International Journal of

Behavioral Development
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Authoritative and Authoritarian Parenting Practices and

Social and School Performance in Chinese Children
Xinyin Chen, Qi Dong and Hong Zhou
International Journal of Behavioral Development 1997 21: 855
DOI: 10.1080/016502597384703

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT, 1997, 21
(4), 855–873

Authoritative and Authoritarian Parenting Practices

and Social and School Performance in Chinese
Children
Xinyin Chen
University of Western Ontario, Canada

Qi Dong and Hong Zhou

Beijing Normal University, People’s Republic of China

The purpose of the study was to examine the relations between authoritative
and authoritarian parenting styles and social and school adjustment in Chinese
children. A sample of second grade children, aged eight years, and their
parents in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, participated in this study. The
children were group administered a peer assessment measure of social
behaviour and a sociometric nomination measure. Teachers completed a
rating scale on school-related social competence and problems for each child.
Data concerning child-rearing practices were obtained from parents. In
addition, information on children’s academic and social competence was
obtained from school records. It was found that authoritarian parenting was
associated positively with aggression and negatively with peer acceptance ,
sociability-co mpetence, distinguished studentship and school academic
achievement. In contrast, parental authoritative style was associated positively
with indices of social and school adjustment and negatively with adjustment
problems. The results indicated that, inconsistent with the argument in the
literature (e.g. Steinberg, Dornbusch, & Brown, 1992), authoritative and
authoritarian parenting practices were relevant to social and academic
performance in Chinese children.

One of the most inuential conceptual analyses on parenting is Baumrind’s

systematic discussion on the effects of parental affect and control on the

Requests for reprints should be sent to Xinyin Chen, Department of Psychology, University
of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2.
This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada and a grant from the State Education Commission of P.R. China. We would
like to thank Yong Chen, Haoli Xin, and Yan Zhou, who aided in the collection, coding and
entry of data, and those children and their parents in Beijing, P.R. China, who participated in
this study.

q 1997 The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development

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856 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

child (1967, 1971). According to Baumrind, authoritative parenting,

consisting of parental responsive attitudes and adequate control, optimally
facilitates the development of child competent behaviour. This parenting
style is typically reected by parents’ frequent employment of inductive and
supportive techniques in child rearing. It has been found in the West that
inductive reasoning and rational guidance predict children’s prosocial and
adaptive behaviour (Baumrind, 1971, 1991; Dekovic & Janssens, 1992;
Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987; Zahn-Waxler,
Radke-Yarrow, & King, 1979). This may be because, when parents are
sensitive to the child’s needs and abilities and parental expectations and
requests are reasonable and appropriate for the child, he/she is likely to
accept and follow parents’ suggestions and advice. In addition, authoritative
parents’ nurturant and rational behaviour may serve as a model for the child
(Bandura, 1977).
In contrast, authoritarian parents are controlling and rejecting of the
child; they tend to use power-assertive, prohibitive, and punitive strategies
and emphasise absolute obedience of the child. Because prohibition and
power assertion are likely to be related to anxiety, fear, and frustration in
children, it is not difŽcult to understand that children of authoritarian
parents tend to be self-oriented and to have low self-esteem and negative
attitudes towards the world (e.g. Coopersmith, 1967; Lempers, Clark-
Lempers, & Simons, 1989; Weiss, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1992), which, in
turn, may contribute to the development of deviant behaviours and
adjustment problems (e.g. Eisenberg & Murphy, 1995; Hart, DeWolf,
Wozniak, & Burt, 1992; Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991).
Although the role of parental behaviour may be appreciated in most
societies (Harkness & Super, 1995; Whiting & Edward, 1988), it remains to
be examined whether the Western-based conceptualisation of parenting
behaviour, such as authoritarian and authoritative practices, can be
generalised to other cultures. For example, several researchers have recently
argued that parental authoritativeness and authoritarianism in Chinese
culture may have the meanings that are different from those typically found
in Western cultures (Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Ekblad, 1986; Steinberg et
al., 1992; Wu, 1981). According to this argument, although controlling and
authoritarian strategies have been found to be associated with child
behavioural and adjustment problems in Western children (e.g. Dornbusch
et al., 1987), it may be positively valued in the hierarchical collectivistic
Chinese society and thus associated with adaptive outcomes in Chinese
children (e.g. Chiu, 1987; Ekblad, 1986). As an evidence for this argument, it
has been found consistently that Chinese parents are more controlling and
authoritarian and less authoritative than North American parents (Chao,
1994; Dombusch et al., 1987; Ho, 1986; Kelley, 1992; Lin & Fu, 1990).
However, Chinese children have been found to perform better than their
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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 857

