Temperament and Risk-taking Behaviors in Chinese Young Children: The Mediating Role of Paternal Involvement Across Family Socioeconomic Status
Abstract
This study explored how Chinese children's sensation seeking temperament, paternal involvement and family socioeconomic status (SES) jointly influence their risk-taking behaviors, with paternal involvement as a mediator and family SES as a moderator. A mixed-methods approach was used with 206 father-child dyads from Ningbo and Xuchang, combining quantitative measurements and semi-structured interviews. Results showed temperament and paternal involvement directly and positively predicted children's risk-taking behaviors, with paternal involvement playing a partial mediating role. High SES families had higher paternal involvement and lower child risk-taking behaviors; the positive correlations among the three variables were only significant in high SES families. Fathers across SES recognized paternal involvement's importance and risk-taking's duality but differed in developmental focus, risk attitudes and failure perceptions. The study provides new insights into Chinese children's risk-taking behaviors development.
Document Type: Original article
Cited as: Li, Y., Fu, P., Hao, J. (2026). Temperament and Risk-taking Behaviors in Chinese Young Children: The Mediating Role of Paternal Involvement Across Family Socioeconomic Status. Educational Research Advances, 1(3), 152-162. https://doi.org/10.46690/era.2026.03.02
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46690/era.2026.03.02Keywords:
Temperament, Risk-taking behaviors, Paternal involvement, Family socioeconomic statusDownloads
References
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