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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Child Fam Stud. 2019 Nov 14;29(6):1771–1779. doi: 10.1007/s10826-019-01652-w

The Long-Term Socialization Goals of Chinese and Korean Immigrant Mothers in the United States

Jillian J Shen 1, Charissa SL Cheah 1, Christy Y Y Leung 1
PMCID: PMC7962751  NIHMSID: NIHMS1543195  PMID: 33737798

Abstract

Objectives:

The socialization goals of immigrant parents in the United States for their children reflect the childrearing priorities of both their culture of origin and the mainstream culture. These goals, which guide parenting, likely have shared and unique characteristics with other immigrant groups from the same geographical region of origin. The current study aimed to explore and compare the socialization goals of Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in the United States; the role of child gender in mothers’ socialization goals was also investigated.

Methods:

Ninety-six Chinese (Mage = 37.60) and 97 Korean immigrant mothers (Mage = 35.87) with preschool-age children living in the United States were interviewed regarding their socialization goals. The qualitative interview transcripts were coded by trained research assistants.

Results:

The interviews revealed seven socialization goals (Self-maximization, Lovingness,Personal Integrity, Proper Demeanor, Religious Values, Self-control, and No High Expectations) across both groups. Findings demonstrated that Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers were similar on their endorsement of five socialization goals. However, group differences were found for goals of Religious Values and No High Expectations, which further differed across child gender.

Conclusions:

These findings highlighted the common socialization priorities of Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers of young children in urban contexts, but also the need to examine sub -ethnic groups separately to understand their shared and unique parenting experiences. These findings have meaningful implications for clinicians and other professionals towards providing more effective services to Asian immigrant families in the U.S.

Keywords: socialization goals, Chinese immigrants, Korean immigrants, ethnic differences, preschool

Parents’ long-term socialization goals refer to their expectations regarding desired characteristics in their children (Harwood, Schoelmerich, Ventura-Cok, Schulze, & Wilson, 1996). Parents’ socialization goals for their children serve as guidelines for parenting behaviors and practices (Darling & Steinberg, 1993) and can impact children’s development (Bornstein, 2015). Parental socialization goals are influenced by cultural norms and expectations (Keller, Borke, Yovsi, Lohaus, & Jensen, 2005) and serve as a medium through which culture shapes child development and parent-child dynamics (Phalet & Schönpflug, 2001).

Kagitcibasi (2007) proposed the psychological interdependence model, which describes a family pattern that depicts the coexistence of parents’ socialization goals of relatedness and autonomy. Specifically, parents originally from predominantly collectivistic cultures immigrating to a more individualistic one are proposed to not only value the psychological interdependence between family members in their country of origin but also promote autonomy development in children because of its functional value in industrialized urban lifestyles. Thus,the parenting cognition of parents who immigrate to countries that embrace different beliefs of childrearing than their cultures of origin (i.e., parents’ beliefs, attitudes, goals, and knowledge) reflect the coexistence of their culture of origin as well as the values of the culture of destination, resulting in new and unique parenting beliefs that are different to those rooted in the original or the host cultural contexts (Bornstein & Cote, 2006).

Despite the historically high rates numbers of immigrations in the United States (Migration Policy Institute, 2019), the general constructs of parenting cognitions among non-European American samples are not well understood (Bornstein & Cote, 2003; Parke & Buriel, 1998). Asian Americans are the fastest growing foreign-born population in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2012), with China and Korea among the top five countries of origin among Asian immigrants (Migration Policy Institute, 2016). Several studies have pointed out that understanding cultural-specific values and practices of ethnic minority families in the United States help improve mental health service quality (e.g., Chae & Foley, 2010; Shariff, 2009). Specifically, knowledge of the socialization goals of Asian American parents can provide insights regarding their children’s behavior in the clinical setting. Considering the cultural context of Asian American children’s behavior and understanding that the behavior may reflect to some extent demonstrations of their efforts to follow culturally-valued socialization can allow psychologists to get a clearer, less biased picture of these children. As a result, service providers can design and deliver more effective treatment and intervention.