North American counterparts on academic achievement (e.g. Dornbusch et

al., 1987; Stevenson et al., 1990). Nevertheless, there has been little empirical
research extant that directly examines the links between parental
authoritarian and authoritative styles and child adjustment in Chinese
culture.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between
authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and social adjustment
and academic achievement in Chinese children. To avoid potential
confounding factors that might be involved in the use of immigrant Chinese
samples in Western countries (e.g. Dornbusch et al., 1987), such as mixed
cultural inuences and stress in adjustment to the new environment, a
sample of elementary school children in Beijing, the People’s Republic of
China, was selected for the study. Information on child-rearing practices,
children’s academic achievement and learning problems, peer acceptance
and rejection, and social functioning was obtained from parents, teachers,
peers, and school administrative records.
It may be true that, due to the emphasis on parental authority and the
child’s obedience in traditional Chinese culture, Chinese parents are highly
controlling and authoritarian, compared with Western parents (Dornbusch
et al., 1987; Kelley, 1992; Lin & Fu, 1990). However, it may be misleading to
suggest that parental authoritarianism has positive effects on social
adjustment and academic achievement in Chinese children. In fact, parents
in China are often encouraged to be controlling based on affectionate
attitudes towards the child. What is really valued in Chinese culture is
parental care, involvement , supervision, and encouragem ent of
achievement (e.g. Chen, in press; Chen & Kaspar, in press; Ho, 1986). An
ideal parent, particularly the mother, is often described as kindhearted and
strict (ci-xiang and yan-ge in Mandarin), which is similar to authoritative,
rather than authoritarian, approach. It may be true that authoritarian,
power-assertive parenting is necessary, and thus adaptive, in dangerous
societies or communities where violence and the risks of antisocial activities
are relatively commonplace (Garcia Coll, Meyer, & Brillon, 1995; Kelley,
Power, & Wimbush, 1992), particularly from a short-term perspective.
However, this is clearly not the case in China.
Thus, regardless of cross-cultural differences between Chinese and North
American parents in the average levels of authoritativeness and
authoritarianism, we argue that the adaptational meanings of these
parenting styles are similar to those typically found in the Western literature
(e.g. Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). SpeciŽcally, given that
coercive, power-assertive, and prohibitive strategies may lead to the child’s
negative emotional and behavioural reactions such as fear, frustration and
anger, we believe that authoritarian parenting may be associated with
maladaptive social and academic development in Chinese children. In
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858 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

contrast, as authoritative parenting provides explanation, guidance, and

communication of affect, it may be associated with the child’s feelings of
conŽdence and security in the exploration of the world and positive
parent-child relationships, which, in turn, may be associated with children’s
social and scholastic competence. It is important to note that these
arguments are not in contradiction with the Žndings on diverse culture-
speciŽc forms and processes of parenting such as when and how parents care
for children in China and other societies (see Bornstein, 1991, 1995; Chen &
Kaspar, in press, for comprehensive reviews; Whiting & Edwards, 1988).
It has been found that both academic achievement and the quality of peer
relationships are signiŽcant indices of school adjustment in Chinese and
Western children (Chen, in press; Chen, Rubin, & Sun, 1992, Coie, Dodge, &
Kupersmidt, 1990; Stevenson et al., 1990). Children who have academic
difŽculties are likely to experience psychological problems such as negative
self-perceptions of general self-worth and depression (Chen, Rubin, & Li,
1995a, Fauber, Forehand, Long, Burke, & Faust, 1987; Kellam, Brown,
Rubin, & Ensminger, 1983). Similarly, children who have difŽculties in peer
acceptance may be “at risk” for maladaptive development such as school
drop-out, delinquency, and psychopathology (Chen et al., 1995a, Chen,
Rubin, & Li, 1995b; Coie et al., 1990; Parker & Asher, 1987). Based on our
speculations described earlier, we hypothesised that, inconsistent with the
previous arguments concerning Chinese parenting practices (e.g. Ekblad,
1986; Steinberg et al., 1992), authoritative parenting style would be
positively associated with school academic achievement and social status. In
contrast, authoritarian parenting would be related to school difŽculties and
peer rejection.
Recent research on children’s social functioning has mainly focused on
sociability, aggression-disruption, and shyness-inhibition (e.g. Morison, &
Masten, 1991). Consistent with the Western results (e.g. Coie et al., 1990),
sociable-prosocial behaviour has been found to be associated with peer
acceptance, leadership and academic achievement, whereas aggressive-
disruptive behaviour is associated with and predictive of adjustment
problems including peer rejection and academic difŽculties in Chinese
children (Chen et al., 1992, 1995b). Inconsistent with the Western literature
(e.g. Rubin & Asendorpf, 1993) in which shy-inhibited behaviour has been
considered socially incompetent, immature, and maladaptive, shyness-social
inhibition is positively evaluated, re ecting social maturity and
understanding in Chinese culture (King & Bond, 1985); shy-sensitive
children are accepted by peers and adjust well to the environment in China
(Chen et al., 1992, 1995b). Therefore, we hypothesised that authoritative
parenting would be associated positively with sociable-prosocial behaviou r
and shy-inhibited behaviour and negatively with aggression-disruption. We
further hypothesised that authoritarian parenting would be associated
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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 859

