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Title"Where are we going, Dad" : a multiple case study of Chinesefathers' parenting styles shown in the TV show
Author(s) Fang, Yilin; ¹‚z—
Citation
Issued Date 2015
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10722/223644
RightsThe author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights)and the right to use in future works.
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Abstract of thesis entitled ,“Where Are We Going, Dad”: A Multiple Case Study of
Chinese Fathers’ Parenting Styles Shown in the TV Show” submitted by Yilin Fang
for the degree of Master of Education
at the University of Hong Kong
The present study explored Chinese fathers’ parenting styles in early childhood
education through a Chinese reality TV show, “where are we going, Dad”. This is a
multiple case study to examine the five fathers’ parenting styles in the TV show,
according to Baumrind’s three parenting typology. The five fathers are Zhiying Lin,
Liang Zhang, Liang Tian, Yuelun Wang, and Tao Guo, Their parenting styles were
examined using Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) by Robinson,
Mandleco, Olsen, and Hart (1995). Every case was observed for 12 times and
altogether sixty evaluation forms were collected and analyzed. The results indicated
that: (1) five of them were authoritative, (2) The fathers with older children tended to
use authoritarian parenting style, whereas the fathers of younger children tended to be
authoritative; (3) The fathers with girls tended to have less parental control, whereas
the fathers with boys tended to have more parental control; and (4) the Taiwanese
father, Lin, tended to be more liberal and authoritative, whereas the Mainland China
father, Guo showed more authoritarian sides in parenting.
Keywords: parenting style, Chinese father, PSDQ, Baumrind’s theory,
authoritative, authoritarian
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“WHERE ARE WE GOING, DAD”: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY OF CHINESE
FATHERS’ PARENTING STYLES SHOWN IN THE TV SHOW
By
Yilin Fang
A thesis submitted for the degree
Of
Master of Education
In the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong
2015
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Declaration
I hereby declare that this dissertation represents my own work and that it has not
been previously submitted to this University or any other institution in application for
admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications.
方藝霖
June 2015
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Acknowledgements
I would never finish my dissertation without the support, help and guidance of
my supervisor and my family.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Li Hui, for his
encouragement, guidance, patience, and help for doing this research. He has a big
heart to every student like me, and without his guidance and persistent help, this
dissertation would not have been possible.
I would like to thank my husband, Fei He, who has been always supporting me
and encouraging me to continue this research and study. He is the person who would
always stand by me through good times and bad.
In addition, a special thanks to my little daughter, Sammie, who has always been
my biggest joy and love.
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Table of Contents
Declaration …...…………………………………………...…………………………III
Acknowledgements………………………………………...…………….…………..IV
List of Tables………………………………………………..………………………VII
List of Appendices………………………………………….………………………VIII
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………….……………………………….1
1.1 Rationale for the Study………………………..………………………………3
1.2 Purpose Statement…………………………….………………………………4
1.3
Significance of the study……………………….……………………………..4
1.4 Thesis Structure……………………………………………………………….5
Chapter 2: Authoritative versus Authoritarian: The Debate on Chinese Parenting
Style……………………………………………………………………………………7
2.1 Parenting Style…..……………………………………………………………7
2.2 Chinese Parenting Style………………………………………………………8
2.3 Factors that Affect Fathers’ Parenting Decisions and Styles…..……………13
2.4 The Effect of Fathers’ Parenting……………………………….……………19
2.5 Literature Gap…..……………………………………………...……………23
Chapter 3: Methodology……………………………………………….……………..25
3.1 Statement of Research Questions……………………………………………253.2 Overview of research design…………………………………………...……25
3.3Participants……………………………………………..…………………….26
3.4 Measure……………………………………………………..……………….27
3.4.1 Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire……………..………..27
3.4.2 Sampling………………………………………………………….…..29
3.4.3 Quantifying…………………………………………………..………..29
3.5 Procedure……………………………………………………….……………33
Chapter 4: Results…………………………………………………………..………..34
4.1 Each Fathers’ Parenting Style Analysis…………………………….……….35
4.1.1 Zhiying Lin’s parenting style……………………….…………...……35
4.1.2 Liang Zhang’s parenting style……………………………………...…36
4.1.3 Liang Tian’s parenting style……………………….………….....……37
4.1.4 Yuelun Wang’s parenting style…………………….…………....……39
4.1.5 Tao Guo’s parenting style…………………….…………...………….41
4.2 Five Fathers’ General Parenting Style……………………………………....43
4.3 Differences According to Children’s Different Age and Gender……….…..44
4.3.1 Differences according to different age………………………………..44
4.3.2 Differences according to different gender………………….…………444.4 Taiwanese Father’s parenting style………………………………………….45
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4.5 Chapter Summary……………………………………………………………46
Chapter 5: Discussion……………………………………………………..……...…..47
5.1 Authoritative: The Mainstream Parenting Style in China………………...…47
5.2The Influential Factors of Chinese Fathers’ Parenting……………………….495.3 How Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Explains the Influential Factors………..…..50
Chapter 6: Conclusion, Limitations, Implications, and Suggestions…………….…..53
6.1 General Conclusion……………………………………………………….…53
6.2 Limitations of the Research………………………………………...………..53
6.3 Educational Implications…………………………………………….………54
6.4 Contribution of the Research and Suggestions for Future Studies……..……55
References…………………………………………………………………………....56
Appendices…………………………………………………………………………...64
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List of Tables
Table 1 Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire constructions………………30
Table 2 Zhiying Lin’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode……………35
Table 3 Liang Zhang’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode…………..37Table 4 Liang Tian’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode……...……..38
Table 5 Yuelun Wang’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode…..……..40
Table 6 Tao Guo’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode……...………..41
Table 7 Five fathers’ parenting factors average scores………………………………42
Table 8 Five fathers’ parenting items average scores………………………………..43
Table 9 Five fathers’ parenting style average scores………………...………………44
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List of Appendices
Appendix Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire…………………………..64
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Chapter 1: Introduction
This study is a multiple case study of the five celebrity fathers’ parenting styles in
the reality TV show, “Where Are We Going, Dad” season one. This study will
analyze the parenting styles of the five fathers’ in the TV show to find out the Chinese
fathers’ parenting style in early childhood.
Talking about the parental involvement in early childrearing, people usually think
that it is mothers’ job. Fathers’ roles are usually being neglected in family activities
(Turbiville & Marquis, 2001, p. 223). Parenting and taking care of children is
naturally defined as “feminine and women’s labor” and is called “natural for women”
(Cameron, Moss, & Owen, 1999, p. 9). Fathers do not feel responsible in caring or
rearing for children (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p.2). Researchers also tend to
focus more on children’s mothers than their fathers, so the study about the fathers’
involvement in children’s early childhood is neglected (Gadsden & Ray, 2003, p. 2).
Even if fathers are involved in parenting, they tend to focus more on play, when
mothers more concern about nurturance (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p.4). In
childcare, man’s skills and job is often considered to be more practical work, such as
fixing facilities, and they consider it as their “natural” work (Cameron, Moss, &
Owen, 1999, p. 78). Therefore, fathers do not involve in parenting often. It has been
shown that in families which mothers do not have a job, the fathers only spend
one-fourth of the time that the mothers spend with their children in interacting with
children, and about one-third of the time being reachable to the children (Lamb &
Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 2).
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However, fathers’ role is being paid attention day by day. The notion has changed
a lot, and it has been proven that young fathers do involve in childrearing activities
more than their own fathers (Ho & Kang, 1984, p. 1004). It has been proven that
fathers are slowly engaged more in parenting over time (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda,
2004, p. 2). Higgins (2005) found out in his research that 49% of the fathers admitted
their responsibilities in children’s rearing (p. 106). It has been found out that fathers
spend at least one hour with their children actively every week, and most of the
divorced fathers try to spend at least one day per month with their children (Halme,
Astedt-Kurki, Tarkka, 2009, p. 114). Fathers’ role has been changed from
breadwinners from the time of industrialization to “companions, care providers,
spouses, protectors, models, moral guides, teachers, breadwinners”, whom play an
important roles in children (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 3).
