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Researchers from France and Italy discovered that Canadian parents are less strict with their children than mothers and fathers in France and Italy.
“Our most important finding was the difference between Canadians and the others,” said Professor Michel Claes, the lead author of the study. “Canadians focus on independence and negotiation. On the other hand, Italians, for example, exercise more control. We found Canadians seem to focus on negotiation in case of a conflict.”
Claes said Canada, France and Italy were selected for the study because they share important cultural and social factors. “We chose FrenchCanadians because they share the same language as France, and originally came from France and share certain values. Italy was included because it was considered to have similar, strong and important family values,” he explained.
The researchers examined the emotional ties between parents and their children by questioning 1,256 students aged 11 to 19 years old.
Canadian students reported less control and more free actions, according to the study. Italian parents were stricter and French parents were somewhere in the middle.
Claes explains that the differences lie in education in Canada, France and Italy.
“North America has its own educational values, which promote individualization. Tolerance and comprehension are encouraged. Italy, on the other hand, promotes respect of authority, control, and the need for permission.” he said.
Children from all three countries described their mothers as warm and communicative. Italian and Canadian children had similar feelings about their fathers, and reported high levels of emotional ties. But French fathers were generally thought by their children to be more distant and cold.
“We were surprised by this,” Claes admitted.“It seems as though the relationships between French mothers and their children were becoming closer over time, while fathers maintain a form of distance and coldness, which is more of a source of conflict in France than in the other countries.”