positively with aggression and negatively with sociability and shyness-

inhibition.
Finally, it has been found that fathers and mothers may play different
roles in child rearing (e.g. Belsky, Gilstrap, & Rovine, 1984; Parke, 1995).
Thus, we examined the relations between parenting practices and child
functioning separately for mothers and fathers. In addition, because the
literature has indicated that the impact of socialisation practices on social
and school performance may differ for boys and girls (e.g. Crouter, Manke,
& McHale, 1995; Hart et al., 1992), the moderating effects of gender on the
relations between parenting and child performance were also examined in
this study.

METHOD
Participants
A total of 304 second-grade children (161 males and 143 females) attending
two elementary schools that were randomly selected in Beijing, People’s
Republic of China, participated in the study. The mean age of the children
was 7 years, 11 months (SD 5 8 months). Complete data concerning
child-rearing practices and family background were obtained from 263
mothers and 249 fathers.
The children were from two kinds of families: (a) 63% of the children were
from families in which parents were ordinary workers; most of these parents
had an educational level of high school or below; (b) 37% of the children
were from professional families in which one or both parents were teachers,
doctors, engineers, or ofŽcials; their educational levels ranged from high
school to university graduate. Due to the “one-child-per-family policy” that
was implemented in the late 1970s, almost all children in China, particularly
in urban areas, are “only” children. This has become an important feature of
family and social conditions in China and thus represents an integral part of
the sociocultural background. Consistently, 97% of the children had no
siblings in our sample. Thirty-four percent of children lived in a family which
consisted of three generations: grandparent s, parents, and the child; and
66% of children were from nuclear families in which only parents and the
child lived together. Finally, 96% of the children lived with both parents.
About 2.5% of children had a single parent (usually mother) due to divorce
or separation and the rest of the children lived with a single parent due to
parental death or other events. These demographic data were virtually
identical to those reported by the China State Statistics Bureau concerning
urban population in China in 1990s (The People’s Daily, 12 October
1994). Thus, the sample was representative of school-aged children in urban
China.
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860 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

Procedure
The children were group administered a peer assessment measure of social
behaviour (The Revised Class Play; Masten, Morison, & Pelligrini, 1985)
and a sociometric nomination measure. Teachers completed a measure
concerning children’s school-related competence and problems (The
Teacher Child Rating Scale; Hightower et al., 1986). Parents of the children
in each class were invited to come to the school and requested to complete a
set of “Parental Questionnaire s”. The questionnaires included a measure of
child-rearing practices and a survey of background information. Finally,
information on children’s social achievement and academic achievement in
Chinese and mathematics was obtained from school administrative records.
The administration of all measures was carried out in May 1994, by a group
of university teachers and graduate students in psychology, all of whom are
Chinese.
Schools in China act in loco parentis, and thus written parental permission
was not obtained for the children. Nevertheless, the parents were aware that
their children participated in the project.

Measures
Child-rearing Beliefs and Practices. Parental beliefs and behaviours in
child rearing were assessed by using a Chinese version of Block’s Child
Rearing Practices Report (CRPR; Block, 1981). There are 91 items in this
measure that tap different types of parenting practices such as
encouragement of independenc e, punishment, induction, emphasis on
achievement, inhibition of affection, and emphasis on conformity. This
measure has been used and proved appropriate in Chinese and many other
cultures (e.g. Block, 1981; Lin & Fu, 1990; Mizuta, Zahn-Waxler, Cole, &
Hiruma, 1996). On the basis of Baumrind’s (1971) and Maccoby and
Martin’s (1983) paradigms, Kochanska, Kuczynski, and Radke-Yarrow
(1989) have recently reconceptualised parenting patterns as reected by
these items and derived the indices of authoritative and authoritarian styles.
The authoritative parenting consists of a set of items describing rational
guidance, inductive reasoning, encouragement of child independenc e,
parent-child communication and emphasis on achievement (e.g. “I respect
my child’s opinions and encourage him/her to express them”; “I encourage
my child to be curious, to explore and question things”; “I talk it over and
reason with my child when he/she misbehaves”). Authoritarian parenting
consists of items describing physical punishment, verbal reprimands,
power-assertive strategies, and discouragement of the child’s emotional
expression and of verbal give-and-take between parent and child (e.g. “I do
not allow my child to question my decisions”; “I believe physical punishment
to be the best way of disciplining”; “I believe that scolding and criticism
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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 861

