Introduction: Children engage in competition in and out of school, and their views of competition are shaped by sociocultural context. Different cultural values may influence how children construct the meaning of competition. Research demonstrates different types of individuals' competitive orientations (Orosz et al., 2018) and finds that self-developmental competition (SDC), which aims at self-growth rather than defeating one's rivals, is related to more positive outcomes. Research further reveals important cultural differences: Whereas more European-heritage children tend to view competition as a zero-sum game, more East Asian children favor SDC (Fülöp, 2004, 2009). Furthermore, children's family socioeconomic status may also affect parental socialization in engagement in competition differently. Yet, little research exists on how Chinese American children, born and raised in the U.S. with parents from their home cultures, are socialized in developing SDC.


Method: We recorded longitudinally 200 Chinese American mother-child conversations about learning (MCCs) with children at ages 5 and 6, balanced by gender, and half from middle-class and half from low-income backgrounds. Each mother was asked to converse with her child about both a good and a poor learning attitude/behavior without any constraints. The MCCs were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis.


Results: Among mothers who guided their 5-year-old children to work hard in learning, 38% spontaneously discussed SDC. Among them, 24.3% probed one important aspect of SDC: Competing with peers by mutual support. These mothers encouraged their children to learn from peers but also to help their peers learn. More middle-class mothers tended to promote SDC than low-income mothers. However, their emphasis on competition by mutual peer support was similar. A year later, the patterns on general SDC and peer support increased. We use discourse analysis to document in detail how such parental socialization along with their children's responses unfolds. Implications for child development and education will be discussed.