Beate Schwarz

Does the Importance of Parent and Peer Relationships for Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction Vary Across Cultures?

This study investigated whether the associations between (a) the quality of the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance and (b) early adolescents’ life satisfaction differed depending on the importance of family values in the respective culture. As part of the Value of Children Study, data from a subsample of N = 1,034 adolescents (58% female, M age = 13.62 years, SD = 0.60 years) from 11 cultures was analyzed. Multilevel analyses revealed a positive relation between parental admiration and adolescents’ life satisfaction independent of cultural membership. Further, the higher the importance of family values in a culture, the weaker was the positive effect of peer acceptance on adolescents’ life satisfaction. The results highlight the universal importance of parental warmth and support in adolescence and underline the effect of culturally shared family values on the role of peer acceptance for adolescent development.

Reciprocity in Intergenerational Support: A Comparison of Chinese and German Adult Daughters

This study investigates how Chinese and German adult daughters evaluate the norm of reciprocity and the unbalanced exchange of support in relation to their aging parents. Women from rural and urban China (n = 292) and from Germany (n = 264) have participated in this study. Results show that for the German daughters, differently from rural Chinese daughters, perception of imbalance is strongly related to their intention to support their elderly parents. The results for the urban Chinese daughters are closer to those of the German sample than those of the rural Chinese daughters. The results are discussed in light of theoretical approaches to intergenerational relations taking into account the Confucian concept of filial piety and influences of social change.

Intergenerational Support and Life Satisfaction: A Comparison of Chinese, Indonesian, and German Elderly Mothers

The exchange of support between generations is a fundamental feature of intergenerational relationships. Although most studies have concentrated on the impact of social support on the receiver, effects on subjective well-being of the provider of support have been studied less often. Given cultural differences in the norms and values of intergenerational relationships, the present study compared samples from rural and urban China, Indonesia, and Germany. The results showed that in the different cultural contexts elderly mothers’ well-being was differently related to help that they provided to their adult daughters. The results are discussed from a culture-informed perspective on intergenerational relationships.

Parental Conflict Resolution Styles and Children's Adjustment: Children's Appraisals and Emotion Regulation as Mediators

ABSTRACT Guided by the emotional security hypothesis and the cognitive-contextual framework, the authors investigated whether the associations between negative parental conflict resolution styles and childrens internalizing and externalizing problems were mediated by childrens appraisals of threat and self-blame and their emotion regulation. Participants were 192 Swiss 2-parent families with children aged 9–12 years (M age = 10.62 years, SD = 0.41 years). Structural equation modeling was used to test the empirical validity of the theoretical model. Results indicated that childrens maladaptive emotion regulation mediated the association between negative parental conflict resolution styles and childrens internalizing as well as externalizing problems. Whereas perceived threat was related only to childrens internalizing problems, self-blame did not mediate the links between negative parental conflict resolution styles and childrens adjustment. Implications for understanding the mechanisms by which exposure to interparental conflict could lead to childrens maladjustment and limitations of the study are discussed.

Adult Daughters’ Family Structure and the Association Between Reciprocity and Relationship Quality

The study explores whether family structure is a moderator of the associations between help exchange, reciprocity of this exchange, and the quality of the mother and adult daughter relationship. A total of 183 daughters (mean age = 42.13; SD = 4.91) are either in first marriage (n = 87), living with a new partner after divorce (n = 77), or unmarried or divorced in a single-parent household (n = 99). The analyses are based on the daughters’ self-reports. Results show that intimacy in a relationship is more strongly associated with help exchange for daughters in first marriage than for both groups of divorced daughters. Among daughters who perceive that they give more help than they receive, only the single daughters report more conflict. Findings point to a higher importance of balance in support for single daughters.

Spouses’ demand and withdrawal during marital conflict in relation to their subjective well-being

This study investigated the link between spouses’ demanding and withdrawing behavior during conflict and their subjective well-being (SWB) in a community sample of 126 couples. Demand and withdrawal were analyzed in combination in the demand/ withdraw pattern, as well as individually. Results showed that the model with the individual conflict behavior provided a better representation of the data than the demand/withdraw pattern model. Women’s, as well as men’s, demands were directly associated with men’s SWB. Furthermore, the individual conflict behavior was indirectly linked with both spouses’ SWB via their own marital satisfaction. Results highlight the potential importance of couple’s conflict behavior for spouses’ SWB.

