitive care hinges first upon the specificity andappropriateness of the support offered As episodes of successful signallingand care accumulate, the infant comes to trust the parent and to anticipateongoing need fulfilment in the infant-parent relationship This processunderlies the formation of a secure emotional attachment, the criticalmilestone of this developmental period In addition, an emerging line ofevidence suggests that the child’s current care environment is just asimportant as parental consistency, if not more so A positive, nurturingchildcare environment contributes positively to children’s socioemotionaldevelopment, especially for individuals who may be genetically more reactive

to environmental change” (Belsky & Pasco-Fearon, 2009)

It is also important to note that no two authoritative parents will lookalike, as they need to bend towards the specific developmental needs of theirchild The notion of goodness-of-fit between the parent and child lies at thecore of current scholarly thinking about child development Considerableresearch into the way in which parents and children mutually influence eachother has been done with regard to infant temperament, or simply stated, therelatively stable tendencies and preferences that an individual is born with(e.g., activity level, tolerance for change, sociability, inhibition, ease ofsoothing, fussiness); (Lahey et al., 2008) Parenting approaches that workwith easygoing infants and children may not be appropriate with moretemperamentally difficult youngsters, even though skilled parents are able torespond to the cues of their child by adapting the quality of their emotionalresponding

Previous research findings demonstrate that an authoritative parentingstyle of White American parents produces a number of positivedevelopmental outcomes in adolescents An authoritative parenting style thatincludes parental monitoring and supervision promotes teen’s exposure to

risky behaviors (Belsky & Pasco-Fearon, 2009) A warm but firm approach toparenting allows teens to be independent within developmentally appropriateparental limits and boundaries.

3.2 Viewpoints on child-rearing methods of Chinese American parents

“Chinese Americans are overrepresented in many of the nation's eliteuniversities" say Yong Zhao and Wei Qiu The kids get higher SAT mathscores, and are disproportionately represented among U.S National MeritScholars (Zhao and Qiu, 2009) Why is this case? Contrary to popular belief,it’s not because Chinese people enjoy an innate advantage in IQ When JamesFlynn analyzed past studies of achievement and IQ, he found that Chineseattainments could be better explained by environmental factors (Flynn, 1991)

So what’s the secret? Yale law professor Amy Chua says it’s about parenting.Traditional Chinese parenting has been labeled as “authoritarian” by someresearchers (Chao, 1994, 2000; Dornbusch et al., 1987; Lin & Fu, 1990;Steinberg, et al., 1992) Authoritarian parenting is a style of child-rearing thatemphasizes high standards and a tendency to control kids through shaming,the withdrawal of love, or other punishments This is distinguished fromauthoritative parenting, which also emphasizes high standards, but isaccompanied by high levels of parental warmth and a commitment to reasonwith children Chinese mothers raise more accomplished, academicallysuccessful kids because they are more demanding and stricter than Westernmothers are Effort and the belief that effort pays off is a key ingredient toChinese success Chua herself makes this point in the Wall Street Journal Shedoes not let her kids believe they cannot succeed So here is an overview ofChua’s controversial claims:

Amy Chua is the daughter of Chinese immigrants to the United States.Her parents, she says, were “extremely strict but extremely loving.” She tried

to raise her kids the same way Chua provides some specific examples For

instance, Chua says she never allowed her kids to have a play date, watch TV,participate in a school play, or choose their own extra-curricular activities.The kids were also not allowed to “get any grade less than an A” or “not bethe No 1 student in every subject except gym and drama.”

When her 7-year-old daughter failed to master a new piece on thepiano, Chua drove her relentlessly “I threatened her with no lunch, no dinner,

no Christmas or Hanukkah presents,” Chua writes, “no birthday parties fortwo, three, four years When she still kept playing it wrong, I told her she waspurposely working herself into frenzy because she was secretly afraid shecouldn't do it I told her to stop being lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent andpathetic.” Chua made her daughter work into the night, denying her even abreak to go to the bathroom “The house became a war zone, and I lost myvoice yelling, but still there seemed to be only negative progress, and even Ibegan to have doubts Then, at last, the girl made a breakthrough Shemastered the piece, and wanted to play it again and again And the emotionalstrife had lifted That night, the girl crawled into her mother’s bed, and theysnuggled and hugged, cracking each other up.” To many people, this story isdisturbing Chua’s approach seems harsh and unhelpful But Chua got theresults And, Chua notes, the point is this: Unlike many Western parents whowould have backed down, be convinced that the child just wasn’t ready orable to master the new piano piece, Chua believed that her child could do it.But she wasn’t going to learn the piece without intense effort, and that effortwasn’t going to happen unless the child was pushed

Chua’s claims have caused a stir Are the parenting tactics shedescribes truly effective? And if these tactics work, do they work at a cost tothe kids? Here is what the research says

Firstly, researchers like Ruth Chao argue that the authoritarian labeldoes not quite map onto the strict, controlling parenting style of many

distant But strict Chinese parents enjoy a sense of closeness with their kids.And the kids may interpret their parents’ coercive tactics as evidence that theyare loved This, says Chao, is why some studies have failed to show a linkbetween poor outcomes and authoritarian parenting among Chineseimmigrants Unlike children in Western authoritarian families children whofeel alienated by their parents the Chinese-American kids feel connected(Chao 1994; Chao 2001).

