Gregory Bateson

"Morale and national character."

In his . New York: Ballantine Books. 1972 [1942].

 

In upper- and middle-class English families, dominant parents preside over submissive children (modified by a nurse)... At meals, children are expected to listen quietly. Adults are exhibitionist to their offsprings' spectatorship. By contrast, in the American middle-class, parental dominance and their children's submission are comparatively minimized... Instead of performing in front of them, American parents have their young do the entertaining. "This pattern differs from the English not only in the reversal of the spectatorship-exhibitionism roles, but also the content of what is exhibited. The American child is encouraged by his parents to show off his independence." (Lipset's (1980, p. 168) paraphrase of, and partial quote from pp. 101-102; Bateson's emphasis)