LISTENING TO PARENTS: CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN THE MEANING OF EMOTIONS AND EMOTION SOCIALIZATION

Abstract:

Emotional competence is vital to children's social and academic success, as well as their short- and long-term well-being and mental health; parents are active in socializing such emotional competence. In a series of focus groups, we queried parents about their emotions, to examine and understand the ways that they conceive of emotion and its place in their own and their young children's lives. Our goal was to examine differences and commonalities that parents within and across American, Hispanic-born, Japanese-born, and Romanian cultures, regarding the emotions they experience and express, their children's reactions, and what they wish their children to learn from the parent's emotions. Narrative data were analyzed via qualitative coding. Differences and similarities within and across cultures are noted and their implications are discussed.

Keywords: emotion, socialization, culture, qualitative method, children