Pratiksha H. Raval’s research while affiliated with Miami University and other places

Parent-child boundary dissolution, the loss of psychological distinctiveness between parents and their children, has been linked with maladaptive child functioning in White middle-class groups in Western cultures, though cross-cultural findings are mixed. To further explore this variation, we used mixed methods to compare college students’ reports of frequency and subjective experience of parent beliefs and behaviors indicative of various types of parent-child boundary dissolution in India (n = 110) and the United States (n = 250). Internal reliability estimates were lower in the Indian sample, particularly for infantilization and role reversal. College students in India reported parent beliefs and behaviors considered to be indicative of enmeshment and role reversal in Western family psychology literature more frequently and perceived them more positively than U.S. participants, while no difference was found for psychological control and spousification. Overall, the findings question the cultural relevance of some dimensions of boundary dissolution in India.

Emotional expression and experience are dynamic processes that vary within and between individuals of different cultural groups (Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, 2006). The present study sought to compare self-reports of processes related to emotion communication and control in India and the United States. A total of 268 participants (United States: n = 160 and India: n = 108) completed a self-report measure depicting hypothetical vignettes and a series of questions assessing likely emotions elicited, likelihood of expression, motives guiding expression and control, and method of expression. Results showed that US participants primarily reported more self-focused emotions (i.e., happiness) and self- and other-focused motives for expressing or controlling felt emotion, while Indian participants primarily reported emotions that focused on others’ well-being as well as other- and relationship-focused motives. US participants more commonly reported direct verbal communication of the emotion, while Indian participants more frequently reported implicit and contextual methods of communication.