Mothers' Goals Influence Their Responses to Children's Performance: An Experimental Study in the United States and Hong Kong.
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Ng J; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.; Ng FF; The Chinese University of Hong Kong.; Pomerantz EM; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Source
- Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0372725 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1467-8624 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00093920 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Child Dev Subsets: MEDLINE
- Subject
- Language
- English
This research examined the role of mothers' self-worth and self-improvement goals in their responses to children's performance in the United States (80% European American) and Hong Kong (100% Chinese). Mothers (N = 330) were induced to prioritize self-worth or self-improvement among children (M age = 10.24 years; 48% girls) . Mothers induced to prioritize self-worth (vs. self-improvement) used more success-oriented responses in both regions (ds = 0.53 and 0.35). Mothers induced to prioritize self-improvement (vs. self-worth) used more failure-oriented responses only in the United States (d = 0.29). Mothers' success-oriented responses predicted more positive beliefs and affect in a cognitive task among children (βs = .10-.18). Taken together, the findings support the importance of parents' goals in the socialization process.
(© 2021 The Authors. Child Development © 2021 Society for Research in Child Development.)