An interesting thought…

I came across an article the other day which made a pretty good read and got me thinking (unfortunately I forgot to save the link and can no longer find it anywhere!). It was about the mother-daughter relationship and how this differs in different cultures. The study involved interviewing mothers from Britain and Hong Kong and the following was found…

The Hong Kong mothers imposed strict disciplines on their children whilst they were growing up, ensuring they focused their energies on school work and extra- curricular activities. On the other hand, whilst British mothers were involved in their daughters education by providing them with encouragement and material support, they were more likely to ‘let them find their own level’. They played a more minor role in determining their daughters paths. In addition, Hong Kong mothers tend to use physical punishment as a common practice, whereas British mothers would use emotional punishment, guilt being very common (for example saying ‘I am very disappointed in you’- I know this definitely worked for me because I really hate letting people down!). Furthermore, British daughters tended to grow up with more freedom, for example being encouraged to leave home for higher education, but the Hong Kong daughters tended to live with their parents through the beginning of adulthood and were expected to stay with them until they were to be married.

So there seems to be quite a difference between the mother-daughter relationship in Britain compared to Hong Kong. I always find it really interesting how different countries and cultures have different ways of living, which is probably why I chose to study sociology!