Fathers’ role is considered more and more important nowadays, and many studies
about fathering have also been conducted. Researchers also started to pay attention to
fathers’ roles. Nord, Brimhall, and West (1997) insist that the involvement of fathers
in parenting is as important as the involvement of mothers in the children’s
achievement and behavior (p. 77). Some studies also found out that fathers’ parenting
styles tend to be less positive and concerned and more harsh than mothers, and fathers’
parenting practices tend to be less positive and show less responsiveness and
demandingness (Shek, 1998, p. 534). Fathers’ parenting has been paid more attention
and has been a controversial issue.
However in China, the research about fathering has only been put attention since
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2002, and still, there are lack of sampling, measurement, and comparability among
studies (Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, & Hyun, 2010, p. 345).
Then a TV show, called “Where Are We Going, Dad” was broadcasted, and the
fathers’ parenting styles became a controversial issue in Chinese society. Audiences
start to pay attention to fathers. Chinese researchers start to comment on the TV show.
Fathers start to feel the responsibility being part of the childrearing activities. Then
what is Chinese fathers’ parenting style? Through this TV show, the author will try to
find out the answer.
1.1 Rationale for the Study
This study is necessary and meaningful due to many reasons. First of all, fathers’
parenting style and their roles are being paid more and more attention, and this
research, studying the fathers’ parenting styles can be a meaningful input in related
area. Second, “Where Are We Going, Dad”, now is on season three, has become the
most popular reality TV show in China, and that means people started to pay more
and more attention to fathers’ parenting. Through the TV show, Chinese fathers’
parenting style could be analyzed. Third, not many research has been done on Chinese
parents’, especially Chinese fathers’, parenting styles. Because of the influence of
long traditional Chinese culture and the Confucian philosophy, Chinese fathers’
parenting style must be an interesting issue to explore deeper. Also, since the
influence of western ideology, the change of fathers’ parenting style through the time
could also be in interesting research point. In general, this study, examining Chinese
fathers’ parenting style through reality TV show, is needed and meaningful.
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1.2 Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study is to explore Chinese fathers’ parenting styles through a
Chinese reality TV show. This study will use Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, and Hart’s
(1995) Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), combined with
Baumrind’s (1971) four parenting styles,to examine the five celebrity fathers’
parenting styles one by one in “Where are we going, dad” season one, twelve
episodes in total.
1.3 Significance of the study
The significance of this study could be found in many areas. In practical
perspectives, this study examining Chinese fathers’ parenting style is necessary and
meaningful for educators, researchers, and parents. Time is changing, and the world is
shouting for equality for men and women. The labors are also evenly distributed, from
men working outside and women taking care of the house to men and women equally
work and take care of their home. Accordingly, parenting is not considered as
women’s responsibilities. The necessity for fathers’ participation in parenting is
requested, especially in this rapidly developing country, China. More studies about
fathers’ parenting style is needed, especially in Chinese context, to explore about
what fathers can do, how fathers can do, and what the fathers’ roles are.
Also, there are still debates on the mainstream of Chinese parenting style
between authoritative and authoritarian. Therefore, this study is conducted to explore
empirical evidence to settle down this debate.
Theoretically, Researchers have been using Baumrind’s (1971) parenting
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typology to identify parents’, especially mothers’, parenting styles in different
cultures (Chao, 1994, 2001; Lim & Lim, 2005; Cheah, 2009; Xu, Farver, Zhang, Zeng,
Yu, & Cai, 2005). Not many studies have been done to examine fathers’ parenting
styles using Baumrind’s theory, especially in Chinese context. This study is doing this
job to fill out the gap and provide more input to the parenting style research.
Also, Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) has been stated
from 1995, and not many studies have done using this measurement in Chinese
context. Though Fu et al (2013) have found out that this measurement was suitable in
Chinese context, no studies have done to use this measurement to examine Chinese
fathers’ parenting style. Therefore, this study is worth to be invested, and it will also
be a meaningful and helpful research practically and theoretically.
1.4 Thesis Structure
This dissertation has six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the background
information of the fathers’ parenting, brief introduction of the fathers’ parenting in
Chinese context, rationale for study, purpose statement, and the significance of the
study .
Chapter 2 is a literature review titled as authoritative versus authoritarian: the
debate on Chinese parenting style. Definition and previous studies about parenting
style, Chinese parenting style, the factors that affect fathers’ parenting decisions and
styles, the effect of fathers’ parenting, the literature gap are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 3 outlines the methodology parts. The research questions will be stated,
and overview of research design, participants, measure, and procedure will be
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presented in this chapter.
Chapter 4 presents the results and the findings of this study. It discusses each and
general fathers’ parenting styles, the analysis according to children’s different age,
different gender, and Taiwanese father’s parenting style.
Chapter 5 discusses the relevant issues according to the results of this study. It
discusses the authoritative parenting style in Chinese context, the influential factors of
Chinese fathers’ parenting, and the analysis applying Bronfenbrenner’s theory.
Chapter 6 concludes this study. The limitations, educational implications,
contribution of the research, and the suggestions for the future study is indicated in
this chapter.
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Chapter 2: Authoritative versus Authoritarian: The Debate on Chinese
Parenting Style
The purpose of this chapter is to review the previous studies and research about
the parenting styles, Chinese parenting style, factors that affect fathers’ parenting, the
effect of fathers’ parenting, and to find the literature gap. Parenting style has been a
popular issue among educators since Baumrind proposed three different parenting
styles. Fathers’ parenting style has been a rising issue nowadays, and lots of studies
are conducted searching for fathers’ roles, their influences on children, and their
parenting styles. More over, there have always been debate on the mainstream of
Chinese parenting style between authoritative and authoritarian, and this chapter is
looking deeper into the debate.
2.1 Parenting Styles
Many definitions have been stated about parenting style. Darling and Steinberg
(1993) defined parenting styles as “constellation of attitudes toward the child that are
communicated to the child that, taken together, create an emotional climate in which
the parent’s behaviors are expressed” (p. 488). Fox, Platz, and Bentley (1995) define
parenting style as “setting the context of the parent-child relationship (e.g.,
communicates a parent’s attitude toward the child, contributes to effectiveness of
parenting practices, moderates child’s openness to parental influences)” (p. 431).
Then Baumrind studied the types of the parenting style, and studies have been
conducted using her definition. Baumrind (1971) identified three types of parenting
styles: authoritarian authoritative, and permissive parenting styles, and among these
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three parenting styles, she states that authoritative parents are “most likely to facilitate
the development of competence via responsible behavior and competence via
independent behavior in young children” (p. 100).
Accordingly, researchers start to focus on different factors that affect parents’
parenting styles. Belsky (1984) mentioned that children’s temperament and behaviors,
parents’ working conditions, especially mothers’ employment status, as well as social
support could all affect the parents’ parenting style in both quality and quantity(p. 86).
Parents’ psychological well-being is also regard as one of the predictor of parenting
style, that a “supportive developmental experiences give rise to a healthy mature
personality, that is then capable of providing sensitive parental care which fosters
optimal child development (Belsky, 1984, p. 86). Fox, Platz, and Bentley (1995)
found that maternal age, number of children, socioeconomic status, educational
experiences, and marital status could all affect parents’ parenting style and parenting
practice. Some researchers classified these factors in short words. Chen’s (2002)
stated that parenting style is influenced by three elements: mothers’ characteristics,
children’s characteristics, and the contextual factors (p. 425). As it has been
mentioned above, many factors could affect parents’ choosing different parenting
styles. Then what exactly affect fathers’ decisions on involving in childrearing
activities and choosing different parenting styles?