make my child improve”). It has been found that the indexes of authoritative
and authoritarian patterns are valid in predicting observed parental
behaviours, parent-child interactions and the child’s social behaviour s
(Kochanska, 1990; Kochanska et al., 1989). Kochanska et al.’s approach in
constructing authoritative and authoritarian patterns based on the CRPR
items was adopted in some studies of parenting in Chinese and other cultures
(e.g. Chao, 1994; Dekovic, Janssens, & Gerris, 1991). In keeping with the
literature, this approach was also used in the present study.
The original format of the CRPR is Q-sort. As recommended by other
authors (Chao, 1994; Dekovic et al., 1991; Lin & Fu, 1990; Rickel & Biasatti,
1982), however, 5-point Likert-type scale was used in the present study in
order to facilitate data collection. Parents were requested to rate each item
in the CRPR on a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (1 5 strongly disagree;
5 5 strongly agree). The measure was translated and back-translated to
ensure comparability with the English versions. No evidence was found in a
series of pilot studies that Chinese parents had difŽculty understanding the
items in the measure.
Exploratory and conŽrmatory factor analyses of the data in the Chinese
sample indicated that authoritative and authoritarian items as identiŽed by
Kochanska (1990) clearly loaded on their corresponding factors. Thus,
authoritative and authoritarian scores were computed by summing the items
in each category, with higher scores indicating more authoritative or
authoritarian parenting. The mean scores of authoritative and authoritarian
patterns were 103.03 (SD 5 9.76) and 63.02 (SD 5 9.11), respectively for
mothers, and 101.19 (SD 5 11.65) and 61.29 (SD 5 7.60), respectively for
fathers. NonsigniŽcant differences were found between mothers and fathers
in authoritative and authoritarian patterns. Internal consistencies for
authoritative and authoritarian patterns were .85 and .75 respectively for
mothers, and .89 and .78, respectively for fathers in the present study.

Peer Assessments of Social Behaviour. Peer assessments of social

behaviour were assessed using a Chinese version of the Revised Class Play
(Masten et al., 1985). Consistent with the procedures outlined by Masten et
al. (1985), during administration, each child was Ž rst provided a booklet in
which each of 30 behavioural descriptors (e.g. “Someone who is a good
leader”) and the names of all students in the class were printed on each page.
After the administrator read one behavioural descriptor, children were
requested to nominate up to three classmates who could best play the role if
they were to direct a Class Play. When all children in the class completed
their nominations, they turned to the next item, until nominations for all 30
items were obtained. Subsequently, nominations received from all
classmates were used to compute each item score for each child. The item
scores were standardised within the class to adjust for differences in the
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862 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

number of nominators. Factor analysis revealed three orthogonal factors in

this measure: Sociability-leadership (e.g. “A person who everyone listens
to”, “Somebody who makes new friends easily”), Aggression-disruption
(e.g. “Someone who gets into a lot of Žghts”, “Someone who picks on other
kids”), and Shyness-sensitivity (e.g. “Someone who is very shy”, “Someone
whose feelings are easily hurt”) (Chen et al., 1992). The measure has proved
reliable and valid in Chinese children (Chen et al., 1992; Chen & Rubin,
1994).

Sociometric Nominations. Children were asked to nominate three

classmates with whom he/she most liked to be and three classmates with
whom he/she least liked to be. The nominations received from all classmates
were totalled and then standardised within each class to permit appropriate
comparisons. The positive nominations received from peers provided an
index of peer acceptance. The negative playmate nominations received from
peers provided an index of peer rejection. Both positive and negative
sociometric nominations were proven reliable in Chinese children (Chen et
al., 1992). Following Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli’s procedure (1982), an
index of peer sociometric preference, which indicates how well a child is
liked by peers, was formed by subtracting negative nomination scores from
the positive nomination scores.

