Autonomy support in families from a southwestern Chinese village facing rural-urban migration

Intergenerational households and labor migration are common characteristics of many rural Chinese communities. Intergenerational caregivers offer various forms of autonomy support to nurture children's development, especially when parents migrate to industrialized areas for work. To understand such support, primary caregivers, including 21 parents and 24 grandparents from families with various migration trends, were recruited from a southwest rural village with a high migration flow. All caregivers participated in interviews about their developmental ideals for children and how they help children meet these expectations. All caregivers defined the developmental ideals as Zili (self-reliance), Qinkuai (diligence) when completing chores, Zijue (self-awareness) in learning, and social and reflective skills while putting self-directed effort into learning. Emphasis on educational attainment for future independence, expanding intellectual horizons, and imparting moral knowledge supported children's psychological autonomy. Welcoming children's personal preferences and granting children the necessary space to manage their time-ideals apparent in industrialized societies-were also evident. Action autonomy support included using chores to train action, expecting behavioral self-reliance, and forming relevant habits as early in the life cycle as practical. When comparing two generations, most grandparents emphasized children's effort in learning, whereas parents stressed children's prosocial behaviors, sibling roles, and commitment to expanding intellectual horizons. All caregivers from families experiencing long-term parental migration put more emphasis on children's academic self-awareness and effort, fulfilling children's preferences, and teaching moral judgment compared to short-term and nonmigrant families. Childrearing goals reflected adaptive responses to children's expression of autonomy and intergenerational support regardless of migration status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).