2.2 Chinese Parenting Style
The most influential factor that affects Chinese parents’ parenting style must be
Confucian philosophy. Traditional Chinese parenting style is affected by the
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Confucian family value of filial piety and has authority involved (Quoss & Zhao,
1995, p. 275). Under the influence of Confucian philosophy, “Chinese values of
collectivism, conformity to norms, emotional self-control and humility were
associated with an authoritarian parenting style, whereas collectivism and conformity
to norms were also correlated with the authoritative parenting style” (Xu, Farver,
Zhang, Zeng, Yu, & Cai, 2005, p. 529). Chinese parents also hope their children
become adults who have characteristics of “in a descending order,
competence-achievement, moral character, sociability, and controlled temperament.”
(Ho & Kang, 1984, p. 1010). Chinese parents think independence is very important,
which derives from hard working, but they do not push children to hardship, instead,
they tend to invest their affectionate, financial and educational support to their
children to make sure they could go through the hardship (Fong, 2007, p. 94). Chinese
parents tend to pay higher attention towards’ children’s academic achievement than
social activities, and this might could be explained as connected with traditional
Confucian value of focusing on one’s academic competence (Huntsinger, Josh, &
Larson, 1998, p. 755). Chinese parents tend to believe that the “nuture was more
important than nature in determining the child’s character formation” (Ho & Kang,
1984, p. 1009).
Under the influence of the Confucian philosophy, researchers argue that
traditional Chinese parents tend to use authoritarian parenting style. Quoss and Zhao
(1995) found out that the filial piety is still existing in Chinese families, and that the
more authoritarian the parents have the better the relationship between parents and
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children that the children perceived (p. 275). Chinese parents consider that being
democratic is an ideal parenting style, but the children insist that their parents still
have authority in the relationships with them, and the children have mix feelings of
both willing to have democratic parenting and being also satisfied with the current
authoritarian parenting style of their parents (Quoss & Zhao, 1995, p. 275). Quoss and
Zhao (1995) found out that the urban children in China considers their parents to be
more authoritarian than what the parents think, and in contrast, the urban parents
consider themselves as democratic parents (p. 275). Research indicates that urban
fathers tend to be more demanding, controlling, warm, and distant to their children,
comparing with the rural fathers (Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, & Hyun, 2010, p.
361).
One Child Policy, announced in 1979, should also be paid attention. Because of
this policy, one family usually has only one child, and this child should also meet the
responsibility of caring for their old parents when they grow up. This policy affects
family interactions and parent-child relationships (Quoss & Zhao, 1995, p. 265).
Chinese mothers consider their only child being self-centered and lonely, and they are
willing to have more children if the law is allowed (Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto,
& Hyun, 2010, p. 356).
Another factor could be the employment status in China. Since women in China
still face difficulties to find a job even though they eager to work, the income of the
women in families is much less than men’s (Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, & Hyun,
2010, p. 349). Accordingly, it has become the women’s job to rear the children.
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Chinese traditional concept, “guan” (means “training”) could also be an
influential factor in Chinese parents’ parenting styles (Chen, 2002, p. 426). Lim and
Lim (2005) found that western concept of parenting style may misleading when
applied to Chinese context, and the concept of Chinese “guan” (means “training) may
fits better in Chinese society, involving both Baumrind’s authoritarian parenting
concept and the unique characteristics of Chinese parents (p. 27). They suggest that
the definition of warm and control should be redefined in different cultural
background (Lim & Lim, 2005, p. 24).
Because of the various reasons, the number of the Chinese latchkey children, who
have problems in cognitive gender role, personality, and physical development, is
increased (Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, & Hyun, 2010, p. 349). Also, because of
the diversity of the 56 ethnic groups and different ethnical cultures, it is hard to
generalize the definition and values for fathering or fathers’ parenting in China
(Shwalb, Nakazawa, Yamamoto, & Hyun, 2010, p. 346).
Traditionally Chinese parents are characterized as “strict father, kind mother”
(Ho, 1989, p. 155) Traditional Chinese mothers are characterized as “affectionate,
kind, lenient, protective and even indulgent”, and Chinese fathers are usually seemed
as “stern disciplinarian, more concerned with the demands of propriety and necessity
than with feelings, to be feared” by their children (Ho, 1989, p. 155). While mothers
concern a lot with Chinese traditional values in childrearing, such as children’s
sex-related and aggressive behaviors, fathers’ “attitudes toward child training show a
greater departure from traditional pattern” (Ho & Kang, 1984, p. 1010).
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Ho (1989) said that the notion of “strict father, kind mother” is now changing (p.
155). Shek (1995) found that no remarkable difference between fathers’ and mothers’
parenting across different socioeconomic status, and the difference between paternal
parenting and maternal parenting are less and less in China according to the
industrialization and westernization. Researchers are now saying that Chinese
parenting now is the mixture of Western and Eastern parenting styles (Way et al.,
2013, p. 68).
In general, because of the different influential factors, the debate on the Chinese
parents’ parenting style has always been a controversial issue. Researchers debate
Chinese parents’ parenting style correlates with authoritative parenting style
influenced by Confucian philosophy (Xu, Farver, Zhang, Zeng, Yu, & Cai, 2005).
Researchers who insists the parenting mainstream in China as authoritarian state that
in Confucian philosophy, individual’s role in society, such as Chinese parents keep
distance from their children to show a kind of respect, create harmonious
interpersonal relationship, and this idea reflects the characteristics of authoritarian
parenting (Xu, Farver, Zhang, Zeng, Yu, & Cai, 2005). Whereas some researchers
believe that Confucian philosophy mead Chinese parents to use authoritarian
parenting style (Quoss & Zhao, 1995). Some researchers (Lim & Lim, 2005) argue
that Chinese traditional concept, “guan” is another expression of Baumrind’s
authoritarian parenting. Whereas some researchers (Ho, 1989) argue that because of
the continuously developing status of China, parenting style is influenced by the
internationalization and westernization, using more authoritative parenting. The
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debate is still going on, and this study want to find the empirical evidence for this
debate.
2.3 Factors that Affect Fathers’ Parenting Decisions and Styles
Lamb and Tamis-LeMonda (2004) describes that fathers’ involvement in
parenting is affected by many factors such as “psychological factors, the children’s
individual characteristics, social support, community and cultural influence, and
institutional practices and public policies” (p. 11). According to this study, the factors
that could influence fathers’ decisions could be motivation, competency and skills,
family structure, partners’ support, children’s age and self-competency, and cultural
and social support.
Motivation. Bouchard, Lee, Asgary, and Pelletier (2007) consider motivation as
one of the important factors that affect fathers’ parenting decisions (p. 37). Fathers
who have less motivations, who do not consider parenting important or who do not
feel interests in it tend to spend less time with their preschool-aged children (Halme,
Astedt-Kurki, Tarkka, 2009, p. 115). Factors to motivate a father to involve more in
parenting is related with his feeling about fathering, which has been shaped by “his
cultural and family background, as well as by his own temperament” (Nielsen, 2012,
p. 52). It has been proven that nowadays, fathers are more motivated to involve in
parenting. This changes has been taken place according to the women’s movement
and the changes of the roles of male and female, and it is also affected by the shaped
image of the “new father” by the media hype (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 12).
