Imagine that you are watching a new reality television show in which parents trade places and take one another's role in the family. In the program, parents interact with the grandparents in addition to parenting one another's children. One family is characterized as coming from a collectivist culture, and the other family is characterized as coming from an individualist culture. Each family has one 1-year-old, one 8-year-old, one 14-year-old, and two grandparents living in the household.
Explain the differences in parenting style of “collectivist” and “individualist” parents. Describe how each couple would differ in their expectations of each of the children.
In light of the differing styles and expectations, analyze the points of conflict that would arise when the parents were swapped. Be sure to identify how the collectivist parents would respond to the individualist children as well as how the individualist parents would react to the collectivist children.
Compare the grandparents' role in the collectivist family to the grandparents' role in the individualist family. Identify the conflicts that these roles would cause when the parents were swapped. Then speculate about how the "new" mother and father may wish to change the existing roles?
Offer your conclusion about how you anticipate the show will end. Will any of the family members adjust their beliefs or behaviors?