Teacher Ratings. In Chinese schools, one teacher is usually in charge of a

class. This head instructor often teaches one major course, such as Chinese
language or mathematics; he/she also takes care of the various political,
social, administrative, and daily affairs and activities of the class. The head
teacher usually instructs the same group of children over several years, thus,
he/she is very familiar with the students. Following procedures outlined by
Hightower et al. (1986), the head teacher in each class was asked to complete
the Teacher-Child Rating Scale (T-CRS; Hightower et al., 1986) for each
child in his/her class. Teachers were asked to rate, on a 5-point scale, how
well each of the items described the child. The complete measure consists of
two parts: (1) an assessment of elementary school children’s problem
behaviours, and (2) an assessment of elementary children’s school
competencies. Part I consists of 18 items describing problem behaviours.
Consistent with the results of the original study (Hightower et al., 1986),
three factors were identiŽed: (1) Acting-out/aggression (e.g. “Disruptive in
class”); (2) Shyness-Anx iety (e.g. “Shy, timid”), and (3) Learning Problems
(“Having problems in learning academic subjects”). Part II of the T-CRS
consists of 20 items concerning school-related competencies. The items in
this part of the original measure involve four areas: (1) assertive social skills;
(2) frustration tolerance; (3) task orientation; and (4) peer social skills
(Hightower et al., 1986). Factor analyses revealed that the 20 items (e.g.
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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 863

“Participates in class discussion”; “Is friendly toward peers”) represented a

single factor. Thus, for purposes of the present study, we used only a global
score, which we referred to as school social competence. The T-CRS has
proved reliable and valid in Chinese children (Chen & Rubin, 1994).
Because the items for peer-assessed sociability-leadership and teacher-
assessed school-related social competence virtually reected the same
construct, to reduce overlap and redundancy in analyses, peer and teacher
assessment scores were standardised and then aggregated to form a single
index of sociability-competence. Similarly, peer and teacher assessments on
aggression and shyness were aggregated to form a single index of the
1
corresponding construct.

School Academic Achievement. Information concerning academic

achievement in Chinese and mathematics was obtained for all participants
from the school records. The scores of academic achievement were based on
two Žnal term examinations that were conducted before and after the
collection of other data (February and July 1994). Maximum scores for
Chinese and mathematics were 100; a test score of 60 is usually considered
the cut-off between a pass and a failure. The scores based on the two
examinations were summed to form a single index of academic achievement
in Chinese and mathematics. Academic achievement in Chinese and
mathematics were signiŽcantly correlated with each other (r 5 .55, P , .001)
and with teacher-rated learning problems (rs 5 2 .40 and 2 .45, P , .001,
respectively). Thus, a single index of school achievement was formed by
aggregating standardised academic achievement scores with reversed
standardised learning problems scores.

Distinguished Studentship. There is usually an evaluation of each

student by the end of each academic year in Chinese schools. Students who
are judged by classmates and teachers to be morally “good” as well as
intellectually and physically competent, may be nominated for the school or
municipal award of “distinguished student in three areas” (san hao xue
sheng, in Mandarin). There are different levels of “distinguished student”,
from the class level, to the school level, to the district level, and Žnally to the
municipal level. Once approved by the school, the District Educational
Bureau, or the Municipal Educational Bureau, the students who obtain the
status of “distinguished student” are given awards in collective meetings.
The achievement of this honour is recorded in the student Ž le and a
certiŽcate of honourship is delivered to the family. “Distinguished

The correlations between teacher ratings and peer assessments were .55, P , .001, on
1

sociability, .63, P, , .001, on aggression, and .15, P , .01, on shyness. The patterns of relations
between teacher and peer assessments of social functioning and parenting styles were virtually
identical.
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864 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

studentship” was coded as follows: students who did not receive any awards
in the past year received a score of zero; students who received the award at
the class level over the past year received a score of 1; and students who
received the award beyond the class level received a score of 2. The mean
score of this variable was .50 (SD 5 .61).

