4 research outputs found
Parenting Culture(s): Ideal-Parent Beliefs Across 37 Countries
What is it to be âan ideal parentâ? 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 âresponsible and children/family-focusedâ for Asian parents, being âresponsible and proper demeanor-focusedâ for African parents, and being âloving and responsibleâ for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zonesâbeing âloving and patient,â there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized âbeing caring,â while French-speaking parents valued âlisteningâ or being âpresent.â 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
Parental Burnout Around the Globe: a 42-Country Study
High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children. It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; M_{age} = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress
Gender gap in parental leave intentions: Evidence from 37 countries
This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.âŻDespite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To
identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute
to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18â30years old) planning to
have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that
varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take
longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and womenâs political representation partially
explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically
larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to
both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by
cross-national variations in womenâs (rather than menâs) leave intentions. Financially generous leave
and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to menâs higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with
leave intentions in men. Rather, menâs leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes.
Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster
gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed.SSHRC Insight Development GrantSSHRC Insight GrantEconomic and Social Research CouncilState Research AgencyGuangdong 13th-five Philosophy and Social Science Planning ProjectNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaSwiss National Science FoundationSwiss National Science FoundationCenter for Social Conflict and Cohesion StudiesCenter for Intercultural and Indigenous ResearchSSHRC Postdoctoral FellowshipSlovak Research and Development AgencySwiss National Science FoundationCanada Research ChairsSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of CanadaOntario Ministry of Research and InnovationHSE University, RFFaculty of Arts, Masaryk Universit
Three reasons why parental burnout is more prevalent in individualistic countries: a mediation study in 36 countries
Purpose: The prevalence of parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children, varies dramatically across countries and is highest in Western countries characterized by high individualism. Method: In this study, we examined the mediators of the relationship between individualism measured at the country level and parental burnout measured at the individual level in 36 countries (16,059 parents). Results: The results revealed three mediating mechanisms, that is, self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, high agency and self-directed socialization goals, and low parental task sharing, by which individualism leads to an increased risk of burnout among parents. Conclusion: The results confirm that the three mediators under consideration are all involved, and that mediation was higher for self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, then parental task sharing, and lastly self-directed socialization goals. The results provide some important indications of how to prevent parental burnout at the societal level in Western countries