Parent-Child Interactions in France, Germany, and Italy

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that mothers and fathers interact differently with their children and these interactions have important consequences for children's social development. The present study examines gender differences in parent-child interactions and the similarity of these patterns in France, Germany, and Italy. Samples in these countries were used because within Western societies they represent differing cultural expectations concerning the behavior of men and women. Parent-child dyads interacting on playgrounds were observed for affection, play, vocalization, showing and sharing, aggression, discipline, caregiving, soothing, and controlling behaviors. Gender and country differences were found. French and Italian fathers engaged in more play than mothers, but the opposite was found in Germany. French children showed and shared more than did the other children. Overall, French and Italian parents and children were more interactive than were German dyads. Although gender generally influences parent and child behaviors, culture modifies the way that these differences are displayed.

Analyzing Words in Brief Descriptions: Fathers and Mothers Describe Their Children

“…On many measures, men and women, boys and girls show substantial overlap in behavioral tendencies. Although mean or modal differences often are relatively small, specific measures (in our case, emphasis on different concerns in describing teens) are quite constant and are found cross culturally (Best et al 1994).…”

Fathers’ influences on children’s development: The evidence from two-parent families

“…The 'preference' for physical play over care taking occurs even when men profess a belief that parents should share child-care responsibilities (Hyde & Texidor, 1988). In addition, differences between maternal and paternal styles have been found in France, Switzerland, and Italy (Best, House, Barnard, & Spicker, 1994;Frascarolo-Moutinot, 1994;Labrell, 1996), in India, regardless of whether or not mothers are employed (Roopnarine, Talukder, Jain, Joshi, & Srivastav, 1992), and in African-American (Hossain, Field, Pickens, Malphurs, & Del Valle, 1997;Hossain & Roopnarine, 1994) and Hispanic-American households (Hossain et al, 1997).…”

“…Aka (hunter gatherer) (Hewlett, 1987), German (Best et al, 1994) and Swedish (Lamb, Frodi, Frodi, & Hwang, 1982), fathers are not notably more playful than mothers. Indeed Taiwanese fathers report that they seldom play with their children (Sun & Roopnarine, 1996), and men on Israeli kibbutzim do not play with their 8-and 16-month-olds more than mothers do, despite the traditional division of parental responsibilities (Sagi, Lamb, Shoham, Dvir, & Lewkowicz, 1985).…”

French parents’ cultural models and childrearing beliefs

“…In this domain, studies of French parenting are somewhat inconclusive. On the one hand, French mothers have reported being very concerned with the affective needs and psychoaffective developmen t of their children (Gueniou, T anguy, & Sabatier, 1993 ) and with openly displaying affection to their children (Best, House, Barnard, & Spicker, 1994 ;Bornstein et al, 1992). Yet in the realm of holding and carrying infants.…”