RESULTS
Intercorrelations among child social and school variables are presented in
Table 1. The results indicated that peer sociometric preference, sociability-
competence, distinguished studentship and academic achievement were
positively correlated. These variables were negatively correlated with
aggression-disruption. Shyness was positively correlated with peer
preference and sociability-competence. The magnitudes of the correlations
were from low to moderate, suggesting that these measures tapped different,
overlapping aspects of school adjustment.
We examined whether there were gender differences in the relations
between parenting practices and child variables (i.e. whether the relations
were moderated by gender). Multiple regression analyses were used for this
purpose as parenting variables were continuous variables. In the analyses,
each of the child social and school variables was the criterion variable. The
interaction between child gender and each of the parenting variables was
entered into the equation after the main effects of gender and parenting
were controlled. SigniŽcant interactions were found: (1) between child
gender and mothers’ authoritative parenting in predicting aggression-
disruption, R change 5 .02, P , .05; (2) between gender and mothers’
2

2
authoritarian parenting in predicting sociability-competence, R
change 5 .02, P , .05; and (3) between gender and mothers’ authoritarian
parenting in predicting shyness, R2 change 5 .04, P , .01. Correlations for
boys and girls were computed and are presented in Table 1 separately when
signiŽcant gender differences in the relations were found.
The results indicated that authoritarian parenting style of both parents
was signiŽcantly and positively correlated with aggression-disruption. The

TABLE 1
Intercorrelations among Child Social and School Variables

1 2 3 4 5
1. Sociometic preference
2. Sociability .60***
3. Aggressio n 2 .43*** 2 .26***
4. Shyness .14** .19*** 2 .09
5. Distinguished studentship .50** * .70** * 2 .21*** .07
6. School achievemen t .53** * .61** * 2 .47*** 2 .02 .53***
** P , .01; *** P , .001.
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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 865

TABLE 2
Correlations between Parenting Practices and Child Social and School Performance

Mother (N 5 263) Father (N 5 249)

Authoritative Authoritarian Authoritative Authoritarian
Sociometric preference .15** 2 .19** .13* 2 .36***
Sociability .15** .06/ 2 .22** .13* 2 .30***
Aggression .07/ 2 .27*** .19** 2 .16** .27***
Shyness 2 .01 .03/ 2 .31*** 2 .05 2 .25***
Distinguished studentship .13* 2 .16** .13* 2 .31***
School achievemen t .10* 2 .27*** .19** 2 .31***
Note : Correlations for boys and girls are presented before and after the slash, respectively
when signiŽ cant sex differences were found.
* P , .05; ** P , .01; *** P , .001.

results also indicated that authoritarian style of both parents was

signiŽcantly and negatively correlated with sociometric preference,
distinguished studentship and school achievement. Fathers’ authoritarian
parenting was signiŽcantly and negatively correlated with sociability-
competence and shyness. Mothers’ authoritarian parenting was signiŽcantly
and negatively correlated with sociability-competence and shyness for girls,
but not for boys.
Authoritative style of both parents was signiŽcantly and positively
correlated with peer sociometric preference, sociability-competence,
distinguished studentship, and school achievement. Fathers’ authoritative
parenting was signiŽcantly and negatively correlated with aggression-
disruption. Mothers’ authoritative parenting style was signiŽcantly and
negatively correlated with aggression-disruption for girls, but not for boys.
No other correlations were signiŽcant. In general, these results suggested
that children of authoritarian parents tended to have problems in social
adjustment and academic performance in the school. In contrast, children
who had authoritative parents tended to adjust well both socially and
academically in the school.
A series of regression analyses was conducted to examine relative
contributions of the parenting variables to the prediction of child social and
school performance. Because there were signiŽcant gender differences in
the relations between mothers’ parenting styles and child sociability-
competence, aggression-disruption and shyness, regression analyses were
conducted separately for boys and girls for these social variables. Given the
parallel status of the four parenting variables, they were entered into the
equation simultaneously to control for overlap among the variables .
We Žrst found that mothers’ authoritative parenting style was signiŽcantly
and uniquely predictive of sociometric preference over and above the
contributions of other parenting variables, b 5 .13, P , .05. Fathers’
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866 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

