Abstract

     Parental control is widely considered to have a detrimental effect on children’s psychological development. However, it is commonplace and generally accepted in China and is intended to regulate children’s behavior. It is unclear whether Chinese parental control promotes or hinders children’s inhibitory control (IC) development. This study investigated the influence of maternal control on Chinese children’s development of IC using a longitudinal design (N = 163), with attention to the influence of children’s temperamental exuberance and different parenting contexts. Children’s exuberance (at 2 years of age) was assessed via laboratory observations. Maternal control (at 3 years of age) was coded during parent–child interaction in play-based and cleanup contexts. Children’s IC (at 3 years of age) was assessed by day–night and snow–grass tasks. Results suggested that maternal control in the play-based context was negatively related to IC development. The association between maternal control in the cleanup context and IC varied in children with different levels of temperamental exuberance. Specifically, maternal control in the cleanup context impeded low-exuberant children’s IC development but promoted it for highly exuberant children. These findings support the self-determination theory and the goodness-of-fit model and have implications for educational practice in China.

Introduction

     Parental control, which refers to parents’ efforts to intrude and redirect children’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, has received great attention for its effect on children’s social adjustment (Grolnick & Pomerantz, 2009). Parental control has invoked a variety of conceptualizations and operationalizations such as behavioral versus psychological control (e.g., Barber, 1996, Steinberg et al., 1989) and firm versus lax control (e.g., Fauber et al., 1990, Rowe, 1981). In the context of self-determination theory, Grolnick and Pomerantz (2009) refined multiple forms of parental control approaches and identified intrusiveness, which may violate children’s autonomy, as a core characteristic of parental control. The current study followed this conceptualization that parental control is parenting characterized by pressure, intrusion, and dominance regardless of whether it is used to regulate children’s thoughts or behaviors. Parents may be well-intended, but their controlling behaviors often do not contribute to children’s ability to regulate their own behaviors they originally intended (Grolnick, 2002). This may be because of the disrupting feelings of autonomy—children who are exposed to great parental control either are used to following their parents’ instructions and thereby lose their intrinsic motivation and regulatory ability or are resistant to their parents’ instructions and become rebellious (Grolnick, 2002).

Results

     In our sample, a child’s age was significantly correlated with exuberance (r = .25, p = .001) and was marginally significantly correlated with IC (r = .16, p = .056) and maternal control in the play-based context (r =
.۱۵, p = .083). A sex (0 = boy, 1 = girl) difference was found in exuberance that girls were less exuberant than boys, t(161) = 2.35, p = .020, Cohen’s d = 0.37). Family income (1 = less than ¥۵,۰۰۰ to 4 = more than ¥۳۰,۰۰۰) was correlated with IC (r = .25, p = .003). No significant effect of age, sex, and family income was found on the other variables (ps > .26). Maternal education showed no significant effect on key variables (ps > .17). To avoid interference from the child’s age, sex, and family income, we conducted further analyses controlling for these variables.

     Correlations between primary variables are reported in Table 1. Maternal control in two contexts was significantly correlated. Temperamental exuberance did not show any significant correlation with maternal control in either context or IC.