Psychological Control, Maternal Emotion and Cognition, and Child Outcomes in Individualist and Collectivist Groups

• NCJ Number: 213052
• Journal: Journal of Emotional Abuse Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: 2005 Pages: 237-264
• Author(s): Duane Rudy; Linda Citlali Halgunseth
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Part II of Implications of Parent-Child Boundary Dissolution for Developmental Psychopathology: "Who is the Parent and Who is the Child?"

Annotation

This article explored the phenomenon of psychological control in a group of mothers from individualist backgrounds (Western European) and a group of mothers from collectivist backgrounds (Middle Eastern and South Asian).

Abstract

Findings suggest that psychological control may carry a different meaning in collectivist groups (Middle Eastern and South Asian) than in individualist groups (Western European). Higher levels of psychological control were found in the collectivist group. However, were not accompanied by higher levels of maladaptive maternal cognition and emotion, nor were they accompanied by more harmful child outcomes. Measures of psychological control may reflect maladaptive processes in individualist backgrounds, but not necessarily from a group of mothers from collective groups. This study had two main goals. The first goal was to test the relationship between maternal psychological control and perspective-taking and to assess mothers’ views of their children’s traits and their views of their children specific to when they misbehaved. The second goal was to examine psychological control in collectivist and individualist groups in order to determine the main effects of culture and differences in within-group associations. References