authoritative style signiŽcantly and positively predicted school achievement,

b 5 .18, P , .01. Fathers’ authoritarian parenting signiŽcantly and negativel y
contributed to the prediction of sociometric preference, b 5 2 .37, P , .001,
distinguished studentship, b 5 2 .32, P , .001, and school achievement,
b 5 2 .23, P , .01. The analyses that were conducted separately for boys and
girls revealed that mothers’ authoritative styles signiŽcantly and negativel y
predicted aggression-disruption for girls, b 5 2 .18, P , .05, but not for boys.
In addition, fathers’ authoritarian style signiŽcantly predicted sociability-
competence for both boys and girls, b 5 2 .30, P , .01, and b 5 2 .36,
P , .001, respectively, aggression-disruption for both boys and girls, b 5 .32,
P , .01, and b 5 .19, P , .05, and shyness for girls, b 5 2 .28, P , .01. No
other parenting variables signiŽcantly predicted child variables. The total
variance that was accounted for by the four parenting variables ( R2 ) was
16% for sociometric preference, 12% for distinguished studentship, 17% for
school achievement. The parenting variables accounted for 11% and 20% of
the variance of sociability-competence, 11% and 15% of the variance of
aggression-disruption, and 2% and 16% of the variance of shyness, for boys
and girls, respectively.
Finally, because the children in this sample were from families in which
parents had different occupational and educational levels, we examined
whether parental occupation and education were related to parenting
practices and whether parental occupation and education moderated the
relations between parenting and child social and school adjustment.
Parental educational levels and occupations were signiŽcantly correlated,
rs 5 .42 and .51, P , .001, for mothers and fathers, respectively; they were
standardised and then aggregated to form a single index of social status for
each parent (see Chen & Rubin, 1994 for further information).
It was found that parental social status was signiŽcantly and positively
correlated with authoritative patterns, r 5 .15, P , .01, and .13, P , .05, for
mothers and fathers, respectively. Moreover, mothers’ social status was
found to be signiŽcantly and negatively correlated with authoritarian
parenting, r 5 2 .17, P , .01. There was nonsigniŽcant relation between
fathers’ social status and authoritarian parenting style. The results suggested
that parents with a relatively higher occupational and educational level were
more likely to use authoritative practices and less likely to use authoritarian
practices in child rearing. Regression analyses revealed that interactions
between parental social status and parenting practices were nonsigniŽcant in
predicting child social and school variables. The results indicated that the
relations between authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and
social functioning and school achievement were consistent for children from
families with different occupational and educational status.

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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 867

DISCUSSION
It has been found consistently that Chinese parents are more authoritarian
and less authoritative than North American parents (e.g. Dornbusch et al.,
1987; Lin & Fu, 1990). However, little is known about the adaptationa l
meanings of authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles in Chinese
culture. In other words, it is unclear how these parenting styles are relevant
to social functioning and school performance in Chinese children. For
example, regardless of cross-cultural differences between Chinese and
Western parents in the mean level of authoritarian ism and
authoritativeness, are relative variations among Chinese parents in these
parenting styles associated with different school performance in children?
Furthermore, are the patterns of the relations between these parenting
styles and child performance similar to what have been found in Western
cultures (e.g. Baumrind, 1971)?
The results of the present study indicated that, inconsistent with the
arguments in the literature (e.g. Chao, 1994; Darling & Steinberg, 1993;
Ekblad, 1986; Steinberg et al., 1992; Wu, 1981), authoritarian and
authoritative parenting styles were relevant to children’s academic success
and social adjustment in China. It was found that authoritarian parenting of
both mothers and fathers was positively associated with aggression-
disruption and negatively associated with peer acceptance, sociability-
competence, distinguished studentship, and school achievement. It was also
found that authoritative parenting style was positively related to children’s
peer acceptance, social competence, and school achievement and negativel y
related to children’s social difŽculties. The results of the regression analyses
were largely consistent with these Žndings. Thus, it may be safe to conclude
that authoritarian and authoritative parenting practices in Chinese culture
serve the functions in child rearing that are similar to those found in Western
cultures (e.g. Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). In both cultures,
authoritarian parenting, as represented by parental enforcement,
punishment and negative affect, may lead to confusion, frustration and
feelings of insecurity in children which, in turn, may lead to deviant social
behaviours and peer rejection in the school. Furthermore, given that
authoritarian parents provide little explanation, guidance, and emotional
support in child rearing, their children may be less likely than others to
develop intrinsic achievement motivation and more likely than others
to experience difŽculties in academic performance, which may in turn lead
to further parental disappointment and rejection. In contrast, authoritative
parenting based on warmth, induction, and encouragem ent of exploration
may be associated with conŽdence and positive orientation towards the
world which, in turn, may lead to child competent behaviour in the peer
group and high academic motivation and achievement.
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868 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