Chinese and Korean individuals are frequently grouped together because of some shared traditions and cultural beliefs. Both cultural groups are traditionally influenced by Confucianism, which places an emphasis on family closeness and interdependence, interpersonal cohesion, collective needs, and conformity (Hurh, 1998). Studies have indicated the core value of education for both Chinese (Chao, 1995) and Korean (Choi & Kim, 2010; Choi, Kim, Pekelnicky, & Kim, 2013) families as a pathway to personal success and social status, as well as family glory and prestige (Choi & Kim, 2010). In addition, Chinese families strongly endorse filial piety, the notion that children need to conform to parents’ expectations, respect the elders and retain family reputation (Ho, 1994), and a similar conceptualization of this notion is referred to as “Hyo” in Korean culture (Kim, 2006). Despite these shared aspects, variations and differences exist in how these overall cultural themes may be revealed in parenting goals and practices (Bornstein & Cheah, 2006; Choi et al., 2013).

Rrecent studies on Asian American children advocates using more specific labels of participants’ cultural origins as opposed to the pan-ethnic label of “Asian American” (Yoshikawa, Mistry, & Wang,2016). Some researchers have asserted that the differences between the many Asian subethnic groups may be as great as the differences between Asians and other ethnic minority groups (Alvarez, 2002; Tsai, Chentsova-Dutton,&Wong, 2002). Moreover, pan-ethnic groupings do not acknowledge the heterogeneity among Asian Americans, including generational status, premigration factors, and acculturation level.

Indeed, Chinese and Korean immigrants in the United States differ in their history of immigration to the U.S., resources from the homeland countries, socioeconomic backgrounds of the earlier and contemporary immigrants, and approaches to acculturation after moving to the U. S. (Zhou & Kim, 2006). Moreover, Korean immigrants are more actively engaged in religious activities as a group compared to Chinese immigrants (Zhou & Kim, 2006). Korean immigrant parents consider shaping the religious identity of their children and engaging them in church activities as a top priority in parenting (Kim, 2003).

Most studies on the socialization goals of immigrant mothers tend to examine one cultural group and compare these mothers to their counterparts from the majority culture (e.g., Citlak, Leyendecker, Schölmerich, Driessen, & Harwood, 2008; Moscardino, Bertelli, & Altoè, 2011). In one of the few exceptions, Bornstein and Cote (2004) examined the parenting cognitions of Japanese and South American immigrant mothers living in the United States. Their findings demonstrated that not only do both groups of immigrant mothers showed different parenting beliefs from those of the home countries and host countries, the patterns of differences were not the same between Japanese and South American immigrant mothers (Bornstein & Cote, 2004). These findings indicate that the unique cultures of origins and experiences of each immigrant cultural group may be reflected in different socialization priorities of immigrant mothers in the host country.

In examining maternal socialization goals, child gender also needs to be considered. Chinese parents have reported preferring masculine qualities in boys and believing that males are assessed mainly by their talents and abilities. However, Chinese parents with only-girls, especially those from a higher SES background, extended their expectations beyond traditional feminine qualities such as gentleness and beauty, and reported socialize their daughters to possess more masculine characteristics such as toughness, ambitiousness, competitiveness, and independence (Liu, 2006). Gender differences in parental socialization goals are also evident in Korean families. Traditionally, Korean parents have been found to focus more on emotional and social development for their girls than boys (Park & Cheah, 2005) because such features are important for a nurturing wife and mother. In contrast, Korean parents emphasized developing their sons’ intellect and strength development to socialize them to become the provider of their households (Han, 1999; Park & Cho, 1995). Despite these known gender differences in parental socialization goals among Chinese and Korean families that live in China and Korea, whether Chinese and Korean immigrant families in the U.S. differ on their socialization goals for their sons versus daughter is unclear.

Therefore, the present study aimed to examine and compare the parental socialization goals of Chinese and Korean immigrant parents in the United States regarding their sons and daughters. We hypothesized that Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers would similarly emphasize warm interpersonal relationships with family and peers as well as goals that reflect respecting parents and striving to meet parental expectations; however, Korean immigrant mothers were expected to prioritize religious values more than their Chinese counterparts. We expected that differences regarding socialization goals for sons and daughters exist between Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers but no specific hypothesis was proposed in terms of which goals were different for their daughters versus sons.

Immigrant parents’ cognitions regarding childrearing and parenting may be related to their acculturation to the host country and its culture. Mothers who have more intercultural encounters with people and communities from the host country tend to adopt parenting conventions and norms from the host country’s culture (Cote et al., 2015). Thus, we controlled for mothers’ behavioral acculturation towards the mainstream culture.

