Independence Training from a Cross‐Cultural Perspective

In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 74, Heft 3, S. 629-638

Abstract

Studies relating age of independence training with achievement motivation and achievement have resulted in contradictory findings. The responses of fifty‐two Chinese mothers in Hawaii to the independence training questionnaire were analyzed in conjunction with ethnographic data on child rearing practices. The lack of significant relationships between the index of independence training and measures of boys' achievement motivation and achievement behaviors was explained by the failure of the questionnaire to tap the mother's underlying motives for stating particular ages. The Chinese data revealed that cultural factors, such as values, strongly affect the mothers' responses.