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Parental identity, not ethnicity, influences education spending patterns: Study

How much parents spend on their children's education has a big impact on family well-being and a country's overall development. While past studies have suggested that ethnic and racial backgrounds affect this spending, they lacked solid experimental proof—making their findings less reliable.

A new study led by Lingjiang Lora Tu, Ph.D., from Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, examines the psychological factors driving parental investment in education, highlighting how a parent's self-view—whether they see themselves as independent or connected to others—shapes their spending patterns.

Published in the Journal of Business Research, —titled "'We' spend more than 'I': The impact of self-construal on parental education spending"—also challenges cultural stereotypes by showing that differences in parental education spending are driven by psychological factors, not ethnicity.

"The study shows that parents' self-view—whether as independent or as part of a collective—plays a more crucial role than ethnicity or race in how they prioritize their children's education," Tu said. "These findings have important implications for understanding parental education spending and designing effective interventions."

Building on the concept of the "working self-view," Tu's research shows that context determines which aspect of the self is activated in parents. When the independent self is active, the focus is on individuality and standing out. When the interdependent self is active, the focus shifts to relationships and connections. At any given time, only one aspect is active, shaping parents' decisions and behavior.

Key findings

Using data from 72 countries and a series of four experiments, Tu's study revealed that how people see themselves plays a key role in shaping education spending regardless of ethnicity or culture. In addition, factors like personal identity threats and how well personal and parental identities fit together can either strengthen or weaken this effect.

Key findings included:

• When the interdependent self is active, parents prioritize their parental identity, leading to higher spending on their children's education.
• When the independent self is active, parents focus more on their personal identity, resulting in lower spending on their children's education.

However, the study also identified circumstances that can either amplify or reverse these effects:

• Personal identity threats: Independent parents increase spending when their personal identity is challenged, while interdependent parents reduce spending.
• Parental-personal identity integration: When parents see their roles as parent and individual as complementary, the gap in spending between the two groups narrows.

Tu said the research challenges stereotypes, such as the "Asian effect," by demonstrating that variations in parental education spending stem from psychological factors rather than ethnicity. In addition, the findings offer actionable strategies for policymakers, educators and marketers to address spending disparities effectively:

• Education campaigns can encourage greater investment in children's education by activating parental identity or highlighting the harmony between personal and parental identities.
• Policies can address parents' self-views to help reduce disparities in education spending across cultural and ethnic divides.
• Marketers can craft messages that align with parents' self-views to improve engagement and effectiveness.

"Our research suggests moving beyond culture, ethnicity, race or gender as primary determinants of parental investment behaviors. We encourage scholars, practitioners and policymakers to embrace the complexity of identity and consider parents' self-construal as a significant and influential factor in understanding parenting dynamics and family consumption behaviors," the researchers wrote.