Peers versus parents in modern China

The study by Hairong Song, a doctoral candidate in psychology, Emilio Ferrer-Caja, an associate professor of psychology, and Ross Thompson, a professor of psychology, will be presented during a 1 p.m. (EDT) poster session on Thursday, Aug. 17, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston. The title of the session is "Cognitive and Sociocognitive Development."

The UC Davis researchers surveyed 584 students ages 11 to 23 from Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The students filled out questionnaires that assessed the quality of their relationships with their mothers, fathers and peers. They also filled out self-evaluations that measured self-esteem.

"This study suggests that high school is a period of special challenge to Chinese adolescents because of the competitive academic pressures they face. High school is a time when many Chinese adolescents experience intense pressures from parents to perform well in school," Thompson said.

"Even in a society that traditionally emphasizes family ties, enhanced by the government's one-child policy, competition to get into the best universities may be causing high-schoolers to turn to their peers for support and affirmation."

Source: University of California - Davis