Judgments and Reasoning About Parental Discipline Involving Induction and Psychological Control in China and Canada

Abstract

This study examined judgments and reasoning about four parental discipline practices (induction or reasoning and three practices involving "psychological control" Barber, 1996; two forms of shaming and love withdrawal) among children (7-14 years of age) from urban and rural China and Canada (N = 288) in response to a moral transgression. Children from all settings critically evaluated love withdrawal and preferred induction. Despite being perceived as more common in China than in Canada, with age, parental discipline based on shaming or love withdrawal was increasingly negatively evaluated and believed to have detrimental effects on children's feelings of self-worth and psychological well-being. Some cultural variations were found in evaluations of practices, perceptions of psychological harm, and attribution of parental goals. © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.