Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T07:38:04.031Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Childcare and parenting practices in Singapore: A comparison of fathers’ and mothers’ involvement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2014

Cheung Hoi Shan  and
Russell Hawkins
Cheung Hoi Shan
Affiliation:
Singapore Children's Society
Russell Hawkins*
Affiliation:
James Cook University
*
address for correspondence: Professor Russell M. F. Hawkins, Department of Psychology, James Cook UniversityRussell.Hawkins@jcu.edu.au.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The extent to which fathers and mothers adopted various childcare and parenting practices in Singapore was examined. Interviews were conducted with 530 parent–child dyads (involving 1060 participants), with parents and children (from age 10–12) responding independently and concurrently in separate rooms. Mothers were more likely than fathers to be children's main and preferred caregivers. Fathers reported using less physical punishment than mothers did, and were also perceived to be less warm and accepting by their children. These findings support the view that power assertive discipline may still be compatible with warmth in parenting at least in this culture. In Confucian societies, parenting concepts involving elements of authoritarianism may be seen as a positive sign of concern.

Keywords

Parentingmothersfatherschildcaredisciplinary practicesSingapore
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Tropical Psychology , Volume 4 , 2014 , e10
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ang, R. P. (2006). Effects of parenting style on personal and social variables for Asian adolescents. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76 (4), 503–511. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.503Google Scholar
Ang, R. P., & Goh, D. H. (2006). Authoritarian parenting style in Asian societies: A cluster-analytic investigation. Contemporary Family Therapy, 28 (1), 131–151.Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1968). Authoritarian vs. authoritative parental control. Adolescence, 3 (11), 255–272.Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monograph, 4 (1), 1–103. doi: 10.1037/h0030372Google Scholar
Berndt, T. J., Cheung, P. C., Lau, S., Hau, K.-T., & Lew, W. J. F. (1993). Perceptions of parenting in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong: Sex differences and societal differences. Developmental Psychology, 29 (1), 156–164. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.29.1.156Google Scholar
Block, J. H. (1983). Differential premises arising from differential socialization of the sexes: Some conjectures. Child Development, 54 (6), 1335–1354. doi: 10.2307/1129799Google Scholar
Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65 (4), 1111–1119.Google Scholar
Chao, R. K. (2000). The parenting of immigrant Chinese and European American mothers: Relations between parenting styles, socialization goals, and parental practices. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21 (2), 233–248.Google Scholar
Chao, R. K. (2001). Extending research on the consequences of parenting style for Chinese Americans and European Americans. Child Development, 72 (6), 1832–1843.Google Scholar
Chao, R. & Tseng, V. (2002). Parenting of Asians. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Parenting: Vol 4, Social conditions and applied parenting (pp. 59–93). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Chiu, L. H. (1987). Childrearing attitudes of Chinese, Chinese-American, and Anglo-American mothers. International Journal of Social Psychology, 22 (4), 409–419.Google Scholar
Dawber, T., & Kuczynski, L. (1999). The question of ownness: Influence of relationship context on parental socialization strategies. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16 (4), 475–493. doi: 10.1177/0265407599164004Google Scholar
Department of Statistics. (2005). General Household Survey 2005 statistical release 1: Socio-demographic and economic characteristics. Singapore: Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
Dix, T., & Grusec, J. E. (1985). Parent attribution processes in the socialization of children. In Siegal, I. E. (Ed.), Parental belief systems (pp. 201–233). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gaertner, B. M., Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., & Greving, K. A. (2007). Parental childrearing attitudes as correlates of father involvement during infancy. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 69 (4), 962–976. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00424Google Scholar
Gecas, V., & Schwalbe, M. L. (1986). Parental behavior and adolescent self-esteem. Journal of Marriage and Family, 48 (1), 37–46. doi: 10.2307/352226Google Scholar
Grusec, J. E., & Kuczynski, L. (1980). Direction of effect in socialization: A comparison of the parent's versus the child's behavior as determinants of disciplinary techniques. Developmental Psychology, 16 (1), 1–9. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.16.1.1Google Scholar
Henderson, R. W., & Bergan, J. R. (1976). The cultural context of childhood. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.Google Scholar
Herts, R. (1997). A typology of approaches to child care: The centerpiece of organizing family life For dual-earner couples. Journal of Family Issues, 18 (4), 355–385. doi: 10.1177/019251397018004001Google Scholar
Kelley, M. L., & Power, T. G. (1992). Children's moral understanding: Developmental and social contextual determinants. In Winegar, L. T. & Valsiner, J. (Eds.), Children's development within social context: Vol 2, Research and methodology. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.Google Scholar
Kelley, M. L., & Tseng, H.-M. (1992). Cultural differences in child rearing: A comparison of immigrant Chinese and Caucasian American mothers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 23 (4), 444–455. doi: 10.1177/0022022192234002Google Scholar