Method

Participants

The sample consisted of 96 Chinese immigrant mothers (Mage = 37.60 years old, SD = 4.38) and 97 Korean immigrant mothers (Mage = 35.87 years old, SD = 3.89) with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 6 years old residing in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. All the mothers were first-generation immigrants and of middle-class socioeconomic status. All mothers’ spouses had the same ethnicity as the mothers in the sample (i.e., Chinese or Korean). On average, the Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers had been in the United States for 10.09 years (SD = 5.86) and 12.25 years (SD = 9.48), respectively. There were no group differences on the demographic variables except that the Chinese immigrant mothers were significantly older than their Korean counterparts, t(178) = −2.81, p = .006.

Procedure

The project recruited families from churches, community centers,preschools, and daycare centers throughout Maryland, Washington D.C., and some areas of Virginia. With the permission of the directors of these places, announcements were made to the parents regarding the study. Families that were interested signed up and research assistants contacted them to schedule a home visit. Data collection was conducted during a visit to each family’s home by trained research assistants who were fluent in the mothers’ preferred language. First, research assistants gave mothers a brief overview of the study and obtained their written consent. Next, mothers completed a demographics questionnaire and participated in the interview. Finally, mothers completed a measure of acculturation. All questionnaires and interviews were available in Chinese, Korean, and English, and the mothers completed the questionnaires and the interview in a language of their preference (i.e., Chinese, Korean, English).

Measures

Demographic information.

Mothers completed the Family Description Measure (FDM; Bornstein, 1991) and reported on their and their child’s age and country of birth, length of stay in the United States, and general socioeconomic standing.

Socialization goals.

Mothers’ long-term socialization goals were assessed using the Socialization Goals Interview (SGI; Harwood et al., 1996), which captures the attributes mothers desire to see in their children as adults. The interviewer asked the mother to name the three most desirable traits she wanted to see in the focal child. Previous studies have shown that these questions provide a valid and robust measure of group differences in parents’ beliefs regarding socialization goals at the cultural level (Harwood, 1992; Harwood et al., 1996; Leyendecker et al., 2002). Each interview lasted approximately 10-15 minutes. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed by trained research assistants. Ten percent of the transcripts were randomly selected to be checked for transcription accuracy. To ensure that cultural nuances regarding socialization goals were not lost during translation, the transcripts were coded in their original languages by research assistants who were fluent in Chinese, English, or Korean. Reliabilities were calculated between the independent coders, and the overall Cohen’s kappa for the codes was .80 for both groups.

Mothers’ behavioral acculturation to the mainstream culture.

Mothers completed the Cultural and Social Acculturation Scale (CSAS; Chen & Lee, 1996) to report their behavioral cultural orientation toward the host (American) culture, including language proficiency, media use, and social relationships and affiliations (sample item is, “how well do you speak in English?”; 1 = Extremely Poor to 5 = Extremely Well). A sum score of all the items was created (α = .80 Chinese immigrant mothers, and α = .86 for Korean immigrant mothers).

Data Analyses

Coding of mothers’ socialization goals.

To prepare the data for statistical analyses, mothers’ responses to the SGI were first coded at the level of individual word and phrase descriptors. For example, “do well in school” counted as one phrase descriptor, and “warm, sensitive” counted as two word descriptors. The interview transcripts were coded by trained research assistants who were native Chinese or Korean speakers. The research assistants used the coding schemes generated by Harwood et al. (1996) as the guiding structure for coding. Specifically, socialization goals from the mothers’ responses that match with the categories in Harwood et al. (1996) were coded into the corresponding category. Both positively and negatively stated examples of socialization goals were coded. For example, if a mother described “appropriate behavior in public” as a desirab le socialization goal and “does not display proper manner in a social setting” as an undesirable goal, both descriptors were coded into the same category that refer to proper demeanor.

Socialization goals that were revealed from the transcripts that were not included in the original Harwood et al. (1996) coding scheme were noted by the research assistants and discussed. During coding meetings, the Chinese and Korean coding teams consolidated maternal responses with these culturally distinct themes, discussed their contents, and created new coding categories that represented these responses. For instance, transcripts from Korean immigrant mothers reflected the significant influence of religion in their parenting. Some mothers mentioned the importance of instilling religious values in their children early on and cultivating a family environment that encourages religious practices. This socialization goal of prioritizing religious values was also found in some Chinese mothers’ responses. Therefore, the code “Religious Values” was added to the current coding scheme. Coders discussed all discrepancies in coding until consensuses were reached.

Statistical analyses of the data.

Each mother’s total number of codable responses were counted to generate a sum score of the responses. Each mother’s proportional number of responses for each socialization goal was then calculated by using the number of codable responses from the specific category divided by the total number of responses. For example, if a mother mentioned 5 total socialization goals for her child, and 2 of them were from Self-maximization, her proportional score for Self-maximization would be 2/5 = .40. The conceptual meaning of the proportional scores is that they represent the proportion of each category of socialization goal that was endorsed by a mother across all goals that she endorsed.

