Understanding Chinese Immigrant and European American Mothers' Expressions of Warmth
Understanding Chinese Immigrant and European American Mothers' Expressions of Warmth
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DOI：
10.1037/a0039855
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发表时间：
2015-12-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Leung, Christy Y. Y.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cheah, Charissa S. L.;Li, Jin;Leung, Christy Y. Y.
在西方文化中，母亲的温暖，即母亲和孩子之间情感纽带的质量，一直被发现与孩子的积极发展结果有关。然而，研究人员对母性温暖的文化含义的潜在差异存在争议，特别是在中国和欧美家庭之间。为了解决在这一问题上缺乏实证研究的问题，本研究通过对70名中国移民和70名欧美学龄前儿童母亲的开放式访谈，考察了文化衍生的母亲温暖的感知和实践。具体来说，我们比较了两种文化群体中母亲对孩子表达温暖的感知重要性和程度，以及她们为什么和如何向孩子表达温暖。结果显示，尽管母亲们认为表达温暖同样重要，但欧美母亲认为对孩子表达更多的温暖。此外，在为什么这两组母亲认为表达温暖很重要以及她们使用的具体做法上，我们发现了文化上的异同。中国移民母亲的反应被解释为反映了文化对养育和工具支持的强调，而欧美母亲的反应反映了西方文化对更直接和外在的温暖表现的关注。
Maternal warmth, the quality of the affectional bond between mothers and their children, has been found to be consistently associated with children's positive developmental outcomes in Western cultures. However, researchers debate the potential differences in the cultural meanings of maternal warmth, particularly between Chinese and European American families. To address the lack of empirical research on this issue, the present study examined culturally derived perceptions and practices of maternal warmth through open-ended interviews with 70 Chinese immigrant and 70 European American mothers of preschoolers. Specifically, we compared mothers' perceived importance and degree of expression of warmth toward their children, and why and how they express warmth toward their children in the 2 cultural groups. Results showed that, although mothers perceived expressing warmth to be similarly important, European American mothers perceived expressing more warmth toward their children. Moreover, both cultural similarities and differences were found in why these 2 groups of mothers believed it was important to express warmth and the specific practices they used. Chinese immigrant mothers' responses were interpreted as reflecting a cultural emphasis on nurturance and instrumental support, whereas European American mothers' responses reflected the Western cultural focus on more direct and outward demonstrations of warmth.