Kong, S. G., Kok, L. P., Tsoi, W. F., Wong, M. L., Tay, G. E., & Yeoh, S. P. (1986). Some aspects of child-rearing practices and their relationship to behavioural deviance. The Journal of the Singapore Paediatric Society, 28 (1–2), 94–103.Google Scholar
Lamborn, S. D., Mounts, N. S., Steinberg, L., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1991). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development, 62 (5), 1049–1065.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. P., Fung, D. S. S., Koh, J. B. K., Wei, K. C., Woo, B. S. C., & Teo, J. (2004). Between the rod and reason: A study on Asian parental disciplinary methods and child emotional/behavioural outcomes. Annals Academy of Medicine, 33 (5), S27–S28.Google Scholar
Lin, C.-Y. C., & Fu, V. R. (1990). A comparison of child-rearing practices among Chinese, immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American parents. Child Development, 61 (2), 429–433. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02789.xGoogle Scholar
Lopez, N. L., Schneider, H. G., & S., D. C. (2002). Parent discipline scale: Discipline choice as a function of transgression type. North American Journal of Psychology, 4 (3), 381–394.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In Mussen, P. H. & Hetherington, E. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ong, A. C. (1999). Parenting behaviors and their relationship to adolescent adjustment. (PhD), National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.Google Scholar
Palmérus, K., & Jutengren, G. (2004). Swedish parents’ self-reported use of discipline in response to continued misconduct by their pre-school children. Infant and Child Development, 13 (1), 79–90. doi: 10.1002/icd.338Google Scholar
Papps, F., Walker, M., Trimboli, A., & Trimboli, C. (1995). Parental discipline in Anglo, Greek, Lebanese, and Vietnamese cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26 (1), 49–64. doi: 10.1177/0022022195261004Google Scholar
Quah, S. R. (1999). Study on the Singapore family. Singapore: Ministry of Community Development.Google Scholar
Quah, S. R. (2008). Families in Asia. Home and kin (2nd ed.) New YorkRoutledge.Google Scholar
Sanderson, S., & Thompson, V. S. (2002). Factors associated with perceived paternal involvement in childrearing. Sex Roles, 46 (3–4), 99–111. doi: 10.1023/A:1016569526920Google Scholar
Schaefer, E. S. (1965). Children's reports of parental behavior: An inventory. Child Development, 36 (2), 413–424. doi: 10.2307/1126465Google Scholar
Shum-Cheung, H. S., Hawkins, R., & Lim, K. W. (2006). The parenting project: Disciplinary practices, child care arrangements and parenting practices in Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.childrensociety.org.sg/research-completedGoogle Scholar
Shwalb, D. W., Shwalb, B. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2013). Fathers in cultural context. New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Siegal, M., & Cowen, J. (1984). Appraisals of intervention: The mother's versus the culprit's behavior as determinants of children's evaluations of discipline techniques. Child Development, 55 (5), 1760–1766. doi: 10.2307/1129923Google Scholar
Sim, T. N., & Chin, J. E. H. (2014). Do mothers’ and fathers’ authoritative and authoritarian parenting interact? An exploration on schooling aspects with a Singapore adolescent sample. Youth & Society, 46 (2), 286–300. doi: 10.1177/0044118x12441188Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2010). Census of population 2010 statistical release 1: Demographic characteristics, education, language and religion. Singapore: Ministry of Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2013a). Annual labour force participation rate. Retrieved from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/browse_by_theme/economy/time_series/labour.xlsGoogle Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. (2013b). Key household income trends, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/Publications/publications_and_papers/household_income_and_expenditure/pp-s20.pdfGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Dornbusch, S. M., & Darling, N. (1992). Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed. Child Development, 63 (5), 1266–1281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, S. M., Bond, M. H., Kennard, B. D., Ho, L. M., & Zaman, R. M. (2002). Does the Chinese construct of guan export to the West? International Journal of Psychology, 37 (2), 74–82. doi: 10.1080/00207590143000162Google Scholar
Straus, M. A., & Stewart, J. H. (1999). Corporal punishment by American parents: National data on prevalence, chronicity, severity, and duration, in relation to child and family characteristics. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2 (2), 55–70.Google Scholar
Tang, C. S. K. (2006). Corporal punishment and physical maltreatment against children: A community study on Chinese parents in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30 (8), 893–907.Google Scholar
Tisak, M. S., & Turiel, E. (1984). Children's conceptions of moral and prudential rules. Child Development, 55 (3), 1030–1039. doi: 10.2307/1130154Google Scholar
Trickett, P. K., & Kuczynski, L. (1986). Children's misbehaviors and parental discipline strategies in abusive and nonabusive families. Developmental Psychology, 22 (1), 115–123. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.22.1.115Google Scholar
Wu, P., Robinson, C. C., Yang, C., Hart, C. H., Olsen, S. F., Porter, C. L., . . . Wu, X. (2002). Similarities and differences in mothers’ parenting of preschoolers in China and the United States. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26 (6), 481–491. doi: 10.1080/01650250143000436Google Scholar
Yang, P. Q., & Rodriguez, E. (2009). The case for staying home: Myth or reality? International Sociology, 24 (4), 526–556. doi: 10.1177/0268580909334501CrossRefGoogle Scholar