Abstract

Parenting behavior that reflects cultural values plays an important role in the infants’ socialization and development of self-recognition. While proximal parenting strategies are used more frequently by caregivers who value social relations, distal parenting strategies are preferred more by caregivers who value individualism. No studies have examined predominant parenting strategies used by Korean caregivers in this respect. The present study employed a time-sampling method to analyze 54 Korean mothers’ parenting strategies during play interactions with their 14 to 20-month-olds. Additionally, our study examined the relationships between Korean mothers’ parenting strategies and factors related to infants and mothers. The results showed that Korean mothers heavily relied on distal parenting strategies, using mutual eye gaze and verbal contact more frequently than proximal strategies such as body contact or directive action. These results suggest that current generations of Korean mothers may value independence and autonomy more than social relations and harmony. Moreover, significant correlations were observed between the mothers’ parenting strategies and infants’ gender, age, and annual parental income. These findings suggest that the parenting strategies of Korean mothers may induce various changes in their infants’ development.