Mothers' self-reported emotional expression in Mainland Chinese, Chinese American and European American families

Abstract

This study compared Mainland Chinese, Chinese American and European American mothers' self-reported emotional expression within the family. Mothers of 3-year-old European American ( n = 40), Chinese American ( n = 39) and Mainland Chinese ( n = 36) children ( n = 20 girls per group) completed the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire (SEFQ), a measure that includes 40 items describing the expression of positive and negative emotion (20 items each). Respondents indicate how frequently they engage in each expressive practice. Mothers also completed a questionnaire regarding family ecology variables. European American mothers reported significantly more positive emotional expression than Mainland Chinese mothers, although no significant differences were found for expression of negative emotion. While family ecology differed across groups, these variables were not related to the emotional expression scores. No child-gender differences were obtained. Results of this study confirm the presence of cultural differences in mothers' emotional expressivity.

Paternal Family Expressiveness as a Mediator Between Father's Dispositional Optimism and Child's Dispositional Optimism

“…As with past research demonstrating that mothers' expressiveness within the family did not differ based on child gender (Camras et al, 2008;Valiente et al, 2008), the same appears to be true for fathers' expressiveness. These findings were bolstered by the use of multiple informants that included fathers and children.…”

“…Or a biologically Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 16:34 04 November 2014 Yu & Ko 681 based sex difference in children may evoke differential responses from fathers. Whatever the underlying mechanism may be, little evidence has been forthcoming linking child gender and paternal expressiveness, although there is some evidence that maternal expressiveness within the family does not differ for sons and daughters (Camras, Kolmodin, & Chen, 2008;Valiente et al, 2008). Similarly, no research has examined whether child gender moderates the relationship between father's and child's dispositional optimism.…”

Parental Expressivity and Parenting Styles in Chinese Families: Prospective and Unique Relations to Children's Psychological Adjustment

“…Cross-cultural researchers have suggested that Eastern and Western cultures differ in values towards emotion expression (e.g., Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Safdar et al, 2009). Consistent with this view, some cultural differences have been found in the mean levels of parents’ emotional expressivity in the family (e.g., Camras, Chen, Bakeman, Norris & Cain, 2006; Camras, Kolmodin, & Chen, 2008). Despite these differences, it remains unclear whether relations between parental expressivity and child adjustment differ across cultures.…”

When employees fail in Chinese enterprises: attribution, responsibility, and constructive criticism

“…For example, Chinese parents often use criticism and shame as a tool to teach children, express love to children, and/or socialize proper behavior (Ho and Kang 1984;Lin and Fu 1990;Chao 1994;Miller, Wiley, Fung and Liang 1997;Wang 2001;Wang and Fivush 2005). On the contrary, American parents tend to favour positive affective expressions and encouragement as tools for socialization (Camras, Chen, Bakeman, Norris and Cain 2005;Camras, Kolmodin and Chen 2008). Criticism, especially constructive criticism, appears to be an important socializing and correcting tool for the Chinese, who perceive criticism with more positive and pro-social connotations than is often perceived in the West (Chao 1994).…”