Fathers think that their involvement in parenting is because that they value their
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responsibility being fathers rather than being forced to (Bouchard, Lee, & Pelletier,
2007, p. 37). Fathers are also motivated by other factors, such as the assigned
activities they are involved. Bouchard, Lee, Asgary, and Pelletier (2007) confirmed
that fathers want to contribute more on children’s emotional and educational
development rather than their physical activities (p. 35). Halme, Astedt-Kurki, and
Tarkka (2009) also got the similar findings that fathers tend to involve more in
activities related to the “home and surroundings, pets, shopping, and play” rather than
in their children’s physical care (p. 115).
Competency and Skills. Bouchard, Lee, Asgary, and Pelletier (2007) found that
one of the factors that affects the decisions of fathers’ involvement in parenting is
their sense of competence (p. 37). Fathers hesitate to participate in parenting because
they feel that they are not as effective and competent as mothers when parenting their
children with special needs (Higgins, 2005, p. 109). However, if they feel that they
are confident to be involved in children’s caring, it will positively affect their
decisions to take part in family centered activities (Higgins, 2005, p. 112). Also, the
lack of the fathers’ parenting skills prevents fathers’ involvement in parenting, and it
leads to the fear of the fathers’ incompetence and failure (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda,
2004, p. 13). Not only their parenting skills, but their incomes also influence fathers’
depression symptoms, and it accordingly affects the parents’ parenting styles (Kim &
Ge, 2000, p. 431).
Family Structure. Family structure could also be one of the influential factors.
Fathers tend to spend less time with their children if “the marriage or common-law
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marriage” is new for one of the spouses (Halme, Astedt-Kurki, Tarkka, 2009, p. 115).
Fathers in two-parent families are less likely involved in parenting than the fathers in
single-parent families (Nord, C. W., Brimhall, D., & West, J., 1997, p. 78). However,
divorced fathers with joint custody showed most commitment to the parenting, and
they were eager to invest time for their children in playing, reading, caring, and
emotionally helping their children (Halme, Astedt-Kurki, Tarkka, 2009, p. 115).
Not only the marital structure among family members, but also the personalities,
employment structures, and the relationships among the family members also affect
fathers’ parenting decisions and their parenting styles. Jewell, Krohn, Scott, Carlton,
and Meinz (2008) found that children could be negatively affected by the
“inconsistency in discipline” of their parents, when one of the parents is more
permissive than the other (p. 184). Also, it has been found that fathers in the families
which has employed mothers are more likely engaged in parenting than the ones
which has unemployed mothers (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 3). In choosing
parenting style, it has been proven that the parental control in restrictive parenting
style has positive relationships with parent-adolescent conflict (Lay &, Cheung, 1987,
p. 728).
Partners’ Support. Bouchard, Lee, Asgary, and Pelletier (2007) found that
mothers’ support was one of the factors that affect the decisions of fathers’
involvement (p. 37). Fathers consider mothers as supportive elements rather than
sources of coercion (Bouchard, Lee, & Pelletier, 2007, p. 37). Mothers are
“gatekeepers” of the fathers’ access to their children, and it is often mothers who
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request and assign the responsibilities to the fathers in the children’s parenting (Lamb
& Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 13). Turbiville and Marquis (2001) found that fathers are
more likely to participate in children’s programs companied with their wives and
partners (p. 229). Man-only children program is not a good strategy to encourage
fathers to participate in the children’s activities. The harmony within the family,
especially between the role distribution of the father and the mother, is very important
in children’s development (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 14). Some studies
points out another results. Fagan (1999) insists that one of the factors that leads to
fathers’ decisions to involve in parenting is that mothers are not available for
children’s rearing since they have to works, and this made fathers reluctantly fulfill
children’s needs (p. 19). Different family values also affect the fathers’ involvement.
The family’s different aspects of the fatherhood may lead to different definition to the
fathers’ role (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 15). For example, families that view
the fathers’ role as breadwinners may not consider rearing and emotional support as
an important support in parenting.
Cultural and Social Support. Cultural and social support is anther important
factor to influence fathers’ parenting decisions and parenting styles. For example,
“gender-appropriate masculinity or femininity” was an important issue in 1950s, but
today, more flexible in sex-role is insisted (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 11).
Accordingly, fathers’ parenting has become more acceptable. Even though it has been
expected for fathers to involve more in parenting, they still cannot separate from the
social stress to be a main wage earner for the family (Nielsen, 2012, p. 51). Fathers
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say that there are not enough space and time for them to participate more in parenting
their children (Halme, Astedt-Kurki, Tarkka, 2009, p. 115) Cameron, Moss, and
Owen (1999) describes that since the childcare works are conceptualized as women’s
work in society, it is difficult for men to step into this field and recognized because
there are not any equivalent model for them (p. 21).
Different cultural and ethnic backgrounds could lead to different parenting styles.
Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh (1987) have also found that
different ethnic backgrounds affect parents’ choosing different parenting styles (p.
1256). Costigan and Su (2008) also pointed out that parenting cognitions, which
include “the goals, expectations and beliefs that parents hold regarding childrearing
and parenting role”, is affected by parents’ ethnic cultural beliefs, and the host
country and the society that they are exposed to (p. 433). Chuang and Su’s (2009)
study states that Canadian Chinese parents, both fathers and mothers, use authoritative
parenting style, while mainland China parents tend to use authoritarian parenting style
(p. 331). Difference exists not only in different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but it
also exists between urban and rural backgrounds. Urban parents in China tend to
show less control of their children than the parents in rural area (Chen, Bian, Xin,
Wang, & Silbereisen, 2010, p. 267).
Children’s Age and Self-competency. Children’s age and self-competency is
another factor. Luccie and Davis (1991) studied the father-child relationships in the
children’s different developmental stages, and they found out that fathers showed
more caring and affection to preschool-age children, and it was because the fathers
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realized that this age-group needed more love, care, and fathers’ responsibilities (p.
232). They also found that even though the fathers’ involvement in preschool children
is on the highest level throughout the children’s different developmental stages, the
fathers’ satisfaction level towards their role showed the lowest level (Luccie & Davis,
1991, p. 233). In other words, fathers feel the least confident and satisfied of their
parenting with preschool children, comparing with elder ones.
Other studies also supported this idea. Huang and Prochner (2004) have found
out that parenting style is related with children’s “self-efficacy, self-esteem, and
self-concept, and these motivational components of self-regulated learning may in
turn influence students’ self regulated learning strategy use “ (p. 229). Chen, Liu and
Li (2000) examined Chinese parents’ three parenting dimensions - warmth, control,
and indulgence, and they found that the level of parental warmth and control declines
as children’s ages grow (p. 413). Parents are found to be more tolerant to infant and
younger children, when they are being strict and demanding when the children are
getting old (Ho, 1989, p. 160). Fathers tend to take more disciplinarian role as their
children are getting older and reach the “age of understanding” (Ho & Kang, 1984, p.
1009). Ho and Kang(1984) have found out that perceptions towards the “age of
understanding” is younger for the younger generation fathers (p. 1009).
Children’s Gender. Studies have proved that children’s gender influences
parents’ parenting styles. Boys found to be more under parental control than girls do
(Chen, Liu, & Li, 2000, p. 412). Chen, Bian, Xin, Wang, and Silbereisen (2010)
found that parents tend to control boys more than control girls according to the belief
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that girls misbehave less than boys (p. 267). Fathers also found to be more likely
involved in the activities with their sons than with their daughters (Fagan, 1999, p. 17).
Female adolescents mentioned that maternal parenting style were more harsh and
demanding, while male adolescents did not agree (Shek, 1998, p. 535).
Fathers’ parenting decisions are also influenced by other factors. For example,
Nord, Brimhall, and West (1997) have found that fathers’ involvement in
kindergarten and school activities is also related with positive school climate (p. 79).
