Parenting is the act of giving of necessary support to a child for their physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development (Baydar, Akç?nar, & ?mer, 2012). Since modernization is a continuous process, raising a child in the period of modernization could be a challenging task as a parent due to the continuous developed of technology and scientific advances offered by the modern era. The older generational cohorts, as parents to the millennial generation, grew up on a different time period, with different social-environment, and possess a different set of values and behaviors.
The parents, as well as their parenting as they raise a child, should also adapt with the modern age. Parents have a tremendous influence to their children, which will be the next generation of adults. According to Dempsey, Kimicik & Horn (1993) the family unit, particularly the parents, is important for the development of young children’s activity-related attitudes, beliefs, preferences, and behaviors. The Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) proposed that young individuals learn by observing others. Many studies 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 proposed 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). Many researches concerning about the generational gap among parents and their adolescent or young adult children were conducted during the 1960s and 1970s, although, the actual differences in beliefs and values between parents and their adolescent children were found to be minimal or insignificant (Jacobsen, Berry, & Olson, 1975).
Lamm and Meeks (2009) suggested that ‘differences can be generalized to the mean cohort level’ (p. 615). In contrast, it is proposed that wrong questions were being asked about generational differences (Acock and Bengtson, 1980).
According to Acock and Bengtson (1980), “Rather than ask, ‘To what extent is the generation gap real?’ we ask, ‘Where is the reality of the generation gap?'” (p. 502). Researches were conducted and pursued this question. It is found that youth perceptions of parental attitudes, not the actual parent attitudes, were surprisingly strong predictors of young adults’ self reported attitudes. It is assumed that the generation gap exists when perceived differences exist (Acock and Bengtson, 1980).
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Technology is an fundamental 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). Research shows notable differences in the usage of present technologies by younger and older generations (Huffaker and Calvert 2005; Chung et al. 2010; Vodanovich, Sundaram, and Myers 2010). The younger generations prefer to use microblogging, social networking, and other technologies for interaction and communication, while older generations are more likely to use asynchronous tools, such as emails. Younger generations usually use present technology for sharing personal experiences, while older generations use it for sharing or discussing ideas. Further, generational differences in technological skills have been proposed, with Millennials experiencing more proficiency and comfort with technology than previous generations (Prensky, 2001).
The distinction 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 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. 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 (Krithika and Vasantha, 2013). Parents and their children, the millennial generation, do not belong in the same generational cohort resulting to a completely different set of values and behaviors because they experienced different events during their formative years (Howe & Strauss, 2003).
This study aims to examine the relationship between parenting and modernization attitudes of Kapampangan parents.
