The relationship between children's self-esteem and parenting styles in Taiwan

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between children's self-esteem and authoritarian parenting style in Taiwan. A secondary purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that Taiwanese children tended to underrate their performance and competence. This study also investigated the significance of gender and grade level (age) in the pattern of self-esteem of Taiwanese children.

Two hundred and eighty fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, their mothers, and teachers were administered the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI), and Teacher Rating Scale of Child's Actual Behavior (TRSCAB). A MANOVA, followed by ANOVA and Tukey's Standardized Range Test were used to examine gender and grade level differences in Taiwanese children's self-esteem. The results showed girls reported better behavior than boys while boys reported greater athleticism than girls. In addition, the scores of perceived scholastic competence, athletic competence, and global self-worth in Taiwanese children significantly decreased as grade level increased. Multiple Regression Analyses were used to investigate the predictors of children's global self-esteem. It was found that physical appearance explained most of the variation in girls' global self-esteem while behavioral conduct was the most significant factor in predicting boys' global self-worth. The findings also showed that the older the children became, the less variance in global self-worth was accounted for by behavioral conduct. However, the older the children, the more salient physical appearance became in predicting overall self-esteem. The significant gender and age differences in children's different domains in self-esteem may be explained by cultural relativistic as well as universal theories.

The results of paired t-tests for the SPPC and the TRSCAB showed that there was a strong evidence that Taiwanese children rated different domains of their competence much lower than their teachers evaluated them in those same areas of functioning. This suggests that Chinese cultural doctrine, such as modesty, may affect how Taiwanese children evaluate themselves.

The results of a 3 (level of authoritarian parenting) x 2 (gender) x 3 (grade level) MANOVA showed that the relationship between the authoritarian parenting style and children's self-esteem was nonsignificant. This is contrary to previous findings from studies conducted in the United States. The current study showed that the self-esteem scores among children of mothers with high levels of authoritarian parenting did not differ from those with parents with lower levels of authoritarianism. The positive perceptions of authoritarian parenting in Chinese cultures may contribute to the lack of association between parental authoritarianism and children's low self-esteem.