Leung, Lau, and Wai-Lim (1998) found that parental education level influences
parents’ decisions of choosing authoritarianism and its effect on children’s school
achievements (p. 169). Higgins (2005) found that fathers perceived four factors
related to family-centered practices – respectful communication, strengths-focused
support, sensitive servide delivery, and collaboration (p. 104).
2.4 The Effect of Fathers’ Parenting
Fathers’ involvement decision and their parenting styles are affected by many
factors. Their parenting decision and parenting styles also affect their children in
different ways. Darling and Stainberg (1993) argue that to understand how parenting
influence children’s development, researchers should understand three integrate parts
of parenting, which are “the goals towards which the socialization is directed; the
parenting practices parents use to help children to reach those goals; and the parenting
style, or emotional climate, within the socialization occurs” (p. 488).
It is obvious that mother’s bond with children are essential to the children’s lives
for “early development, security, and well-being”, but these advantages from the bond
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can also be achieved with other primary carers including fathers (Thornton &
Bricheno, 2006, p. 7). Lamb and Tamis-LeMonda (2004) insist that fathers affect the
course of their children’s development, and they also are affectively and formatively
salient (p. 1). Fathers’ influence could be in various ways including education,
behavior, cognition psychology, social, future role model, and even indirectly
influence children’s various development.
Fathers’ parenting can affect children’s educational development. Fathers’
behavior, attitudes, and messages may make influence to their children because
fathers usually spend less time with their children, and according when they
communicate with their children they tend to speak in different ways that “challenge
children’s linguistic and pragmatic abilities” due to their unfamiliarity of the
children’s language (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 9). Also, the earlier fathers
involve in children’s education and socialization, the better influence the children
may get (Gadsden & Ray, 2003, p. 2). Study indicates that, different from mothers’,
fathers’ warmth to their children contribute more in children’s social and academic
achievement, whereas mothers’ were more in children’s emotional adjustment (Chen,
Liu, & Li, 2000, p. 413). Some researchers found that fathers show less control of
their children than mothers (Chen, Bian, Xin, Wang, & Silbereisen, 2010, p.267). In
contrast, some researchers found that fathers are more restrictive and less kind and
concerning than mothers (Shek, 1995). Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, and
Fraleigh (1987) found that both authoritarian and permissive parenting style could
negatively affect adolescents’ academic achievements (p. 1245).
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Fathers’ parenting can also affect the children’s behavior. Teachers perceived that
children’s behavior problems have some relationships with their fathers’ Head Start
involvement (Fagan, 1999, p. 17). Jewell et al. (2008) argued children who are born in
a family that mothers are authoritarian and fathers are permissive are more likely to
have problematic behaviors (p. 182). In contrast, children born in a more
father-involved family are less likely to have behavior problems (Jewell et al., 2008, p.
183).
Fathers’ involvement in parenting can influence children’s cognitive,
psychological, and social development. Riley, Holmes, Cornwell, and Blume (1985)
have found that fathers’ involvement at home positively benefits children’s
self-concept (p. 9). Also, it has been found that fathers and mothers both affect
children in “virtue of nurturant personal and social characteristics” (Lamb &
Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 6). Lamb and Tamis-LeMonda (2004) insisted that children
who have two highly involved parents, rather than one, has better cognitive
competence (p. 8). It has been found out that children who have stable, supportive,
and reciprocal relationships with their fathers tend to be more psychologically stable
than those unstable relationships with their fathers (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p.
10). Paternal warmth and maternal control influence children’s social adjustment and
well-being “through the mediators of self-esteem and relationship harmony (Stewart,
Rao, Bond, Mc-Bridge-Chang, Fielding, & Kennard, 1998, p. 355). Stewart, Rao,
Bond, MacBridge-Chang, Fielding, and Kennard (1998) say that parental warmth
positively affect “well-being, partly through increasing self-esteem and harmonious
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relationships, whereas dominating control would have the opposite effect on these
mediators of well-being” (p. 349).
Fathers’ parenting can directly influence children’s future because children grow
up looking at their fathers. Children consider their parents and relatives as the most
influencing role models, and girls usually choose female relatives as their role models,
and boys tend to choose male relatives as their role model (Thornton & Bricheno,
2006, p. 10). Thus, especially for the families who have a boy, the fathers’ roles are
essential. Fathers’ involving in childcare can help the children to change their
stereotypical views of “breadwinners” and to declare men’s role as “carers” (Ruxton,
1992, p. 25). Bjørnholt (2010) concluded that more fathers’ parenting will have more
effects on children’s future gender relations, and this could pass to the next generation
(p. 227). Lamb and Tamis-LeMonda (2004) listed out children with parents who have
less sex-stereotyped roles insist less sex-stereotyped attitudes (p. 8).
Fathers also indirectly influence children. For example, fathers’ economic
support for the children and the family leads to indirect positive development of the
children’s emotional health and rearing (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 9). Also,
fathers’ emotional support for the children’s mothers, as well as the sharing of
housework can indirectly facilitates the relationship between the children and the
mothers, and it finally influences children positively (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004,
p. 9).
However, there are also some researches that do not consider fathers’ roles salient.
Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda (2004) found that fathers and mothers influence the
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children in similar ways with similar parenting styles and mechanisms, and what
matters was the “parental warmth, nurturance and closeness” rather that which parent
involved in children’s parenting (p. 10).
As this has been saying, some researchers suggest ways for fathers to get more
involved in parenting. Nielsen (2012) suggests: 1) a father should be participated in
wide raged activities at home, 2) a father should keep the balance between being kind
and controlling their children, and 3) a father should be a good guide and connector of
the children to the school, society, and etc. (Nielsen, 2012, p. 55) Fathers can practice
and improve their parenting skills by attending more activities with their children
together (Lamb & Tamis-LeMonda, 2004, p. 13).
Gadsden and Ray (2003) also suggest some ways that fathers could be involved
in children’s education, especially in children’s early literacy. Fathers could involve
in children’s education at home from daily lives, for example, reading stories,
choosing books together with their children, learning street signs, or just simple
chatting (Gadsden & Ray, 2003, p. 5). They also could be involved through family
programs or workshop with follow-up activities requires both father and mother’s
participations (Gadsden & Ray, 2003, p. 5). Fathers with low literacy skills could
simply be involved with reading aloud, singing songs, or develop literacy-related
games which could help their readings and writings (Gadsden & Ray, 2003, p. 5).
2.5 Literature Gap
Since Baumrind’s parenting typology is suggested, studies about the parenting
style are widely conducted. Many studies have conducted to look for the parenting
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styles in mothers’ side, but research on fathers’ parenting is limited. Also, many
studies have been conducted to compare Chinese parenting styles and western
countries’ parenting styles, but the mainstream of Chinese parenting style between
authoritative and authoritarian is still unsettled, and more empirical evidence and
research about the mainstream of Chinese parents’ parenting style, and Chinese
fathers’ parenting style is necessary.
Besides, not many researches have been conducted to look at the influential
factors of Chinese father’s parenting style, except for the cultural influence. Therefore,
more studies about the influential variables about the Chinese parenting could be
conducted. This study wants to look at these two parts – the mains stream of Chinese
fathers’ parenting style, as well as the influential variables of Chinese fathers’
parenting style.
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Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Statement of Research Questions
The present study targets to explore Chinese fathers’ parenting styles, while
analyzing reality TV show, “Where are we going, dad” season one. The main research
question is: what is Chinese fathers’ parenting style in early childhood education?
Two sub-questions of this study are:
1. What is the parenting style of the five fathers shown in the TV program?
2. Are there any differences in their parenting? If yes, what are the differences
and why there are such differences?