The data were analyzed using SPSS (v.22). A series of t-test were performed to compare the Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers on variables such as age, acculturation levels, and number of codeable responses. A 2 (Cultural Group: Chinese and Korean) x 2 (Child Gender: male and female) multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to compare Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers on the seven socialization goals for their sons versus daughters. Subsequent univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) further indicated the differences on specific socialization goals.

Results

The final coding scheme included five original themes from Harwood et al. (1996) as well as two new themes that emerged from the mothers’ responses in our sample (see Table 1). The final seven socialization goal categories included: (a) Self-maximization, which emphasizes the child’s development, a sense of self-confidence and competence, and achieving his/her full potential as an individual; (b) Self-control, which focuses on the internal control of negative excess of individualism and negative impulses towards greed, egocentrism, and aggression; (c) Personal Integrity, which involves developing personal standards of behavior; (d) Religious Values, stressing being faithful to one’s religious beliefs; (e) Lovingness, or interpersonal warmth, primarily dyadic or within the family; (f) Proper Demeanor, which emphasizes the child’s appropriate behavior in the context of being a part of or getting along with a larger group; (g) No High Expectations, which refers to the mothers’ explicit expression of not having high expectations of her child. Among the seven categories, Religious Values and No High Expectations were unique themes revealed from the present data and were not found in previous studies.

Table 1.

Definitions and Examples of Socialization Goals among Chinese and Korean Immigrant Mothers

Socialization Goals Definition and Examples
Self-maximization Achieve one’s full potential

Examples: “independent,” “do well in school,” “defend self.”
Lovingness Interpersonal warmth

Examples: “compassionate,” “trusting relationships with other family members.”
Personal Integrity Developing personal standards of behavior

Examples: “honest,” “be a good person in moral sense,” “respect other people’s opinions.”
Proper Demeanor Appropriately behave in the context of a larger group

Examples: “perform role obligations within the nuclear or extended family,” “remember the cultural heritage.”
Religious Values Being faithful to one’s religious beliefs

Example: “obedient to whatever God’s doing in his life.”
Self-Control Internal control of negative impulses

Examples: “tolerate frustration,” “patient,” “not being violent.”
No High Expectations No particular high expectations of the child

Examples: “simple life,” “have no high expectations for my child.”
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T-test showed that mean scores of Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers’ mainstream acculturation level did not significantly differ, t(191) = −.53, p = .595, but Chinese mothers provided significantly higher number of codable responses (M = 5.80, SD = 2.51) than Korean mothers (M = 4.31, SD = 1.50), t(191) = −5.02, p < .001. Therefore, the number of codable responses was controlled for in addition to mothers’ mainstream behavioral acculturation level and age when comparing between the Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers.

Table 2 displayed the means and standard deviations of each socialization goal endorsed by Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers. The most frequently endorsed to the least frequently endorsed socialization goals were: (1) Self-maximization, (2) Lovingness, (3) Personal Integrity, (4) Proper Demeanor, (5) Religious Values, (6) Self-Control, and (7) No High Expectations. The frequency ranking of the socialization goals were similar across Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers.

Table 2.

Means and Standard Deviations of Scores of Socialization Goals Based on Child Gender among Chinese and Korean Immigrant Mothers

Chinese Immigrant Mothers
M(SD)		 Korean Immigrant Mothers
M(SD)
Socialization
Goals		 All
(n = 91)		 Boys
(n = 49)		 Girls
(n = 42)		 All
(n = 93)		 Boys
(n = 45)		 Girls
(n = 48)
Self-maximization .47 (.29) .48 (.29) .46 (.28) .46 (.28) .44 (.32) .49 (.26)
Lovingness .21 (.18) .18 (.18) .25 (.18) .25 (.21) .25 (.21) .26 (.21)
Personal Integrity .13 (.17) .16 (.18) .10 (.15) .08 (.16) .08 (.18) .08 (.14)
Proper Demeanor .08 (.14) .07 (.12) .08 (.15) .07 (.14) .07 (.13) .07 (.15)
Religious Values* .04 (.09) .04 (.09)b .03 (.09)b .07 (.13) .11 (.16)a .04 (.11)b
Self-control .03 (.08) .02 (.06) .04 (.09) .04 (.09) .04 (.09) .02 (.07)
No High Expectations* .04 (.09) .05 (.09)a .03 (.09)b .02 (.06) .01 (.04)b .03 (.08)b
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Note. * p < .05. Categories with subscript a are significantly greater in values than those with subscript b.

