Authoritarian Parenting Styles

In their article, Eva Pomerantz and QianWang discuss the contrast between West and East Asian cultures while both exhibit authoritarian parenting styles. “Western and East Asian countries have distinct cultures that shape the effects of parental control on children’s development leading the effects to be less negative in East Asian contexts” (Pomerantz & Wang, 2009). Western culture emphasizes its autonomy whereas Eastern culture emphasizes co-dependence. Although both cultures seek psychological control over their children, each culture interprets it differently. According to Pomerantz and Wang, in East Asian culture, there are less negative effects in a collectivist nature (2009). In other words, when parents control their children’s personal decisions and issues, there are no negative effects because the child seizes the opportunity to synchronize with their parents by taking their decisions as their own. As a part of good parenting, their ultimate goal of control is to support their children, which East Asian

children do not see as experiencing rejection. Western children, however, view their parents as violating their autonomy when it comes to parental control.
In class, we discussed that parents who practice this authoritarian style expect their children to be unquestionably obedient and also believe their children need to be controlled.

In addition, the relationship is controlling and there is only one direction of communication – i.e. communication is only being directed from the parent to the child.
Now in reference to Hofstede, the West is more individualistic whereas the East is more collectivistic. This plays a role in how children of a culture interpret their parents’ controlling nature. The West sees it as a violation of their autonomy, where the culture breeds individuals to be independent and self-reliant. The East views parental control as an expression of love and support. Furthermore, collectivism explains why East Asian children see control in this way – the interconnectedness between people plays an important role in a person’s identity and it is important for group members to support each

other.
The second article, by Ross Thompson, discusses the importance of ecology to a child’s development. A child’s interactions with parents, teachers, etc. change, as do these mentors, in addition to the social contexts and the sociocultural system. This can also be a measure of globalization. For example, children must master different “knowledge, skills, and learning” according to their culture’s changes to society. These changes indicate a culture’s evolving perception of knowledge and skills in order to keep up with cultural and economic transitions. In addition, the developmental ecological systems theory states that children are “embedded in successively broader social ecologies that are mutually influential” (Thompson, 2012). For example, Thompson referred to a study done by Conger, Conger, and Martin (2010). They connected that, in the 19802 Midwest, children’s socioemotional function was affected by the agricultural downturn and the transition in family economic stability.
As discussed in class, Thompsons’s article elaborates on the role and importance of different and whole ecologies similar to Bronfenbrenner’s several ecologies, all of which function within a chronosystem. A child’s psychological development also comes from his or her specific knowledge and tools that come from toolkits provided by the surrounding ecology, as well as from a child’s interaction with others (i.e. those cultural members who are older and more experienced).