To understand the conditions that give rise to parenting self-efficacy in Japan and the United States, the authors have investigated its relation to the perceptions of support available to mothers of children in the final year of preschool (N = 235; n = 121 in United States, n = 114 in Japan). Hierarchical regression analysis indicates that in both countries, women who experience higher parenting self-efficacy report more positive childhood memories of parental support and greater satisfaction with husband’s and friends’ support. Mothers in the United States are significantly more self-efficacious than are mothers in Japan, even after controlling for the effects of the support predictors. A follow-up mediational analysis reveals that Japanese women’s lower levels of parenting self-efficacy are partially attributable to their low satisfaction with husband’s support.
Allison, A. ( 1996). Producing mothers. In A. E. Imamura (Ed.), Re-imaging Japanese women (pp. 135-152). Berkeley: University of California Press.
2.
Bandura, A. ( 1982). Self-efficacy in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122-147.
3.
Bandura, A. ( 1989). Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy . Developmental Psychology, 25, 729-735.
4.
Bandura, A. ( 2002). Social cognitive theory in cultural context. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51, 269-290.
5.
Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G.V., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Multifaceted impact of self-efficacy beliefs on academic functioning. Child Development , 67, 1206-1222.
6.
Baron, R.M., & Kenny, D.A. ( 1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
7.
Behrens, K.Y., Hesse, E., & Main, M. ( 2007). Mothers’ attachment status as determined by the Adult Attachment Interview predicts their 6-year-olds’ responses: A study conducted in Japan. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1553-1567.
8.
Belsky, J., & Vondra, J. ( 1989). Lessons from child abuse: The determinants of parenting . In D. Cicchetti & V. Carlson (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 153-202). New York: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Benesse Educational Research Institute. (2000 ). Dai 2 kai youji no seikatsu anketo houkokusho [The second survey report of preschool-aged children’s lives]. Tokyo: Benesse Corporation.
10.
Bornstein, M.H., Haynes, O.M., Azuma, H., Galperin, C., Maital, S., Ogino, M., et al. (1998). A cross-national study of self-evaluations and attributions in parenting: Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Developmental Psychology, 34, 662-676.
11.
Bugental, D.B., Blue, J., & Cruzcosa, M. ( 1989). Perceived control over caregiving outcomes: Implications for child abuse. Developmental Psychology, 25, 532-539.
12.
Cobb, S. ( 1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 38, 300-314.
13.
Cochran, M., & Niego, S. ( 1995). Parenting and social networks. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3. Status and social conditions of parenting (pp. 393-418). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
Coleman, P.K., & Karraker, K.H. (1997). Self-efficacy and parenting quality: Findings and future applications. Developmental Review , 18, 47-85.
15.
Crockenberg, S. ( 1988). Social support and parenting. In H. E. Fitzgerald & B. M. Lester (Eds.), Theory and research in behavioral pediatrics (Vol. 4, pp. 141-174). New York: Plenum .
16.
Cutrona, C.E., & Troutman, B.R. (1986). Social support, infant temperament, and parenting self-efficacy: A mediational model of postpartum depression. Child Development, 57, 1507-1518.
17.
Durrett, M.E., Richards, P., Otaki, M., Pennebaker, J.W., & Nyquist, L. ( 1986). Mother’s involvement with infant and her perception of spousal support, Japan and America. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 187-194.
18.
Fischer, L.R. ( 1986). Linked lives: Adult daughters and their mothers. New York: Harper & Row.
19.
Fujita, M. ( 1989). "‘It’s all mother’s fault’: Childcare and the socialization of working mothers in Japan." Journal of Japanese Studies, 15, 67-91.
20.
Geertz, C. ( 1983). Local knowledge: Further essays in interpretive anthropology . New York: Basic Books.
21.
Grusec, J.E., Hastings, P., & Mammone, N. ( 1994). Parenting cognitions and relationship schemas. In J. G. Smetana (Ed.), Beliefs about parenting: Origins and developmental implications ( New Directions for Child Development, No. 65, pp. 5-19). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
22.
Heine, S.J., Lehman, D.R., Markus, H.R., & Kitayama, S. ( 1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
23.
Hendry, J. ( 1981). Marriage in changing Japan: Community and society. New York: St. Martin’s.
24.
Holloway, S.D. ( 2000). Contested childhood: Diversity and change in Japanese preschools. New York: Routledge .
25.
Holloway, S.D., & Behrens, K.Y. ( 2002). Parenting self-efficacy among Japanese mothers: Qualitative and quantitative perspectives on its association with childhood memories of family relations. In J. Bempechat & J. G. Elliott (Eds.), Achievement motivation in culture and context: Understanding children’s learning experiences (New Directions for Child Development, No. 96, pp. 27-43). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
26.
Iwao, S. ( 1993). The Japanese woman: Traditional image and changing reality . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
27.
Jackson, A.P. ( 2000). Maternal self-efficacy and children’s influence on stress and parenting among single Black mothers in poverty. Journal of Family Issues, 21, 3-16.