The MANCOVA revealed a significant multivariate effect for cultural group, Pillai’s V = .124, p = .002, indicating an overall difference between Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers with respect to their socialization goals. Specifically, the univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that after controlling for the covariates, Chinese immigrant mothers endorsed the goal of No High Expectations more than Korean immigrant mothers, F(1, 172) = 4.08, p < .05.

Moreover, the MANCOVA revealed a significant multivariate effect for the interaction between Cultural Group and Child Gender, Pillai’s V = .09, p < .05, indicating that the differences in the socialization goals between Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers also depended on the gender of their children. Subsequent ANCOVA tests presented a significant interaction effect of Cultural Group and Child Gender on Religious Values, F(1, 172) = 3.96, p < .05. Chinese immigrant mothers of boys and girls expressed similar levels of emphasis on Religious Values, t(89) = .54, p = .588. In contrast, Korean immigrant mothers of boys reported significantly higher levels of Religious Values than Korean immigrant mothers of girls, t(91) = 2.45, p < .05 (see Table 2).

In addition, there was a significant Cultural Group and Child Gender interaction for the No High Expectations goal, indicating that the main effect of cultural group on No High Expectations was further qualified by a difference across child gender, F(1, 172) = 4.07, p < .05. When breaking down the mean scores of immigrant mothers by child gender, immigrant mothers with girls from both cultural groups reported having No High Expectations equally, t(88) = .03, p = .978; however, Chinese immigrant mothers of boys reported having No High Expectations significantly more than Korean immigrant mothers of boys, t(92) = −2.96, p < .005 (see Table 2).

Discussion

Our results revealed that both Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers cited the goal of self-maximization most frequently, which focuses on children’s emotional and physical well-being and the child fully achieving his or her potential as an individual. Self-maximization is considered an important component of individualistic culture (Durgel et al., 2009; Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2007) and has been found to be endorsed by European American parents to promote children’s autonomy (Harwood et al., 1996). However, previous studies have indicated that immigrant mothers’ parenting cognitions incorporate knowledge and beliefs from both their heritage culture and the host culture (e.g., Bornstein & Cote, 2004; Durgel et al., 2009). For example, Chinese immigrant mothers in the U.S. showed a deliberate effort to integrate the parenting beliefs and practices that perceived to be more valued by the mainstream American culture with what was valued in their heritage culture (Cheah et al., 2013). Our finding is consistent with previous studies in that both Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in our sample most frequently mentioned the importance of emotional well-being, psychological development, and independence as long-term goals for their children.

The second most important socialization goal for children of both Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in our sample was Lovingness, which pertains to maintaining close affective bonds with others and one’s family. Mothers in both cultural groups desired child characteristics such as being compassionate, sociable, and respectful towards parents, confirming our expectations that both Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers would value family and interpersonal relationships. This finding is in line with traditional values of group harmony rooted in Chinese and Korean cultures (Lee, Moon, & Gomez, 2014).

The scores for the remaining five socialization goals examined in the current study were relatively lower for both Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers. Results showed that the ranking of all seven socialization goals in the current study for mothers from both cultural groups were similar. Because immigrant parents’ socialization goals tend to reflect their culture of origin as well as the mainstream culture of the host countries (Bornstein & Cote, 2006), the Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in our sample who were both from an interdependent culture and currently residing in urban areas in the U.S. appear to embrace the socialization goals for their children in a similar pattern.

The second aim of the study was to test for cultural and gender differences in socialization goals. In our sample, Korean immigrant mothers of boys were found to endorse the socialization goal of Religious Values more than mothers of girls, yet this gender difference was not found among the Chinese immigrant mothers. To explain this finding, we considered the role of religious involvement on cultural value transmission. The Korean ethnic church has been found to have a significant influence on immigrant families, who in general display a high level of ethnic religious participation (Zhou & Kim, 2006). Patriarchy rooted in both Confucian ideology and Christianity makes men the spiritual leader of the family (Min, 2001). Thus, Korean mothers may encourage their sons to be more engaged in religious activities and internalize religious values to help socialize their sons to become the religious leaders of their homes.

