Parenting and Modernization on The Background of The Modern Society

Parenting is the giving of necessary support to a child for their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual or cognitive development (Baydar, Akçınar, & İmer, 2012). Since modernization is a continuous process, raising a child in a modern society could be a challenging task as a parent due to the new technologies and scientific advances offered by the new millennia. The parents, as older the generation, grew up in a different period, lived in a different social-environment, and brought up with a different set of values. They, as well as their parenting as they raise a child, should also adapt with the modern era.

Parents have a huge influence to their children, which will be the next generation of adults. The family unit, particularly the parents, is important for the development of young children’s activity-related attitudes, beliefs, preferences, and behaviors (Dempsey, Kimicik, & Horn, 1993). The Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) suggests that young individuals learn through observing other people. Many researches were conducted and support this view. Parents affect their children’s physical activity (Thompson, Flumbert, & Mirwald, 2003), academic values (Gniewosz and Noack, 2012), social adjustments ( D’Angelo, Weinberger, & Feldman, 1995), intergroup attitudes (Degner & Dalege, 2013), political and religious attitudes (Jennings, Stoker, & Bowers, 2009) etc. Generational theory propose that when people are born within a 20 year time period, have a location in history, share common beliefs and behavior, and posses a sense membership within the generational group, generational cohorts emerge (Strauss & Howe, 1991). Generational cohorts are assumed to be completely different in values and behaviors because they experienced different events during their formative years (Howe & Strauss, 2003).

Investigating the generational gap between parents and their adolescent or young adult children generated considerable research attention during the 1960s and 1970s, although, actual differences in beliefs and values between parents and their adolescent children were found to be minimal or insignificant (Jacobsen, Berry, & Olson, 1975). In contrast, Acock and Bengtson (1980) proposed that wrong questions were being asked about generational differences. “Rather than ask, ‘To what extent is the generation gap real?’ we ask, ‘Where is the reality of the generation gap?’” (p. 502). This question was pursued through research and youth perceptions of parental attitudes, not the actual parent attitudes, were surprisingly strong predictors of young adults’ self reported attitudes. It is concluded that the generation gap exists when perceived differences exist (Acock and Bengtson, 1980). Technology is an integral part of contemporary family life (McHale, Dotterer, & Kim, 2009; Vogl-Bauer, 2003; Wartella & Jennings, 2001), which directed attention to generational differences between parents and youth (Clark, 2009; Livingstone, 2003).

The Millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000 (Pew Research Center, 2010), which includes contemporary young adults, is proposed to be different and unique from the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1943 and 1960; Coomes & Debard, 2004) and Generation X, born between 1961 and 1981, cohorts based not only on Millennials’ access to technology, but how they have integrated technology into their social lives (Pew Research Center, 2010). Further, generational differences in technological skills have been proposed, with Millennials experiencing more proficiency and comfort with technology than previous generations (Prensky, 2001). The differences between generational cohorts have largely been based on anecdotal evidence and have been perpetuated by popular media, but little empirical support for actual generational differences has emerged in the literature (Litt, 2013).

However, consistent with Acock and Bengtson’s (1980) conclusions in their generation gap research, a few qualitative studies identified perceived generational differences in technology skills between parents and their children (Clark, 2009; Livingstone, 2003). Modernization is a comprehensive concept that illustrates the transition of a society from ancient to modern culture (Kumar & Mittal, 2014). According to Inkeles and Smith (1974) a modern man are has the readiness for new experience and openness to innovation and change, and the capability of forming or holding opinions over large numbers of problems and issues that arise not only in immediate environment but also outside of it. Krithika and Vasantha (2013) conducted a study the development and modernization of technology had made people's life easier and contributed positively to social well being so for while it has also brought about some problems. This study aims to examine the relationship between parenting and modernization attitudes of Kapampangan parents.