3.2 Overview of Research Design
This study will use qualitative approach. Mukherji and Albon (2010) say that the
focus on qualitative study is to study small population more in detail and to
acknowledge different viewpoints (p. 25). Studying the fathers’ parenting style in
China is a complex research because of the huge population and diversity due to
different ethnic groups. The author wants to make it concise but deep and intends to
use small population to go more in detail to explore Chinese fathers. Therefore,
qualitative research is a good choice for this study to analyze the controversial and
complex issue. This study is s multiple case study of the five celebrity fathers’
parenting styles in the two seasons of the TV show. Case study is one of the popular
methods in social science research. Baxter and Jack (2008) state that qualitative case
study is “an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within
its context using a variety of data sources” (p. 544). Researchers are suggested to use
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case study when the research questions seek to explain some present circumstance,
when the researcher “has little or no control over behavioral events”, and when the
study is a contemporary phenomenon (Yin, 2014, p. 2).
A multiple case study allows the researcher to “analyze within each setting and
across settings” (Baxter & Jack, 2008, p. 550). In multiple case studies, the cases need
to have some connections and similarities (Stake, 2006, p. 1). In a multiple case study,
the researcher should analyze cases to seek the similarities and differences, as well as
the relationships among the cases (Baxter & Jack, 2008, p. 550). This study is using
the five different fathers’ parenting cases to find the relationship between each other,
and finally seek the general similarity to find out Chinese fathers’ parenting style.
This study will finally look for the five fathers’ parenting styles in the TV show.
Followed up, the following variables will be tested:
1. The influential factor one: the children’s age. Whether age matters in Chinese
fathers’ parenting?
2. The influential factor two: the children’s gender. Whether gender matters in
Chinese fathers’ parenting?
3. The influential factor three: the fathers’ cultures. Whether culture matters in
Chinese fathers’ parenting? (Taiwan versus Mainland China)
3.3 Participants
This study will analyze the reality TV Show called “Where Are We Going, Dad”,
season one, broadcasted since October 2013 that have 12 episodes in total. Therefore,
the participants of this study will be the five celebrity fathers in the TV show. This
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program is originated from Korean program, and five pairs of fathers and children are
participated in season one. The fathers’ professions are all different - they are actors, a
director, an athlete, and a model. The TV show reached the highest audience rating
among all the TV shows, the reading rates in the Sina Weibo (a Chinese
microblogging) of the TV show had reached to twenty billion, the celebrity and the
children’s endorsement fee went up to two million Chinese Yuan (“The comparison
of the audience rating”, 2014). Not only the TV show and the celebrities, but also the
places they went, even some places are just broadcasted only one minute in the show,
also became popular spots for travelers (Wang, 2013). The TV show was so popular
that they even published two movies called “where are we going, dad”. The influence
of the “Where are we going, Dad” in China is tremendous.
Has this been saying, the content analysis about the TV show has a significant
meaning to put the fathers in real situations and see what parenting styles they show.
Usually, the fathers do not have many chances to take care of their children by
themselves, and this TV show just gave the chances and made the situation for the
fathers to do the parenting by themselves. With many situations, different places,
various situations, the ten fathers’ parenting styles will be reviewed to finally find out
Chinese fathers’ parenting styles in general.
3.4 Measure
3.4.1 Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire
The analysis will be done by the researcher using Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen,
and Hart’s (1995) Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ). PSDQ is a
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good measurement instrument with good reliability and validity, and it also is proven
to be suitable for “China’s national conditions and cultural background” (Fu et al.,
2013, p. 540). Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, and Hart (1995) have mentioned that this
measure was applicable for both mothers and fathers who were parents of
preschool-age children, so this questionnaire is the exactly right one for this study (p.
822).
Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, and Hart (1995) analyzed Baumrind’s three
parenting styles, their advantages and disadvantages, Block’s (1965) Child-rearing
Practices Report, Rickel and Biasatti’s (1982) questionnaire that went after Block’s
research, Kochanska, et al.’s (1989) strategy, and so on (p. 820). Then, they said they
intended to develop:
An empirical means of assessing global typologies consistent with Baumrind’s
main conceptualizations for parents of preadolescent children but also to identify
specific parenting practices that occur within the context of the typologies.
(Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995, p. 821)
Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire is developed based on Baumrind’s
theory, and it includes 62 items and three subscales – authoritative, authoritarian, and
permissive, with a 5-point Likert Scale rating (Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart,
1995, p. 822).
This study will use Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire to rate ten
celebrity fathers’ parenting styles in the two seasons of the TV show. Every father’s
parenting style in every episode will be analyzed by the researcher using PSDQ.
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There are five fathers and 12 episodes in total, so there will be 60 PSDQ samples
gathered. All the questionnaire samples will be filled out by the researcher only.
This study will look for the Chinese fathers’ parenting style in general. Also,
analyzing each of the ten fathers’ parenting style from samples, the differences of
their parenting styles according to their children’s different age and gender will be
analyzed.
3.4.2 Sampling
The researcher will take notes of the details of each father’s actions while
watching every episodes of the TV show. Every details in the TV show will be
written down, including the fathers’ actions, words, facial expression, and so on. Then
according to the notes, the researcher will fill out the questionnaire. Every father’s
performance in every episode will be scored using PSDQ.
3.4.3 Quantifying
After all the data is collected using PSDQ, the researcher will go through the
quantifying process. First of all, every father’s scores in each question in PSDQ will
be averaged. According to the parenting items and factors, questions in PSDQ will be
divided into following parts (Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995):
1. Authoritative items
1.1Warm and Involvement
1.2 Reasoning/ Induction
1.3 Democratic Participation
1.4 Good Natured/ Easy Going
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2. Authoritarian items
1.1 Verbal Hostility
1.2
Corporal Punishment
1.3 Non-Reasoning, Punitive Strategies
1.4 Directiveness
2.
Permissive items
2.1 Lack of Follow Through
2.2 Ignoring Misbehavior
2.3 Self Confidence
According to the above classification, every father’s mean in each factor will be
calculated. According to the calculated statistics, the five fathers’ average in three
parenting styles – authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, and permissive
parenting, is tested. Finally, the five fathers’ general parenting style is decided
according to the data.
Table 1
Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire constructions
Parenting
Items
Parenting
Factors
Quest
-ion
Num-
bers
Questions
Warmth
&
1 He encourages his child to talk about the child’s
troubles.
3 He knows the names of his child’s friends.
5 He gives praise when his child is good.
9 He shows sympathy when his child is hurt of frustrated.
12 He gives comfort and understanding when his child is
upset.21 He is responsive to his child’s feelings or needs.
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Authoritati
-ve Items
Involve-
ment
27 He tells his child that he appreciates what the child tries
or accomplishes.
33 He is aware of problems or concerns about his child in
school.
35 He expresses affection by hugging, kissing, and holdinghis child.
39 He apologizes to his child when making a mistake in
parenting.
46 He has warm and intimate times together with his child.
Reasonin
-g/
Induction
16 He tells his child his expectations regarding behavior
before the child engages in an activity.
25 He gives his child reasons why rules should be obeyed.
29 He helps his child to understand the impact of behavior
by encouraging his child to talk about the consequences
of his/her own actions.
42 He talks it over and reasons with his child when the
child misbehaves.
53 He explains to his child how he feels about the child’s
good and bad behavior.
58 He explains the consequences of his child’s behavior.
62 He emphasizes the reasons for rules.
Democra
-tic
Parcitipat
-ion
22 He allows his child to give input into family rules.
31 He takes his child’s desires into account before asking
the child to do something.48 He encourages his child to freely express
(himself)(herself) even when disagreeing with parents.
55 He takes into account his child’s references in making
plans for the family.
60 He channels his child’s misbehavior into a more
acceptable activity.
Good
Natured/
Easy
Going
7 He jokes and plays with his child.
14 He is easy going and relaxed with his child.
18 He shows patience with his child.51 He shows respect for his child’s opinions by
encouraging the child to express them.
