Mother-Directed Achievement of Children in Two Cultures

Abstract

Mother-child pairs in a small Mexican town and in Los Angeles, California, were observed in two experimental situations in which the mother either controlled the rewards given to the child for success or failure or selected achievement goals for the child. The results of the first experiment were that mothers of both groups rewarded their children for success, but that Mexican mothers gave significantly more rewards for failure than did the Los Angeles mothers. The results of the second experiment were that the Los Angeles mothers chose significantly more difficult achievement goals for their children and did not lower the goal following failure, as did the Mexican mothers.