>AsianScientist (May 12, 2011) – Family, honor, and tradition are often understood and accepted to be central themes in Chinese culture. Directly related to these is the notion of filial piety in Confucian philosophy – respect for one’s parents and ancestors.
According to a new study from the journal Child Development, this sense of responsibility may be linked to academic performance.
The study compared American and Chinese seventh grade students over the course of two years. During this period, researchers asked students about their attitudes towards parents and also tracked their grades.
At the start of seventh grade, no difference was noted between American and Chinese students’ feelings of responsibility to their parents. But over the next two years, the American children’s sense of obligation to their parents declined while Chinese students generally maintained their feelings of obligation and increased their motivation to please their parents with their academic performance. The trend of declining obligation to parents coincided with that of academic achievement.
“These different trends are notable because when children were able to maintain a sense of responsibility to their parents, they were not only more motivated and engaged in school, but also earned better grades over time,” said University of Illinois Psychology Professor Eva Pomerantz, who led the study.
“Chinese children’s maintenance of a sense of responsibility to their parents may protect them against the decline so common among American middle schoolers in their engagement and achievement in school,” said Pomerantz.
The two-year study, which included researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Beijing Normal University, involved 825 students in suburban Chicago and suburban Beijing surveyed in four sets.
“These findings are important because they suggest that one reason American children become less engaged in school during adolescence is that they do not feel a sense of commitment to their families,” Pomerantz said. “Because of the benefits for children academically, we need to identify how parents can foster a sense of responsibility in children.”
According to the study, the change in responsibility towards parents may be affected by a shift in the parents’ relationship with the children during adolescence. As American children move into adolescence, their focus moves toward life outside the family as they begin to place greater significance on relationships with peers and their independence.
Comparatively, parents remained of great importance for Chinese children during adolescence. In accordance with filial piety, this sense of responsibility may remain or even increase as children move from adolescence into adulthood.
The study concluded that efforts aimed at maintaining that sense of responsibility to parents may help enhance the investment, engagement, and ultimately performance in school.
The article can be found at: Pomerantz E et al. (2011) Chinese students, American students, filial piety, adolescence, academic achievement, academic performance, comparative study, responsibility to parents.
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Source: UIUC.
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