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Socialization for independence and interdependence in Canadian and South Asian immigrant families in Canada

  • Author / Creator
    Nagpal, Jaya
  • In this study I compared independence and interdependence in Canadian (N = 43) and South Asian immigrant mothers (N =49) and their children (Canadian: N = 44, South Asian: N = 47), living in Edmonton, which is an Anglophone city in Western Canada. Canada and South Asia have been classified as individualistic and collectivistic cultures respectively (Hofstede, 1980). I used self-report measures to assess mothers’ inter/independence orientations on several dimensions, namely family allocentrism, Asian values, self-construal, traditionalism and modernity. In addition, I assessed socialization for independence or interdependence in a story-telling task with mothers and children. I found that South Asians were more interdependent in private domains such as family relations and independent in public domains such as employment and education. Mothers in both cultures gave importance to the development of independence as well as interdependence in their children. However, in the story-telling task, South Asian mothers encouraged more interdependence than Canadian mothers. South Asian children also showed more interdependent orientations than Canadian children. This study demonstrates that a domain-specific description best explains people’s independence and interdependence. In addition, this study also emphasizes the utility of using a mixed methods approach to understand the socialization process.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Fall 2010
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R34D07
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.
  • Language
    English
  • Institution
    University of Alberta
  • Degree level
    Doctoral
  • Department
  • Supervisor / co-supervisor and their department(s)
  • Examining committee members and their departments
    • Noels, Kimberly (Psychology)
    • Clancy, Patricia. M. (Linguistics, University of California, Santa Barbara)
    • Galambos, Nancy (Psychology)
    • Kirova, Anna (Early childhood education)