Cultural predictors of the parenting cognitions of immigrant Chinese mothers and fathers in Canada

Abstract

This study explored the predictors of parenting cognitions among 94 married immigrant Chinese couples with early-adolescent children in Canada. Mothers and fathers separately completed questionnaires assessing their culturally based parenting cognitions (interdependent childrearing goals, family obligation expectations and Chinese parent role beliefs), Chinese cultural values and exposure to Canadian culture. The parenting cognitions of mothers and fathers were quite similar. Stronger endorsement of Chinese cultural values by fathers was significantly related to stronger endorsement of culturally based parenting cognitions. The same relations were found for mothers, except in contexts where mothers participated highly in Canadian culture. For all parents, the extent of exposure to Canadian culture was not directly related to parenting cognitions. The results highlight how parenting is embedded in a cultural context and suggest that parents' ideas about childrearing may change after immigration only when core cultural values are modified.