Effects of Social Context on Family Development in Two-children Families:

Seating Patterns While Eating out

Abstract

　　To explore family relationships from the perspective of social context, the seating locations of members of two-children families while eating out were compared to those of their one-child counterparts. Fifty-two mothers with one child and 128 mothers with two children from 3 kindergartens in Japan completed the self-reported questionnaire. They were asked to report which of the available seats each of the family members would usually sit, based on an illustration of a table at a casual restaurant. In one-child families, more mothers reported that they themselves, rather than the father, were seated next to their children, whereas in two-children families different patterns emerged; more of the mothers reported that they usually sat next to their second child, while the father sat next to their first child. Furthermore, these birth-order patterns were more salient in families in which the participants reported that the second child care was necessary during the meal. Based on a comparison of the present findings with previous findings in other settings, it seems that the parent who is beside each of the two children may be determined by the family context as well as by the children's age. The results also confirmed that a cross-contextual perspective is necessary to gain a better understanding of family dynamics.