Parents' marital satisfaction, self‐compassion, and harsh discipline in China: A dyadic analysis

• Published date: 01 February 2024
• Author: Die Wang,Ruibo Xie,Ru Yan,Wan Ding,Xiuyun Lin
• Date: 01 February 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12951

RESEARCH

Parents’marital satisfaction, self-compassion, and

harsh discipline in China: A dyadic analysis

Die Wang

1

|Ruibo Xie

1

|Ru Yan

1

|Wan Ding

1

|Xiuyun Lin

2

1

College of Psychology, Parent Education

Research Center, Key Laboratory of

Intelligent Education Technology and

Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang

Normal University, Jinhua, China

2

Institute of Developmental Psychology,

Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Correspondence Wan Ding, College of

Psychology, Parent Education Research

Center, Key Laboratory of Intelligent

Education Technology and Application of

Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal

University, Jinhua, China, 321004.

Email: dingwan@zjnu.edu.cn

or

Xiuyun Lin, Institute of Developmental

Psychology, Beijing Normal University,

Beijing, China, 100875.

Email: linxy@bnu.edu.cn

Funding information

The study described in this report was funded

by Zhejiang Province Social Science Planning

Project (23NDJC115YB). The content is solely

the responsibility of the authors and does not

necessarily represent the official views of

Zhejiang Province Social Science Planning

Project. We appreciate the parents, children,

and teachers who participated in our study and

the people who assisted in data collection.

Grant/Award Number: GZ2021500.

Abstract

Objective: Using actor–partner interdependence modeling,

this study examined the dyadic associations of marital sat-

isfaction and harsh discipline and the mediating role of

self-compassion.

Background: Harsh discipline is a negative parenting style

commonly used by parents, especially Chinese parents.

This parenting approach has been reported by some

researchers as harmful and universal. It is important to

identify the causes and internal mechanisms supporting

use of harsh discipline.

Method: Participants were 349 Chinese father–mother

dyads with school-age children (M

age

offather =35.4 years,

SD

age

=5.4 years;M

age

ofmother =34.4 years,SD

age

=

4.9 years). Father and mother self-reported their marital satis-

faction, self-compassion, and use of harsh discipline at three

time points.

Results: The results revealed that fathers’and mothers’

marital satisfaction negatively predicted the fathers’and

mothers’harsh discipline, respectively. However, fathers’

and mothers’marital satisfaction did not significantly pre-

dict the mothers’and fathers’harsh discipline. Second, we

also found that mothers’marital satisfaction positively

predicted fathers’and mothers’self-compassion, while

fathers’marital satisfaction did not significantly predict

the fathers’and mothers’self-compassion. Finally, fathers’

self-compassion played a mediating role in the relationship

between mothers’marital satisfaction and fathers’harsh

discipline.

Conclusion: Parents’marital satisfaction promotes the

development of self-compassion and reduces the use of

harsh discipline.

Implications: Enhancing parents’marital satisfaction may

play a role in reducing parents’use of harsh discipline. The

researchers highlight the importance of mothers’marital

satisfaction in improving mothers’and fathers’self-

Received: 5 April 2022Revised: 23 March 2023Accepted: 18 June 2023

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12951

© 2023 National Council on Family Relations.

502 Family Relations. 2024;73:502–519.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

compassion, which may be an effective measure to miti-

gate fathers’harsh discipline.

KEYWORDS

Chinese, dyadic approach, harsh discipline, marital satisfaction,

self-compassion

Harsh discipline refers to physical and verbal forms of parental aggression toward children in

response to times parents identify children as doing something wrong or doing something that

makes their parents angry (Hinnant et al., 2015;Wangetal.,2018). There is growing evidence

that children exposed to harsh discipline are at risk for numerous negative developmental out-

comes, including aggression, delinquency, anxiety, and depression (Morris & Gibson, 2012;

Wang & Kenny, 2014;Xing&Wang,2012). However, harsh discipline is common worldwide

(World Health Organization, 2002), and is especially common in China, where the practice is

widely accepted (Wang & Liu, 2014). A recent study with Chinese parents found that approxi-

mately 80% of mothers and 75% of fathers reported engaging in psychological aggression

toward children in the previous year, and 54% of mothers and 48% of fathers reported engag-

ing in corporal punishment (Wang & Liu, 2014). In view of the prevalence of use of harsh dis-

cipline in China and the potential harmfulness of harsh discipline, identifying what

contributes to parents’use of this practice and internal mechanisms supporting its use are

important.

To date, a growing number of researchers have tried to identify the causes of harsh disci-

pline, and some have concluded that parents with high marital satisfaction use less harsh disci-

pline on their children (Chang et al., 2004; Wang & Wang, 2022; Yang et al., 2023). Despite

this progress, it was noteworthy that few studies have examined the internal mechanisms by

which individual marital satisfaction can reduce harsh discipline. According to Neff et al.

(2003), a close relationship with a spouse promotes the development of individual self-

compassion (i.e., the showing self-acceptance and self-care), which in turn promotes individual

tolerance and forgiveness of the shortcomings and inadequacies of others (Neff, 2003; Neff &

Beretvas, 2013). Parents with high marital satisfaction tend to feel accepted and cared for by

their partners, which may be conducive to self-acceptance and self-tolerance (Wang

et al., 2023). These parents may be better positioned to understand their children and use less

harsh discipline when their children make mistakes.

However, no studies have explored the role of individual self-compassion in relationship

to marital satisfaction and parental use of harsh discipline. In addition, most previous

research investigating the relationship between parental marital satisfaction and harsh disci-

pline has been conducted in a Western settings; few studies have focused on this issue in the

Chinese context where parental harsh discipline is often seen as an expression of love and con-

cern. As the Chinese proverb goes, “Beating and scolding is the emblem of love”

(Chao, 1994). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the influence of parents’marital satisfac-

tion on use of harsh discipline and the role of self-compassion in relation to this practice given

the unique aspects of Chinese cultures to provide suggestions for reducing Chinese parents’

use of harsh discipline.

Apart from the focus on studies completed in Western countries, another limitation of previ-

ous research is that few studies have used a dyadic approach to examine the effect and internal

mechanisms of parental marital satisfaction and harsh discipline. In marital relationships, the

mutual influence between husband and wife is the main characteristic of the relationship, and

the marital satisfaction of one partner will affect their partner’s thoughts, emotion, and behav-

iors (Hanzal, 2008). According to family system theory, the marital satisfaction (marital sub-

system), self-compassion (individual subsystem), and harsh discipline (parent–child subsystem)

MARITAL SATISFACTION AND HARSH DISCIPLINE503