The focus of this paper is physical and relational aggression in preschoolers. There are many theories of aggression, some state aggression is a learned behaviour and others state that aggression arises out of frustration. The purpose of this paper is to examine the cross cultural differences and similarities between parenting and how it relates to physical and relational aggressiveness in preschoolers. Studies have been collected from the United States and China in hopes of examining and comparing some possible differences and similarities in culture and how they related to the behaviours in children.
The first study discussed is the North American experiment which examines aggression in relation to parenting styles, psychological control and attachment theory. Following is the Chinese study, focusing on the physical coercion and psychological control and the differences in effects between mothers and fathers.
By comparing research from different cultures we are examining the influence culture may have on how parents raise their children. There may be different standards and acceptable ways of raising your child depending on where you live and what culture you are a part of. Comparing research gives us an understanding into the development of children and their behaviours as they grow. It is important to consider the cultural differences in definitions when comparing parenting across cultures as some definitions may differ in their translation and understanding, resulting in skewed results.
With the use of 122 families and 23 teachers, researchers examined the differences in parenting perspectives to see if they provide insight into preschooler’s use of relational and physical aggression. Researchers developed three predictions for their investigation.
Initially it was proposed that children are more likely to use relationally aggressive behaviours with their peers if they have authoritarian or permissive parents (Casas et al., 2006). Secondly,...