Maternal Expectations of Child Development in India, Japan, and England

Abstract

Maternal expectations of child development were compared in India, Japan, and England. Fifty mothers from both India and Japan, and 70 mothers from England were asked to indicate the age at which they expected a child to achieve competence in 45 tasks, reflecting education/self-care, compliance, peer interaction, communication, emotional control, and environmental independence competencies. On average, competence was expected at a slightly earlier age in Japan than in England, and altogether later in India. However, differences between cultures were domain specific. Japanese expectations only exceeded English expectations in the education/self-care and environmental independence domains. Indian expectations were significantly later than Japanese and English expectations in all domains except environmental independence, where they were later than Japanese but earlier than English expectations.