Child‐rearing goals of Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish mothers

In the present study, the child‐rearing goals of mothers of 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children from Estonia, Finland, and Sweden were compared. The developed Child‐Rearing Goals Questionnaire consisted of three different tasks: open‐ended questions, item rating, and item ranking. All mothers were similar in valuing highly self‐maximization, but differed in emphasis on traditional child‐rearing goals (e.g., conformity, obedience, politeness, being hard‐working, etc.). The Swedish mothers tended to stress the characteristics connected with self‐maximization as well as self‐confidence and children's happiness, but did not value the traditional child‐rearing goals. The Estonian mothers attached a great significance both to the traditional characteristics and to self‐maximization. The Finnish mothers also stressed both traditional and non‐traditional values, but to a lesser extent than the Estonians. The Swedish and Finnish mothers’ child‐rearing goals were relatively homogeneous. In contrast, the Estonian mothers were generally less focused on any specific goal. Mothers with a lower level of education stressed traditional goals more than mothers with a higher level of education. The results are discussed in the light of the possible effect different cultural contexts have on maternal child‐rearing goals: bringing up children in stable welfare societies (such as Sweden and Finland) in contrast to a rapidly changing society (such as Estonia).