Parenting in Indonesia: Inter- and intracultural differences in mothers' interactions with their young children

The interactions between 76 lower-class Indonesian mothers and their young children were observed both at home and in a structured play setting. Maternal interactive behaviour in the play session was compared with that of Japanese, Dutch, and Surinam-Dutch mothers observed in a similar setting. The interactive behaviour of Indonesian mothers was found to be more similar to that of Dutch and Surinam-Dutch mothers than to that of Japanese mothers. Mothers’ supportive behaviour in the structured play session was significantly related to their sensitivity at home. Maternal interactive behaviour in the two settings was also significantly but differentially related to characteristics of the immediate and socioeconomic context. The results suggest that socioeconomic factors have a stronger impact on the quality of parenting than cultural factors and that the observation of mother-child interactions in different settings may tap different aspects of parenting.