Cultural Differences Between Americans of Japanese and European Ancestry in Parental Valuing of Social Competence

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of cultural contexts on the development of social competence, this paper examines the differences in parents’ rankings of importance of 8 social competency items. Mothers and fathers of Japanese and European ancestry rated the items for children ranging from 8 to 18 years of age. A multiple analysis of covariance disclosed a significant main effect for ethnicity and for the ethnicity by age of child interaction. The results are interpreted with respect to Ogbu’s model of cultural ecology. The possible impact of cultural differences within the family context with regard to the development of social competence in the child is discussed.