Be Careful Where You Smile: Culture Shapes Judgments of Intelligence and Honesty of Smiling Individuals

Smiling individuals are usually perceived more favorably than non-smiling ones—they are judged as happier, more attractive, competent, and friendly. These seemingly clear and obvious consequences of smiling are assumed to be culturally universal, however most of the psychological research is carried out in WEIRD societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) and the influence of culture on social perception of nonverbal behavior is still understudied. Here we show that a smiling individual may be judged as less intelligent than the same non-smiling individual in cultures low on the GLOBE’s uncertainty avoidance dimension. Furthermore, we show that corruption at the societal level may undermine the prosocial perception of smiling—in societies with high corruption indicators, trust toward smiling individuals is reduced. This research fosters understanding of the cultural framework surrounding nonverbal communication processes and reveals that in some cultures smiling may lead to negative attributions.

Generationenbeziehungen im Kulturvergleich

Die Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen im Erwachsenenalter wurden von der entwicklungspsychologischen Forschung lange stiefmutterlich behandelt, vorrangig befasst(e) sich die Forschung mit der Kindheit und Jugend. Das mittlere Erwachsenenalter galt lange Zeit als Phase der Stagnation, das Alter wurde vor allem in Hinblick auf Abbauprozesse betrachtet. Auch in anderen Disziplinen wie der Soziologie wurde zunachst die Eltern-Kind-Beziehung im Erwachsenenalter vernachlassigt. Hier lenkte z.B. die Vorstellung der „isolierten Kernfamilien“, die mit der Industrialisierung und der Trennung von Arbeits- und Familienwelt aufkam (Parsons, 1951), den Blick auf den Verbund von Vater, Mutter und Kind(ern). Nach dem Auszug der Kinder schien deren Beziehung zu den Eltern vernachlassigbar, da sie nun selbst eine Familie grundeten und die Verbindung zu den Eltern weitgehend abbrechen wurden.

Intergenerationaler Austausch von Unterstützung und Reziprozität im Kulturvergleich

Die rapiden demographischen Veranderungen in den Industrielandern, wie zunehmende Lebenserwartung und sinkende Geburtenraten mit der damit verbundenen so genannten „Uberalterung“ der Gesellschaft, haben Auswirkungen auf der Makro- wie Mikroebene von Gesellschaften, etwa bei Fragen der Alterssicherung. Die Veranderungen erweisen sich auch fur den Einzelnen bzw. die einzelne Familie als bedeutsam. So fuhrt die zunehmende Lebenserwartung dazu, dass Eltern und Kinder noch nie so viel gemeinsame Lebenszeit miteinander verbracht haben wie gegenwartig (Lauterbach 1995). Da zudem alte Menschen uber einen langen Zeitraum hinweg relativ gesund bleiben (Bundesministerium fur Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend 2001), erweitert sich die Zeit, die Eltern und Kinder bei guter Gesundheit, also nicht in der Pflegesituation, miteinander verbringen konnen. Damit ruckt die Frage in den Vordergrund, wie die Eltern-Kind-Beziehung uber diesen verlangerten Zeitraum und in dieser spezifischen Lebensphase gestaltet wird.

The Development of Self-Representations during the Transition to Early Adolescence: The Role of Gender, Puberty, and School Transition.

The present study investigated the development of global and domain-specific self-representations in the transition from late childhood to early adolescence and tested whether gender, puberty, and school transition help explain individual differences in change. The study was based on three measurement occasions over 2 years and included 248 adolescents (average age at T1 = 10.6 years). Findings indicated both stability and change over time. Individual differences in change were partially explained by gender and school transition. It revealed that girls experienced steeper decreasing trajectories and were more negatively affected by school transition in comparison with boys. Time-varying associations between puberty and self-representations were evident in terms of perceived pubertal timing. Findings suggest that both biological (pubertal timing) and contextual factors (school transition) play a role in explaining individual differences of self-representation level as well as their development in girls’ and boys’ transition to early adolescence.