Socialization and Socioemotional Development in Chinese Children

This Element describes Chinese cultural background for child development, discusses socioemotional characteristics in the early years of life, reviews research on Chinese children's and adolescents' social behaviors including prosocial behavior, aggression, and shyness, and concludes with suggestions for future research directions.

---

Children's early temperamental characteristics have a pervasive impact on the development of socioemotional functioning. Through socialization and social interaction processes, cultural beliefs and values play a role in shaping the meanings of socioemotional characteristics and in determining their developmental patterns and outcomes. This Element focuses on socialization and socioemotional development in Chinese children. The Element first briefly describes Chinese cultural background for child development, followed by a discussion of socialization cognitions and practices. Then, it discusses socioemotional characteristics in the early years of life, including temperamental reactivity and self-control, mainly in terms of their cultural meanings and developmental significance. Next, the Element reviews research on Chinese children's and adolescents' social behaviors, including prosocial behavior, aggression, and shyness. Given the massive social changes that have been occurring in China, their implications for socialization and socioemotional development are discussed in these sections. The Element concludes with suggestions for future research directions.