Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the general nature of attributions of
Chinese parents in the U.S. regarding their preschool children's social behaviors. Eighty-seven
parents with preschool children participated. The attributions were examined along
three causal dimensions: locus of causality (internal versus external), stability (stable
versus unstable), and controllability (controllable versus uncontrollable). The types of
child social behaviors studied were positive social behaviors, aggression, and withdrawal.
The study looked at the contributions of child age, child gender, parent gender, and parent
adaptation to life in the U.S. to parental attributions. It also investigated whether different
types of child social behaviors (i.e., positive, aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors)
elicited different types of attributions from parents.
Results indicated that older children's social behaviors elicited similar attributions
from Chinese parents as younger children's. Chinese parents saw girls' withdrawn
behaviors as more internally caused and controllable, but not more stable, than boys'
withdrawn behaviors. However, no difference was found between boys' and girls'
aggressive or positive social behaviors.
Chinese parents saw their children's positive social behaviors as more internally caused, stable and controllable than their children's negative social (aggressive and withdrawn) behaviors. In addition, Chinese parents saw their children's withdrawn behaviors as more internally caused, but not more stable or controllable, than their children's aggressive behaviors.
Fathers and mothers were not significantly different in their attributions for their children's social behaviors. No parent gender effect was found. Chinese parents who were more adapted to life in the U.S. saw their children's positive social behaviors as more stable and controllable by their children, but not more internal, than Chinese parents less adapted. In addition, these more highly adapted Chinese parents saw their children's aggressive behaviors as more unstable and uncontrollable by their children, but not more external, than Chinese parents less adapted. Furthermore, more highly adapted Chinese parents saw their children's withdrawn behaviors as more externally caused and less controllable, but not more unstable, than Chinese parents less adapted.