Our results also indicated that Chinese immigrant mothers of boys expressed having No High Expectations significantly more than Korean immigrant mothers of boys, with no group differences between mothers of girls. The No High Expectations category was derived based on mothers specifically expressing that they had no particular high-standards or expectations for their children’s developmental or academic outcomes, and mothers’ specific mention of downplaying academic or career achievements for their children. Chinese parents have been found to report believing that it was difficult to predict or plan a future for the next generation and they preferred not to limit their children to specific expectations (Li, 2001). Chinese immigrant mothers in the United States also reported disapproving of the strict emphasis on education since early childhood in their countries of origin after immigrating to the United States. These mothers emphasized choosing “not to pressure their young children” (Cheah et al., 2013, p.36). Similarly, the Chinese immigrant mothers in our sample may believe that having a successful and meaningful life in the United States, particularly for their sons, is not achieved only through high grades at school but can also include personal happiness, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction, which is also reflected in mothers’ high endorsement of the self-maximization goal (Cheah et al., 2013). This cultural group difference was only found with Chinese immigrant mothers of sons but not mothers with daughters, which may be because of the higher expectations and social pressures placed on Chinese males in patriarchal ideology (Pek & Leong, 2003). Thus, Chinese immigrant mothers of boys may be particularly conscious about not setting high expectations so that the young boys are given more choices in maximizing their personal growth.

Limitations and Future Directions

First, our sample consisted of middle-class Chinese and Korean mothers who were first-generation immigrants to the United States. The small sample size of each ethnic group was also a weakness. Therefore, our results may not necessarily generalize to Chinese and Korean immigrants of lower socioeconomic status (Harwood et al., 1996) or of second or later generations (Citlak et al., 2008). Second, it is possible that fathers and mothers emphasize different traits and characteristics in their children. Including fathers in future research can elucidate our understanding on the similarities and/or differences in fathers’ socialization goals compared to mothers’. Third, our sample represents only middle-class Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers with preschool-aged children between 3 and 6 years old. Future research should consider conducting longitudinal studies regarding parents’ socialization goals as their children develop on more socioeconomically diverse samples with a larger sample size to examine how socialization goals may vary across specific developmental stages and socioeconomic classes.

Our study revealed that Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers in the United States expressed socialization goals that promoted independence and personal development in their children in addition to those that aimed to strengthen family ties and interpersonal relationships, reflecting the psychological interdependence model proposed by Kagitcibasi (2007). The similarities in mothers’ rankings and mean levels for the majority of these goals likely reflect shared challenges of Asian mothers of preschool-aged children in urban contexts. However, subtle differences were revealed in mothers’ socialization goals regarding how boys and girls should be socialized across Chinese and Korean immigrant families in the U.S, further highlighting the need to differentiate between ethnic groups under the pan-Asian umbrella (Yoshikawa et al., 2016).

A strength of the current study was its use of semi-structured interviews that allowed mothers to generate long-term socialization goals from their own perspectives. This emic approach allowed us to reveal two socialization goals that have not been previously reported (i.e., Religious Values and No High Expectations). The unique socialization goal of Religious Values endorsed by the Korean immigrant mothers reflect their priority of socializing their children to have a strong religious identity and be engaged in religious activities. The goal of No High Expectations may reflect a concern particularly held by middle-class Chinese immigrant mothers with boys in the U.S. Our findings may help organizations and programs that work with Chinese and Korean immigrant families in the U.S. to better understand these parents’ expectations and socialization goals for their children. Understanding that these immigrant parents are influenced by their collectivistic cultural background and upbringing as well as the mainstream individualistic culture will allow service providers to suggest effective parenting strategies that can help immigrant parents achieve their parenting goals. In addition, the quality of psychological services for Asian American children and their families can benefit from the growing body of knowledge on parents’ socialization goals for their children. Recognizing the diversity within Asian American populations, for example between Chinese and Korean American families, will help improve mental health service providers’ multicultural competence. When working with clients from Asian descent, having a working knowledge of the different immigration experiences, history of group’s institutional and cultural racism experiences, as well as cultural values, practices, and traditions will help counselors and clinicians to build rapport with their clients and deliver more effective services.

Acknowledgments

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R03HD052827-01) and Foundation for Child Development to Charissa S. L. Cheah.

Footnotes

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Publisher's Disclaimer: This Author Accepted Manuscript is a PDF file of an unedited peer-reviewed manuscript that has been accepted for publication but has not been copyedited or corrected. The official version of record that is published in the journal is kept up to date and so may therefore differ from this version.

Ethics Statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board at University of Maryland Baltimore County (IRB number Y16CC20229) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Protocol # Y16CC20229) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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