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Maternal rejection may be associated with individual child characteristics. This relationship may vary across cultures. This study aimed to identify group differences in maternal rejection as well as child characteristics. We also explored the moderating role of culture in influencing the relations between child characteristics and maternal rejection. In total, 153 mothers with a child aged 3 to 6 years participated in the survey. Participants were from the East Coast of the United States ( N = 48); Seoul, Korea ( N = 65); and Japan (Tokyo and Saitama) ( N = 40). American mothers perceived their children to be more active and extroverted than did Korean mothers, who perceived their children to be better at controlling their behavior than American and Japanese mothers. American mothers reported significantly higher levels of their children’s behavior problems than Korean and Japanese mothers. It was observed that culture moderated the relations between child factors (e.g., effortful control and internalizing problems) and maternal rejection. These findings suggest that culture influences the association between child characteristics (temperament and behavior) and maternal rejection.

Expressive flexibility is the ability to express or suppress one's emotions to meet the demands of the situation. Recent work suggests that expressive flexibility is associated with better adjustment. However, few studies have focused on expressive flexibility in children. In addition, there is a dearth of research on possible correlates, such as culture, parental emotion socialization, and socioeconomic status, that may be associated with expressive flexibility competencies in children. The purpose of this study was to investigate cultural differences in children's expressive flexibility, maternal emotion control values (ECVs), and their relations to family socioeconomic status (SES) during middle childhood in a sample of European American (N = 31, M age = 9.61 years; 54.8% males), Korean American (N = 38, M age = 9.16 years; 55.3% males) and South Korean children (N = 77, M age = 9.74 years; 51.9% males). Mothers reported on demographics and their emotion control values. Children's expressive flexibility ability was assessed using a lab-based observational measure. Multivariate analyses of covariance controlling for SES, child age, and gender suggested significant cultural differences in expressive flexibility, with the U.S. children (both European and Korean Americans) scoring higher on expressive flexibility compared to their South Korean counterparts. Results also suggested significant cultural differences regarding maternal ECVs; Korean Americans were more similar to South Koreans, both scoring

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