Verbal
Hostility
13 He yells or shouts when his child misbehaves.
23 He argues with his child.
32 He explodes in anger towards his child.
44 He disagrees with his child.
Corporal
Punishm-
2 He guides his child by punishment more than by reason.
6 He spanks when his child is disobedient.
19 He grabs the child when he/she is being disobedient.
37 He uses physical punishment as a way of disciplining his
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Authoritar
ian Items
ent child.
43 He slaps his child when the child misbehaves.
61 He shoves his child when the child is disobedient.
Non-Rea
-soning,
Punitive
Strategie
-s
10 He punishes by taking privileges away from his child
with little if any explanations.26 He appears to be more concerned with own feelings than
with his child’s feelings.
28 He punishes by putting his child off somewhere alone
with little if nay explanations.
47 When two children are fighting, he disciplines children
first and asks questions.
54 He uses threats as punishment with little or no
justification.
56 When his child asks why (he)(she) has to conform, he
states: because I said so, or I am your parent and I want
you to.
Directive
-ness
17 He scolds and criticizes to make his child improve.
40 He tells his child what to do.
50 He scolds or criticizes when his child’s behavior doesn’t
meet our expectations.
59 He demands that his child does/do things.
Permissive
Items
Lack of
Follow
Through
11 He spoils his child.
20 He states punishments to his child and does not actually
do them.34 He threatens his child with punishment more often than
actually giving it.
38 He carries out discipline after his child misbehaves.
41 He gives into his child when the child causes a
commotion about something.
49 He bribes his child with rewards to bring about
compliance.
Ignoring
Misbeha-vior
8 He withholds scolding and/ or criticism even when his
child acts contrary to his wishes.
15 He allows his child to annoy someone else.
36 He ignores his child’s misbehavior.
45 He allows his child to interrupt others.
Self
Confiden
-ce
4 He finds it difficult to discipline his child.
24 He appears confident about parenting abilities.
30 He is afraid that disciplining his child for misbehavior
will cause the child to not like his/her parents.
52 He sets strict well-established rules for his child.
57 He appears unsure on how to solve his child’s
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misbehavior.
3.5 Procedure
The study will follow the following steps:
1. Analyze each father’s parenting style using PSDQ in every episodes,
2. Find out Chinese fathers’ parenting style in general from the gathered samples,
3. Analyze five fathers’ parenting styles one by one,
4. Look for the influential factors of the Chinese fathers’ parenting styles – age,
gender, and the culture.
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Chapter 4: Results
This research is to investigate Chinese fathers’ parenting styles through analyzing
a Chinese reality TV show, “Where are we going, dad” season one. While doing so,
this study is also looking for the significant differences of the fathers’ parenting styles
according to children’s different ages and gender.
All the episodes in season one are analyzed using Parenting Style and
Dimensions Questionnaire with 62 item and five-scale Likert-type questionnaire.
Every father’s performance in each episode is scored using this questionnaire. The
questionnaire measures three global parenting style variables of Baumrind’s (1971)
typologies, containing 27 authoritative items, 20 authoritarian parenting style related
items, and 15 permissive items (Robinson, C. C., Mandleco, B., Olsen, S. F., & Hart,
C., 1995, p. 822). In authoritative items, the questions are designed to answer four
parenting related factors – “warmth and involvement”, “reasoning or induction”,
“democratic participation”, and “good natured or easy going” (Robinson, C. C.,
Mandleco, B., Olsen, S. F., & Hart, C., 1995, p. 823). In authoritarian items, the
factors are “verbal hostility”, “corporal punishment”, “non-reasoning and punitive
strategies”, and “directiveness” (Robinson, C. C., Mandleco, B., Olsen, S. F., & Hart,
C., 1995, p. 824). Finally, in permissive related questions, the factors are “lack of
follow through”, “ignoring misbehavior”, and “self confidence” (Robinson, C. C.,
Mandleco, B., Olsen, S. F., & Hart, C., 1995, p. 825).
Every father’s parenting style and factors in each episode are analyzed and scored.
Then each father’s parenting style and factors in general, from all the episodes, is
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analyzed. In the end, the five fathers’ average parenting style is generalized averaging
all the scores of the five fathers’ in season one.
4.1 Each Father’s Parenting Style Analysis
4.1.1 Zhiying Lin’s parenting style
Lin is a famous Taiwanese singer, actor, and racecar driver, raising a four-year
old son, Kimi. Kimi is one of the youngest children in the TV show, and Lin and
Kimi showed the best intimacy through the whole season among the five pairs of
fathers and children. He showed the highest score in authoritative parenting items –
with an average of 3.85. Also, he showed the highest scores in all the four
authoritative factors: 4.08 in “warm and involvement”, 3.39 in “reasoning or
induction”, 3.25 in “democratic participation”, and 4.73 in “good natured or easy
going”. His scores in authoritarian items and permissive items were very low: an
average 1.4 in authoritarian items, and 2.06 in permissive related items. Overall, he
used authoritative parenting style with a specifically high score in “good natured or
easy going” factor. He appeared to be calm and patient and he never showed anger
towards his children through out all the episodes.
Table 2
Zhiying Lin’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12
Authoritative:
Warm &
Involvement
4 4.09 4.18 4.55 3.81 4.27 4.27 4.18 2.73 4.09 4.55 4.27
Authoritative:Reasoning/
Induction
2.57 2.57 2.43 3.86 2.71 4.71 4.43 4.86 2.29 3 3.29 2.57
Authoritative:Democratic
2.8 2.4 3.2 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.6 3.4 3.4
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Participation
Authoritative:
Good Natured/
Easy Going
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2.25 4.5 5 5
Authoritarian:
VerbalHostility
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2.25 1.75 1 1
Authoritarian:Corporal
Punishment
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.17 1.33 1 1
Authoritarian:
Non-Reasonin
g, Punitive
Strategies
1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1.17 1.5 1.17 1
Authoritarian:
Directiveness2.5 2.5 2 2 2 3 2.75 2.5 3 2.75 3 2.5
Permissive:
Lack of
Follow
Through
1.67 2.67 1.67 2.83 1.67 1.67 2 2 2.67 3 2.33 2
Permissive:
Ignoring
Misbehavior
2.75 2 2.75 2 2 2 2 2 1.75 1.5 2 2
Permissive:
Self
Confidence
2 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 3.4 1.8 1.8 1.8
4.1.2 Liang Zhang’s parenting style
Zhang is a Chinese model, and he participated in the program with his five-year
old son, Tiantian (nickname of his child). Tiantian said in an interview in episode 10
that his father Zhang is like a big brother to him. Zhang also acknowledged this
notion. He also showed a high score in authoritative items with an average 3.67 –
second highest among all the five fathers. His score in authoritarian items is also high
among the five fathers with 1.52 – second highest among all the five fathers. It can be
observed that his parenting style is changing through all the episodes, that in the first
episode, he showed a very good natured and authoritative parenting style, while in the
last episode he was influenced by another father, Guo, and his parenting style had
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some factors of authoritarian parenting style. His permissive items had a low score
with 2.06. Overall, he used authoritative parenting style with a high score in “good
natured or easy going” factor.
