TY - JOUR

T1 - Parenting Culture(s): Ideal-Parent Beliefs Across 37 Countries

AU - Lin, Gao Xian

AU - Mikolajczak, Moïra

AU - Keller, Heidi

AU - Akgun, Ege

AU - Arikan, Gizem

AU - Aunola, Kaisa

AU - Barham, Elizabeth

AU - Besson, Eliane

AU - Blanchard, M. Annelise

AU - Boujut, Emilie

AU - Brianda, Maria Elena

AU - Brytek-Matera, Anna

AU - César, Filipa

AU - Chen, Bin Bin

AU - Dorard, Géraldine

AU - dos Santos Elias, Luciana Carla

AU - Dunsmuir, Sandra

AU - Egorova, Natalia

AU - Escobar, Maria Josefina

AU - Favez, Nicolas

AU - Fontaine, Anne Marie

AU - Foran, Heather

AU - Furutani, Kaichiro

AU - Gannagé, Myrna

AU - Gaspar, Maria

AU - Godbout, Lucie

AU - Goldenberg, Amit

AU - Gross, James J.

AU - Gurza, Maria Ancuta

AU - Hatta, Ogma

AU - Heeren, Alexandre

AU - Helmy, Mai

AU - Huynh, Mai Trang

AU - Kaneza, Emérence

AU - Kawamoto, Taishi

AU - Kellou, Nassima

AU - Kpassagou, Bassantéa Lodegaèna

AU - Lazarevic, Ljiljana

AU - Le Vigouroux, Sarah

AU - Lebert-Charron, Astrid

AU - Leme, Vanessa

AU - MacCann, Carolyn

AU - Manrique-Millones, Denisse

AU - Medjahdi, Oussama

AU - Millones Rivalles, Rosa Bertha

AU - Miranda Orrego, María Isabel

AU - Miscioscia, Marina

AU - Mousavi, Seyyedeh Fatemeh

AU - Moutassem-Mimouni, Badra

AU - Murphy, Hugh

AU - Ndayizigiye, Alexis

AU - Ngnombouowo, Tenkue Josué

AU - Olderbak, Sally

AU - Ornawka, Sophie

AU - Cádiz, Daniela Oyarce

AU - Pérez-Díaz, Pablo A.

AU - Petrides, Konstantinos

AU - Prikhidko, Alena

AU - Salinas-Quiroz, Fernando

AU - Santelices, Maria Pia

AU - Schrooyen, Charlotte

AU - Silva, Paola

AU - Simonelli, Alessandra

AU - Sorkkila, Matilda

AU - Stănculescu, Elena

AU - Starchenkova, Elena

AU - Szczygieł, Dorota

AU - Tapia, Javier

AU - Tremblay, Melissa

AU - Tri, Thi Minh Thuy

AU - Üstündağ-Budak, A. Meltem

AU - Valdés Pacheco, Maday

AU - van Bakel, Hedwig

AU - Verhofstadt, Lesley

AU - Wendland, Jaqueline

AU - Yotanyamaneewong, Saengduean

AU - Roskam, Isabelle

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

PY - 2022/11/15

Y1 - 2022/11/15

N2 - What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures.

AB - What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures.

KW - automated content analysis

KW - parental beliefs

KW - positive parenting

KW - qualitative and quantitative methods

KW - semantic network analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142280958&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/dbfa1107-6a36-3986-a873-831ea45dab93/

U2 - 10.1177/00220221221123043

DO - 10.1177/00220221221123043

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85142280958

VL - 54

SP - 4

EP - 24

JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

SN - 0022-0221

IS - 1

ER -