Proceedings of The 5th World Conference on Social Sciences
Year: 2022
DOI:
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Place attachment of families living overseas; Japanese parents’ cognition of parenting, and language acquisition
Hiromi HIRATA
ABSTRACT:
Researchers have explained place attachment using relatively broad spatial concepts, including city blocks, neighborhoods, municipalities, and ideas conveying nature and local convenience, or using social relationship concepts, including residents’ ties to their residential area and the willingness to participate in civic activities and events. This study examined how attachment to the residential community affects responsive parenting behaviors, mainly concerning communication with children and demands related to discipline, including teaching social rules. We analyzed data from 48 Japanese fathers with Japanese wives (mean age 42.5 years) and 58 mothers with Japanese husbands (mean age 43.6 years), and 128 mothers with non-Japanese husbands (mean age 41.8 years) residing in an English speaking country. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that place attachment assessed by the involvement with the residential community, including high connectivity and willingness to participate in civic activities and events, promoted Japanese fathers’ responsive and demanding parenting behaviors. However, Japanese mothers’ place attachment did not have the same effect on responsive and demanding parenting behaviors as fathers’ place attachment when we separately analyzed 58 mothers with Japanese and 128 mothers with non-Japanese husbands. “Experiencing no problems with daily life communication” in the country of residence indicated that the stronger the cognition of understanding others in daily conversations, the stronger the Japanese mother’s and father’s place attachment. These findings of this study indicated that place attachment facilitated Japanese fathers’ parenting behavior. Additionally, cognitions related to language acquisition influenced Japanese mothers’ and fathers’ place attachment.
keywords: responsiveness, demandingness, father, mother, community