Cognitive or non-cognitive? The effect of maternal dominance on adolescent human capital: Evidence from adolescents' educational decisions

Abstract

Using data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study finds that when mothers hold dominant positions in their children's educational decisions, they are more likely to adopt a "tiger mom" approach. This dynamic explains why maternal dominance in educational decisions significantly enhances adolescents' cognitive abilities while hindering their non-cognitive skills. We propose time investment, material investment, and parenting styles as channel variables that offer a more comprehensive explanation. It is clear that as mothers have the decision-making authority in children's education, parents allocate more time to daily care and homework tutoring and provide additional extracurricular learning resources for adolescents, ultimately enhancing their cognitive abilities. Meanwhile, parents tend to be more demanding. Conversely, the mothers' dominance in the children's educational decisions results in reduced investment in leisure time, with no statistically significant effects on parents' responsiveness and activities related to talent development, mental growth, and parent-child bonding. The above three mechanisms indicate that when mothers hold dominant positions in their children's educational decisions, they are more likely to adopt a "tiger mom" approach to fostering their children's human capital development. These findings partially explain the negative effect on adolescents' non-cognitive abilities. In conclusion, these findings underscore the critical role of the tiger mom in shaping adolescents' cognitive and non-cognitive abilities. Efforts should be made to promote the holistic development of adolescents' cognitive and non-cognitive abilities.