Control and responsiveness in Japanese and German mother‐child interactions

The present study aims to examine culturally invariant and culture‐specific patterns of mother‐child interaction, and, more specifically, to explore the stability and change of such interactions in structurally different situations. Starting from a control theoretical framework (primary and secondary control), we expected that differences in stress induced by differently structured achievement demands would affect mother‐child interactions in Japan and Germany differently. For Japanese as compared to German mothers, less primary control and more responsiveness was expected as a result of the cultural value of social orientation. The sample consisted of 20 mother‐child dyads (5‐year‐old girls) in each culture. The experimental procedure confronted each mother‐child dyad with three different situations varying with respect to induced stress (from no stress to high stress). The mother‐child interactions were videotaped and analysed in regard to control behaviour and responsiveness. Cultural differences with respect to control behaviour were observed in the expected direction only for high‐stress situations. Also, Japanese mothers were more responsive in all three situations. Mother's responsiveness was related to child's secondary control in both cultures. Furthermore, Japanese children showed more secondary control than German children.