The transmission of educational expectations from parents to early adolescents in Chinese families: The moderating role of the training parenting style

Given the significance of education in Chinese culture and based on the contextual model of parenting style (Darling & Steinberg, Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487-496, 1993), the present study attempted to explain the association between parental expectations and students’ educational expectations in Chinese families by testing the potential moderating role of the training parenting style, a parenting style that is based on Chinese culture. 281 Chinese adolescent-parent dyads, including early adolescents (49.5% girls, Mage = 12.54) and one of their parents (70.5% mothers, Mage = 40.91), completed two versions of a self-report survey questionnaire. Results indicated that parental expectations exerted influence on students’ educational expectations with perceived parental expectations as a mediator. Moreover, training parenting style moderated the relationship between parental expectations and perceived parental expectations. High training parenting style buffered the effect of low parental expectations on perceived parental expectations. The interaction between parental expectations and training parenting style revealed a culturally specific mechanism that contributed to the transmission of educational expectations in Chinese families.