Monday, January 31, 2011

Annotated Sources

Annotated Sources


1)      Kelley, M.L., & Tseng, H.M. (1992). Cultural differences in child rearing : a comparison of immigrant chinese and caucasian american mothers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 23(4), Retrieved from http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/23/4/444.full.pdf+html doi: 10.1177/0022022192234002

-          This study looked at the difference of prominent parent traits (such as nurturing, sensitivity, etc) between middle-class Chinese immigrant mothers and middle-class Caucasian American mothers.
It was conducted using an inventory and a questionnaire, and showed that Chinese mothers tend to score high on sensitivity and compassion while the child is young and before they are believed to “reach the age of understanding,” after which, a heavy emphasis of politeness and importance of education is expressed to the child, and is incorporated in parenting accordingly. This has to do with my project because I understand that Tibetans also believe that children reach an age of understanding and that’s when they begin to hold them more accountable for their actions. I hypothesize that there is a change in parenting approaches at this time in the child’s life.


2)      Bornstein, M.H. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, (1991). Parenting in cross-cultural perspective: the united states, france, and japan Bethesda, MD: Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov:80/PDFS/ED405944.pdf

-          This study is a great example of observational research done in the natural setting in the home in the native land of the families (specifically mother and infant) studied. They code interactions and responses between mother and infant and compare them cross-culturally, specifically in areas such as nurturing, comforting, playfulness, etc. This is relevant to my project because it is possible that I will be doing observational research. Also, it shows that different guardians parent in different ways according to their beliefs and culture.

3)      Maiden, A.H., & Farwell, E. (1997). The Tibetan art of parenting: from before conception to early childhood. Somerville, Massachusetts, USA: Wisdom Publications.

-          This book touches on the culture and beliefs of Tibetan parents and how they are incorporating into child rearing in Tibetan homes. It is very directly applicable because it is specifically about Tibetan parenting, exactly what I will be studying.

4)      Leong, K., Lau, S., & Lam, W.L. (1998). Parenting styles and academic achievement: a cross-cultural study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 44. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=2373BDFAAF5054DE5DA0314982256F75.inst1_1b?docId=5001414040

-          This study touches on academic achievement based on different parenting styles observed in Hong Kong, the United States, and in Australia. It showed that Australians had lower levels of academic Authoritarianism than both Chinese and American parents. It also showed that academic achievement in the student was positively affected by Chinese Authoritarianism, but negatively affected by American and Australian Authoritarianism. Instead, in the two English speaking cultures, academic Authoritativeness had a positive effect on the student’s academic achievement. This is related to my project because I will be exploring the effects of these parenting styles, and, according to this, I may not find the same outcomes cross-culturally.

5)      Chen, X., Liu, M., & Li, D. (2000). Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in chinese children: a longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology, 14(3), Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0893-3200.14.3.401

-          This study sampled Chinese children 12 years old over two years. Data on parental warmth, control, and indulgence were collected from children's self-reports. It was found that maternal warmth had significant contributions to the outcome of the child’s emotional adjustment, whereas the paternal warmth had significant contributions to the later social and school achievement. This is applicable to my project because I am interested in finding differences between the parenting styles of the mothers and fathers in Tibetan families, and perhaps how they differently affect the child.

6)      Sidebotham, P. (2008). Culture, stress and the parent–child relationship: a qualitative study of parents’ perceptions of parenting. Child: Care, Health and Development, 27(6), Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2214.2001.00229.x/full doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2214.2001.00229.x

-          This study was a qualitative research project using interviews with parents “to explore parental understanding of the culture in which today’s children are growing up, the influences of that culture on their parenting and the potential impact on their child.” It found that our culture puts specific stresses on parents in particular and not necessarily families and children. It emphasized that a large amount of pressure was put on time-pressures, expectations of having children active and successful, and also pressures of financial stability. This is applicable to my project because I want to see what kinds of stress have been put on Tibetan families, and how the parents are adapting to these stressors.

7)      Chao, R. (2008). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: understanding chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65(4), Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00806.x/abstract doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00806.x

-          This study specifically focused on the stereotype that Chinese parents are Authoritarian. It also addresses the question of why Authoritarian parenting causes poor performance in school in most cultures, but academic achievement is found largely in China. “This study suggests that the concepts of authoritative and authoritarian are somewhat ethnocentric and do not capture the important features of Chinese child rearing, especially for explaining their school success.” This is applicable to my project because I may still examine the type of parenting styles in Tibetan families according to Baumrind’s theory (Authoritative, Authoritarian, etc) and perhaps the outcomes Baumrind suggests aren’t applicable to this specific culture, as they found that they weren’t in Chinese culture.

8)      Bornstein, M.H., & Wright, B. (1998). A cross-national study of self-evaluations and attributions in parenting: argentina, belgium, france, israel, italy, japan, and the united states. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WYC-46P4JS4-2H&_user=456938&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F1998&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1625991868&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000021830&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=456938&md5=3dbc4f5c4c98011b028101aa353c5d69&searchtype=a

-          This study investigated and compared ideas of parenting in Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the US. Few cross-cultural similarities were found, instead there were varying degrees of satisfaction and competence in parenting. This relates to my project because I will be studying Tibetan families and trying to find similarities and differences between cultures.

9)      Barber, B.K., Stolz, H.E., Olsen, J.A., Collins, W.A., & Burchinal, M. (2005). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioral control : ( assessing relevance across time, culture, and method ). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 70. Retrieved from http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17682321

-          This study measured support, psychological control, and behavioral oral control in parents, and how these items affected this children’s psychological well-being. It was found that support was associated with higher rates of sociability, lower rates of depression, while the opposite was found in relation to psychological control. The study was repeated in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and South America. The same findings were reported, suggesting the validity of the measure. This is applicable to my project because I am interested in whether or not these types of findings are still applicable in Tibetan families.


-          This study explores the relationship between maternal parenting attitudes and children's understanding of mind through a comparison of Korean American and Anglo-American families.”  It was found, similarly to other articles I have found, that Korean mothers were more Authoritarian and this had a positive effect on their children, whereas when Anglo-American mothers are Authoritarian, there is a negative effect on their children. This relates to my project because I am interested in whether or not the same effects are present in different parenting types cross-culturally between American and Tibetan families.

11)  Fisher, J.F. (1978). Himilayan anthropology. Great Britain: Mouton Publishers.

-          This book addresses how Tibetan refugees live in their areas of exile, specifically North and South India and Nepal. It specifically talks about how they strive to preserve their language and culture, and how, though they haven’t been studied as thoroughly as other cultures, there are many ethnographic studies that are beginning to be conducted on this population. It states that these people are adapted to rough and difficult lives, and have developed exchange systems and economy that has helped them because of this. This applies to my project because it studies the lives of Tibetan people and how they have adapted to their unique situation. I want to study how their parenting methods have adapted because of this same unique situation.


-          Providing culturally sensitive definitions of child abuse is difficult as perceptions of what constitutes abuse can vary around the world.” This study examines what some cultures consider abuse and how it affects children. This is applicable to my project because I, as an American, have a different perspective and therefore a different definition of abuse than Tibetan families probably do. My Tibetan teacher, T.J.la, told us that there was a lot of hitting in his schools, and that parents also hit sometimes too. He told us that this isn’t unusual there and that we as Americans view it as unusual here. I will be studying Tibetan families and will most likely witness what I may consider abuse in my knowledge of it, though it’s just a cultural or social norm in the community there.

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Books I'm Reading

  • My Spiritual Journey by H.H. the Dalai Lama
  • Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin