Come and tell mama : the socialization of anger through talk

• Main Author: Sharifah Adibah Binte Syed Zainal
• Other Authors: Ng Bee Chin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73493
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Examining the socialization of anger through talk, this study explores the narratives of 10 mother-child dyads. Participants were middle class, educated Chinese Singaporean, with children aged 3-6 years old. Conducted in the home setting, the dyads were prompted to discuss anger-related events without restrictions to topic and time. Findings reveal that mothers evaluated anger and its associated behavioural expression negatively. Children were expected to be conscious of their own regulatory means, before being explicitly told to manage and contain their anger. Children’s expression of anger typically met with the mother’s anger to signify inappropriateness and physical and verbal punishment were common when children fail to manage their anger. An inherent contradiction was found in mothers’ expectation of child’s personal practice in regulating anger when they fail to do so themselves. Socializing the control of anger as the ideal way of anger regulation reflects the underlying Confucian values of harmony and filial piety. However, children were also taught to express anger through talk, indicating possible Western influences on managing emotions. This study highlights the fact that children are actively socialized about emotion from a very young age and the patterns of socialization has clear implication for emotional development.