28.
Jolivet, M. ( 1997). Japan, the childless society? The crisis of motherhood . London: Routledge.
29.
Jones, T.L., & Prinz, R.J. ( 2005). Potential roles of parental self-efficacy in parent and child adjustment: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 341-363.
30.
Kazui, M. ( 1997). The influence of cultural expectations on mother-child relationships in Japan. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , 18, 485-496.
31.
Lebra, T.S. ( 1984). Japanese women: Constraint and fulfillment. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
32.
Lee, J.W., Jones, P.S., Mineyama, Y., & Zhang, X.E. ( 2002). Cultural differences in responses to a Likert scale. Research in Nursing & Health, 25, 295-306.
33.
Leerkes, E.M., & Crockenberg, S.C. (2002). The development of maternal self-efficacy and its impact on maternal behavior. Infancy , 3, 227-247.
34.
Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. ( 1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1/2, Serial No. 209).
35.
Mishima, S.S. ( 1941). My narrow isle: The story of a modern woman in Japan . Westport, CT: Hyperion.
36.
Nash, B.F. ( 1998). Close female friendships: Implications for the well-being, parenting self-efficacy, and decreased personal strain of married, employed women with young children (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kentucky, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59, 1864.
37.
National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. (2000, March). The second national survey on family in Japan report. Retrieved August 17, 2004, from http://www.ipss.go.jp/English/nsf_2nd/NSFJ2_sum.html
38.
National Women’s Education Center, Japan. ( 2006). International comparative research on "home education" 2005: Survey on children and the family life. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from http://www.nwec.jp/en/publish/
39.
Oettingen, G. ( 1995). Cross-cultural perspectives on self-efficacy. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing society (pp. 149-176). New York: Cambridge University Press.
40.
Pakalns, G. ( 1990, August). Perceived social support and psychological well-being in working mothers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston .
41.
Park, E.M., & Dimigen, G. ( 1994). Cross-cultural comparison of the social support system after childbirth. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25, 345-352.
42.
Parker, W.C. ( 1984). Interviewing children: Problems and promise. Journal of Negro Education, 53, 18-28.
43.
Pierce, T., Baldwin, M.W., & Lydon, J.E. ( 1997). A relational schema approach to social support. In G. R. Pierce, B. Lakey, I. G. Sarason, & B. R. Sarason (Eds.), Sourcebook of social support and personality (pp. 19-47). New York: Plenum.
44.
Rothbaum, F., Pott, M., Azuma, H., Miyake, K., & Weisz, J. ( 2000). The development of close relationships in Japan and the United States: Paths of symbiotic harmony and generative tension. Child Development, 71, 1121-1142.
45.
Schneewind, K.A. ( 1995). Impact of family processes on control beliefs. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing society (pp. 114-148). New York: Cambridge University Press.
46.
Shaw, B.A., Krause, N., Chatters, L.M., Connell, C.M., & Ingersoll-Dayton, B. (2004). Emotional support from parents early in life, aging, and health. Psychology and Aging , 19, 4-12.
47.
Shwalb, D.W., Nakazawa, J., Yamamoto, T., & Hyun, J.-H. ( 2004). Fathering in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cultures: A review of the research literature. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (4th ed., pp. 146-181). Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley.
48.
Simons, R.L., Beaman, J., Conger, R.D., & Chao, W. ( 1993). Childhood experience, conception of parenting, and attitudes of spouse as determinants of parental behavior. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 91-106.
49.
Simons, R.L., Lorenz, F.O., Wu, C.-I., & Conger, R.D. ( 1993). Social network and marital support as mediators and moderators of the impact of stress and depression on parental behavior. Developmental Psychology, 29, 368-381.
50.
Statistics and Information Department. (2004 ). Heisei 15 nen kokumin seikatu kiso chousa no gaikyō: Kekka no gaiyō [Summary of 2003 basic survey on national life]. Retrieved August 17, 2004, from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/k-tyosa/k-tyosa03/1-1.html
51.
Statistics Bureau. (2001). Statistical handbook of Japan 2001. Tokyo: Japan Statistical Association.
52.
Teti, D.M., & Gelfand, D.M. ( 1991). Behavioral competence among mothers of infants in the first year: The mediational role of maternal self-efficacy. Child Development, 62, 918-929.
53.
Tsuya, N.O., & Bumpass, L.L. ( 2004). Gender and housework. In N. O. Tsuya & L. L. Bumpass (Eds.), Marriage, work & family life in comparative perspective: Japan, South Korea & the United States (pp. 115-133). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
54.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2001, September). Households and families: 2000 (Census 2000 brief). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce.
55.
Wandersman, L.P., Wandersman, A., & Kahn, S. ( 1980). Social support in the transition to parenthood. Journal of Community Psychology, 8, 332-342.
56.
White, M.I. ( 2002). Perfectly Japanese: Making families in an era of upheaval . Berkeley: University of California Press.