Secondly, traditional Chinese parenting has one clear advantage overcontemporary Western parenting: Chinese parents, like many other Asianparents, are more likely to emphasize effort over innate talent Manyresearchers show that people learn more when they believe that effort, notinnate intelligence, is the key to achievement (Chao 1994; Chao 200, Elliott&Bempechat, 2002) And other research suggests that Westerners are morelikely to assume that a child fails because he lacks innate ability (Stevensonand Lee 1990)

Thirdly, Chinese-American kids tend to have peer groups that supportachievement Studies of adolescents in the United States suggest that somekids pay a “nerd penalty” for studying hard When these kids perform well atschool, they get rejected by their peers Chinese-Americans are less likely toface this choice between scholastic success and social success LawrenceSteinberg and his colleagues (1992) wonder if “pro-achievement” peerpressure protects Chinese kids from some of the negative effects ofauthoritarian parenting

Finally, according to many theories about parenting practices, ChineseAmericans are expected to have lower academic achievement than EuropeanAmericans because Chinese Americans are considered or self-reported to bemore authoritarian parenting However, contrary to the parenting theory, it isnoteworthy that Chinese-American students perform better in school thanEuropean-American students on a whole (Chao, 1994) She argues that

Baumrind's parenting styles would not adequately explain Chinese-Americanschool success In her later work, she confirmed that European-Americanstudents from authoritative families had significantly higher school gradesthan their counterparts from authoritarian families; while for Chinese-Americans, students from authoritative and authoritarian families did notsignificantly differ on school grades Meanwhile, her study shows that theauthoritative parenting style was no better than the authoritarian parentingstyle for predicting the school performance of Chinese-American students(Chao, 2001) Similar research (Park & Bauer, 2002) also found that therelationship between authoritarian style and student academic achievement issupported only for the majority group, i.e., European Americans Thesefindings suggest that it is not accurate to extend the dominant principles ofparenting and achievement to Chinese Americans, which confirmedDornbusch’s conclusion (1987) that "Asian children in our public schoolscannot be adequately explained in terms of the parenting styles we havestudied" Since Baumrind's conceptualization of parental authoritarianismfails to capture the essence of the authoritarian behaviors of Chinese-American parents, Chao (1994, 2001) proposed and described anotherparenting style for Chinese Americans labeled "training" as an alternative.Training means teaching or educating in Chinese Traditionally, Chineseparents, whether abroad or at home, are expected and /or supposed to teach oreducate their children in the appropriate or expected behaviors They areresponsible to teach, discipline, or "govern" their children Schoolperformance is a highly valued goal for Chinese-American parents; andefficacy in parenting is often judged by how well their children do at school(Chao, 2001) According to Chao's description, training emphasizesobedience and a set standard of conduct, and the importance of parentalcontrol in instilling the need to work hard, gain self-discipline, and do well in

features with the training style (i.e., emphasis on obedience and control) andmay overlap in some extend This may explain why Chinese-Americanparents are considered more authoritarian in parenting Chao's studies suggestthat because Chinese-American parents typically emphasize educationalattainment and set high standards for their children, their controlling behaviorand emphasis on obedience from their children should help to propel theirchildren toward educational success.

CHAPTER 4 FACTORS AFFECT VIEWPOINTS ON CHILD-REARING

METHODS OF CHINESE AMERICAN AND WHITE AMERICAN

PARENTS

There are two major factors affect viewpoints on child-rearing methods

of Chinese American and White American parents, namely culture, andParental Expectations and Beliefs, are considered in this research There may

be other factors influencing on their parenting viewpoints such associoeconomic status or parental education However, in the scope of thegraduation paper, they cannot be covered

4.1 Factors affect Child-rearing methods of White-American parents.

Second, White-American values are individually oriented as opposed tothe group oriented values favored by Chinese Americans According toresearchers, the primary cultural difference between White-Americans andChinese culture is the concept of independence versus interdependence WhileWhite-American society embraces independence and emphasizes self-expression, personal uniqueness, and self-sufficiency, Chinese societyemphasizes interdependence, group solidarity, social hierarchy, and personalhumility (Wang & Leichtman, 2000) Teenagers are at the stage in their liveswhere they want to break free from parental control and assert their ownindependence Studies have shown that this assertion of independence can

Leichtman, 2000) This effect may be seen more in the cultural demands ofChinese-American parents White-American parents encourage their children

to be physically and emotionally separated from them and parents valueindividual development in their children (Jung, 1984; Steinberg & Silverberg,1986) For example, children are encouraged to utilize self-help skills at ayoung age rather than learning to depend on a member of the family (Jung,1984), which would be more appropriate in Chinese families

4.1.2 Parental Expectations and Beliefs

Across many cultures, it has been demonstrated that parents'expectations have a positive correlation to parenting styles (Chen & Lan1998) Parents' expectations have a powerful influence on children's schoolperformance: "It is dear that high achieving children tend to come fromfamilies who have high expectations for them, and who consequently arelikely to 'set standards' and to make greater demands at an earlier age"(Boocock, 1972, p 60) Usui, Lei, and Butter (1981) found that the brighter achild is perceived to be, the higher the educational expectations the parentshave Henderson (1988) also confirmed that the powerful influence of parent'sexpectations on children's academic achievement exists across all social,economic, and ethnic backgrounds Chen and Lan (1998) stated that if theparents expect them to do well, and have communicated this expectation from

an early age, then it is likely that their children will perform well in school

Most White-American parents believe that innate ability is animportant factor for the success of the children in school They believe thattheir child’s success is based on their ability and not their effort, causing themnot to spend money on things providing extra help for their children (Elliott&Bempechat, 2002) Because parental attitudes have a very strong influence onstudents attitudes, this attitude can cause the students not to study as much asthey would if they thought their effort had a lesser role in their success JDHouse found in his research that student’s beliefs have a direct correlationwith their actual achievement in the class (House) Because parents believe