MATERNAL EXPECTATIONS OF CHILD-DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA, JAPAN, AND ENGLAND

Maternal expectations of child development were compared in India, Jap an, and England. Fifty mothers from both India and Japan, and 70 mothe rs from England were asked to indicate the age at which they expected a child to achieve competence in 45 tasks, reflecting education/self-c are, compliance, peer interaction, communication, emotional control, a nd environmental independence competencies. On average, competence was expected at a slightly earlier age in Japan than in England, and alto gether later in India However, differences between cultures were domai n specific. Japanese expectations only exceeded English expectations i n the education/self-care and environmental independence domains. Indi an expectations were significantly later than Japanese and English exp ectations in all domains except environmental independence, where they were later than Japanese but earlier than English expectations.