Table 3
Liang Zhang’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12
Authoritative:
Warm &
Involvement
3.64 3 3.45 3.81 3.81 4.18 4 4 3.91 4 4.36 4.27
Authoritative:Reasoning/
Induction
2 3.57 3.43 3.71 2.57 2.43 2.57 4.29 2.71 3 3.71 2.57
Authoritative:
DemocraticParticipation
2.6 2.2 2.4 3.4 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.6 2.8 3 3.4
Authoritative:
Good Natured/
Easy Going
4 3.75 4.5 5 4.5 4.75 4.5 4.75 5 4.5 4.75 5
Authoritarian:
Verbal
Hostility
2 2.25 1.75 1 1 1 1 1 1.5 1.25 1.5 1
Authoritarian:
Corporal
Punishment
1.17 1.17 1.17 1 1 1.17 1 1 1 1 1 1
Authoritarian:
Non-Reasonin
g, Punitive
Strategies
1.17 1.17 1.67 1.83 1 1 1 1 1 1.17 1 1
Authoritarian:
Directiveness
2.75 3 3.5 3 3 3 3 3 2.25 2.75 3.25 2.75
Permissive:Lack of
Follow
Through
1.5 2.67 2 3.33 1.67 1.67 1.67 2 2.5 2.83 2.17 2.17
Permissive:Ignoring
Misbehavior
2.25 1.75 1.75 2 2 2 2 2 1.75 1.5 2 2
Permissive:
SelfConfidence
2.4 1.8 2.2 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 3 2.2 1.8 1.8
4.1.3 Liang Tian’s parenting style
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Tian is a male Chinese former diver, who won the 10 m platform Olympics
champion in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He came to the show with his five-year old
daughter, Cindy. All his scores in three parenting items were under the average. His
authoritative item showed an average of 3.11, authoritarian item score was 1.46, and
permissive item score was 1.96. His average scores in “lack of follow through” factor
and “self confidence” factor in permissive items showed the lowest among the five
fathers. Cindy was an emotional girl, and he showed low parenting skills to comfort
her when her emotions broke out. In the first season, Cindy got emotional and did not
stop crying, and Tian did not know how to deal with the matter and showed
uncertainty in parenting. However, as time pass by, his parenting skills got improved
and he himself seemed to be more patient and confident with Cindy. Among all the
five fathers, his score in “good natured or easy going” in authoritative items was the
lowest with 3.5. In general, he also used authoritative parenting style.
Table 4
Liang Tian’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12
Authoritative:
Warm &
Involvement
2.72 2.81 3.82 3.82 3.45 4 3.45 3.73 2.36 4.36 4.64 4.09
Authoritative:Reasoning/
Induction
2.71 2.29 1.71 2.86 1.86 1.71 2.86 4.14 2.71 2.71 3.29 1.71
Authoritative:
Democratic
Participation
1 1.2 2.6 2.8 2.4 1.8 3 2.8 1.6 2.8 3.4 3.2
Authoritative:
Good Natured/
Easy Going
1.5 2.5 2.75 4 4 3.25 3.75 4.25 2.5 4.25 4.75 4.5
Authoritarian:
VerbalHostility
3.25 3.25 1 1 1 1.75 1 1 2 1.5 1 1
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Authoritarian:
Corporal
Punishment
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Authoritarian:
Non-Reasonin
g, PunitiveStrategies
1.33 1.5 1 1 1.17 1 1 1 2 1.33 1 1
Authoritarian:
Directiveness
3.5 2.5 1.25 2 2.5 1.5 3.25 2.5 2.25 2.5 3 2.75
Permissive:Lack of
FollowThrough
1.83 2.17 1.67 2.17 1.67 1.67 1.5 1.67 2 2.5 2.33 1.83
Permissive:Ignoring
Misbehavior
1.5 1.5 2.5 2 2 2 2 2 2.75 2 2 2
Permissive:
Self
Confidence
1.8 2 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.6 2 2.4 2.6 1.8 1.8
4.1.4 Yuelun Wang’s parenting style
Wang is a Chinese director, who took part in the program with a four-year old
daughter, Angela. Wang in the first few episodes showed a passive side in parenting,
and he himself also acknowledged in the first episode that he was not a skillful father
and that he did not usually participate in parenting at home. In authoritative,
authoritarian, and permissive items, his score in authoritative items showed the
highest with an average of 2.92. However, this score was the lowest average score in
authoritative items among all the five fathers. In detail, his scores in “warm and
involvement” factors and “reasoning or induction” factors showed the lowest scores
in all the five fathers. His authoritarian score was 1.73, which was also the lowest
score among the five fathers. Wang did not show much authoritarian side in parenting
in the TV show, and as time goes by, Wang started to feel confident in his parenting
practices, and showed lots of intimate times with Angela. In contrast, his average
permissive item score was 2.16, which was the highest among all the five fathers. He
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4.1.5 Tao Guo’s parenting style
Guo is a Chinese actor, and he participated in the TV show with a six-year old
son, Shitou (nickname of his child), the oldest child among the five children. Guo was
a stricter father comparing with the others. He usually disciplined his child when his
child disobeyed or did misbehaviors. His average score in authoritative items were
3.07, not the lowest. However, his average score in authoritarian items were 1.77, the
highest among all the five fathers. His scores in “verbal hostility” factor and
“directiveness” factor showed the highest among all the fathers. When Shitou does
misbehaviors, many times, he exploded in anger and yelled at Shitou. He also
disagreed with his child sometimes, and he believes that scolds and criticizes makes
his child improve. Overall, his parenting style could also be considered as
authoritative parenting style.
Table 6
Tao Guo’s Average Scores in Each Factor in Every Episode
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12
Authoritative:
Warm &Involvement
3.18 2.64 3.09 2.91 3.55 2.91 2.55 2.91 3.82 3.64 4.64 3.91
Authoritative:
Reasoning/Induction
1.86 3.14 2.71 3 2.71 2.14 3.43 4.43 3 2.71 3.29 3
Authoritative:
Democratic
Participation
2 1.8 1.4 3.2 2.2 2 1.4 1.4 3.4 2.6 3.2 2.6
Authoritative:Good Natured/
Easy Going
3.5 3.5 3.75 1 4 4 3 3.25 4.5 4.5 5 4.5
Authoritarian:
VerbalHostility
2 3.5 1.5 1 1.5 2 4.25 3.75 1 1 1 1
Authoritarian:Corporal
1 1.5 1 1 1 1 1 1.17 1 1.17 1 1
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Punishment
Authoritarian:
Non-Reasonin
g, Punitive
Strategies
1.33 2 1.67 1 1 1 1.67 1.83 1.33 1.33 1 1
Authoritarian:Directiveness
3 4 2.75 2.75 2.5 3.25 5 3.75 2.75 2.75 3 3
Permissive:Lack of
FollowThrough
1.33 2.33 1.67 2.33 1.83 1.83 2.17 2.17 2.83 2.67 2.17 2
Permissive:
Ignoring
Misbehavior
1.5 1.25 1.75 2 2 1.75 1 1.5 2 2 2 2
Permissive:
Self
Confidence
1.6 2 1.6 1.6 2.2 1.6 2.2 2.2 3.6 2.4 1.8 1.8
Table 7
Five fathers’ parenting factors average scores
Lin,
Zhiying
Zhang,
Liang
Tian, Liang Wang,
Yuelun
Guo, Tao
Authoritative
Factor: Warm &Involvement
4.08 4.03 3.58 3.24 3.27
Authoritative
Factor:
Reasoning/
Induction
3.39 3.06 2.66 2.21 2.96
Authoritative
Factor:
Democratic
Participation
3.25 3.02 2.38 2.38 2.23
Authoritative
Factor: Good
Natured/ EasyGoing
4.73 4.58 3.50 3.96 3.75
Authoritarian
Factor: Verbal
Hostility
1.17 1.35 1.56 1.10 2.04
Authoritarian
Factor:Corporal
Punishment
1.04 1.06 1 1.11 1.10
Authoritarian
Factor:
Non-Reasoning,Punitive
1.51 1.17 1.20 1.15 1.31
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Strategies
Authoritarian
Factor:
Directiveness
2.54 2.94 2.46 1.73 3.21
Permissive
Factor: Lack ofFollow Through
2.15 2.18 1.94 2.32 2.07
PermissiveFact