Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA.
Child Dev. 2010 Sep-Oct;81(5):1490-503. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01487.x.
This study examined in a cross-cultural context mothers' discussions of mental states and external behaviors in a story-telling task with their 3-year-old children and the relations of such discussions to children's emotion situation knowledge (ESK). The participants were 71 European American and 60 Chinese immigrant mother-child pairs in the United States. Mothers and children read a storybook together at home, and children's ESK was assessed. Results showed that European American mothers made more references to thoughts and emotions during storytelling than did Chinese mothers, who commented more frequently on behaviors. Regardless of culture, mothers' use of mental states language predicted children's ESK, whereas their references to behaviors were negatively related to children's ESK. Finally, mothers' emphasis on mental states over behaviors partially mediated cultural effects on children's ESK.
本研究在跨文化背景下，考察了母亲在与 3 岁儿童讲故事任务中讨论心理状态和外部行为的情况，以及这些讨论与儿童情绪情境知识（ESK）的关系。参与者包括 71 对欧裔美国人和 60 对中国移民母子对，他们都生活在美国。母亲和孩子在家一起阅读故事书，并评估了孩子的 ESK。结果表明，与中国母亲相比，欧裔美国母亲在讲故事时更多地提到了思想和情感，而中国母亲则更频繁地评论行为。无论文化背景如何，母亲使用心理状态语言都可以预测孩子的 ESK，而她们对行为的提及则与孩子的 ESK 呈负相关。最后，母亲对心理状态的强调部分中介了文化对儿童 ESK 的影响。