It was found that parental social status was positively associated with
authoritative patterns and negatively associated with authoritarian
parenting style, although the associations were weak. Compared with
parents who had low educational and occupational levels, parents with a
relatively high social status appeared to be less likely to value authoritarian,
power-assertive, and punitive strategies, and more likely to understand the
importance of inductive and rational parenting for social and cognitive
development in children. Nevertheless, nonsigniŽcant interactions between
parental social status and parenting styles were found on peer acceptance,
social functioning, and academic achievement in children. Thus, the
relevancy of authoritarian and authoritative parenting practices to social
competence and academic performance was consistent for children from
families with different occupational and educational status.
The results of the present study suggested also that parenting practices
might function differently at cross-cultural and intra-cultural levels;
generalisatio n of the Žndings from one level to the other might be
inappropriate. Although differences between Chinese and North American
parents in parenting practices may not account for cross-cultural differences
in children’s academic achievement (e.g. Dornbusch et al., 1987), it would be
incorrect to conclude that authoritarian and authoritative parenting patterns
or parental inuences are irrelevant to individual differences in school
performance within Chinese or American culture. Consistently, the Žndings
concerning the associations between authoritarian and authoritative
parenting styles and children’s school performance in Chinese and
American Cultures do not imply that cross-cultural differences in school
performance between Chinese and American children may necessarily be
explained by different parenting styles in Chinese and American parents.
It was found in the present study that authoritarian parenting style was
signiŽcantly and negatively associated with shyness-social inhibition. This
result was opposite to the Ž ndings that authoritarian practices are positively
predictive of shy, restrained, and reticent behaviour in Western children
(e.g. Baumrind, 1971; Mills & Rubin, 1993). The different results concerning
the relations between parenting practices and shyness-inhibition in Chinese
and Western children may be due to the different meanings of shy-inhibited
behaviour in the two cultures. As we described earlier, although shy,
anxious, and restrained behaviour is considered socially immature and
incompetent, indicating internalising problems in the West (Achenbach &
Edelbrock, 1981), it is acceptable in Chinese culture (e.g. Chen et al., 1992,
1995a, b). Indeed, shy-inhibited children are regarded as understanding and
well behaved in China. Consistent with this argument, it was found in the
present study that shyness-inhibition was positively associated with
sociability-competence and peer social preference. Given this background,

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 PARENTING PRACTICES AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE 869

it is conceivable that authoritarian parenting is negatively associated with

shyness-inhibition in Chinese children.
The child’s gender may serve as a moderating variable in the inuences of
family conditions, including parenting practices, on social and school
performance. For example, it has been reported that girls may be more
involved in family activities, especially with the mother (e.g. Crouter et al.,
1995), and thus more responsive and sensitive to parental inuences than
boys (e.g. Hart et al., 1992). This may be also the case in China because girls
are often encouraged to help the mother with household chores whereas
boys are typically encouraged to go out and play with peers. Consequently,
parenting styles and family conditions may have greater impact on girls than
on boys. This argument was consistent with the Žndings in the present study
concerning gender differences in the relations between mothers’ parenting
styles and child social functioning. It was found that mothers’ authoritative
parenting signiŽcantly and negatively predicted aggression-disruption for
girls; however, the association between the two variables was nonsigniŽcant
for boys. Moreover, it was found that mothers’ authoritarian style was
signiŽcantly and negatively associated with social competence and shyness-
inhibition for girls, but not for boys. These results suggested that boys and
girls might respond differently to mothers’ parenting behaviour .
There were several limitations in this study. First, we used the Block’s
CRPR to measure parenting practices so that the results could be compared
with the Western literature extant. Although this measure has been
commonly used and proved valid in other cultures (e.g. Lin & Fu, 1990;
Mizuta et al., 1996) and although the results of the present study
demonstrated meaningful associations between authoritative and
authoritarian parenting styles and social and school performance in Chinese
children, it is important to examine systematically the validity of the
measure in broader areas of Chinese children’s adjustment in the future.
Second, due to the “one-child-per-family” policy in China, almost all of the
participants in our sample were children who did not have siblings. It should
be noted that researchers have recently found nonsigniŽcant differences
between only and sibling children in China (e.g. Chen, Rubin, & Li, 1994).
Moreover, there is no extant evidence indicating that only versus sibling
status may moderate or confound the relations between parenting and child
functioning. Nevertheless, one should be careful in generalising the results
of this study to other populations. Finally, the present study was
correlational in nature. It has been argued that, although parental behaviou r
inuences child behaviour and performance, child characteristics and
behaviour may affect parenting (Bell & Chapman, 1986; Lytton, 1990).
Thus, the Žndings concerning the relations between authoritarian and
authoritative parenting practices and child social adjustment and school
achievement in the present study should be understood with caution in terms
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870 CHEN, DONG, ZHOU

of causal inuences. Nevertheless, regardless of the direction of effect, the

results concerning the associations between authoritarian and authoritative
parenting styles and child social and school adjustment demonstrated the
relevancy of these parenting styles in Chinese culture. This is the major
contribution of the study to the area of parenting.

Manuscript received July 1996

Revised manuscript received April 1997

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