Cultural differences in maternal beliefs and behaviors: a study of middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican mother-infant pairs in four everyday situations.
This study examines cultural patterning in situational variability in mother-infant interactions among middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican mothers and their 12 to 15-month-old firstborn children. Forty mothers were interviewed regarding their long-term socialization goals and childrearing strategies, and videotaped interacting with their infants in four everyday settings: feeding, social play, teaching, and free play. Results suggest that: (1) Anglo mothers place greater emphasis on socialization goals and childrearing strategies consonant with a more individualistic orientation, whereas Puerto Rican mothers place greater focus on goals and strategies consistent with a more sociocentric orientation; (2) coherence was found between mothers' childrearing beliefs and practices, with Puerto Rican mothers more likely to directly structure their infants' behaviors; and (3) situational variability arose in mother-infant interactions, but this variability showed a cultural patterning consistent with mothers' long-term socialization goals and childrearing beliefs.
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School of Family Studies, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269, USA. harwood@uconnvm.uconn.edu
Schoelmerich
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Schulze
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Gonzalez
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D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D004739:England / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012923:Social Class; D012951:Socialization; D014481:United States