can also learn the value of mother in one’s life. No matter how strict she is, she always tries to give her best to her children as she loves them.
E. Definitions of the Terms
In this research, I work in literature and talk about the effects of the cultural conflicts on the mothers-daughters relationship. To avoid
misunderstanding, below are definitions of some terms used in this study:
The first is culture. According to Kane 162 culture refers to ways of
thinking and doing passed down from generation to generation. In this study, culture refers to the ways of thinking and doing passed down from mothers and
daughters from two different cultures which are Chinese and American.
The second is conflict. Noller and Fitzpatrick 98 said that conflict occurs
in a family because the family members hold a difference between them. Noller and Fitzpatrick 99 included that when the members of the family do not agree
about the situations in their lives such as one’s behavior, one’s opinions, etc; there is a conflict. In this study, conflict refers to the disagreement between the mothers
and the daughters about the situations in their lives in one’s behavior, one’s opinions and conflict occurs in their relationship because the mothers and the
daughters hold culture differences between Chinese culture and American culture. The third is mother-daughter relationship. The strongest parents-children
relationship is the relationship between mother and her daughter Noller and Fitzpatrick 267. According to them too, there is often conflict between mother
and daughter because woman sees her mother as a critical, controlling, and
demanding person while man usually idealizes his mother 267. In this study, the strongest parents-children relationship is shown by the relationship between six
mothers and their daughters, they are: Precious Auntie and her daughter, LuLing; LuLing and her daughter, Ruth Luyi; Suyuan Woo and her daughter, June Jing-
mei; Lindo Jong and her daughter, Waverly Jong; An Mei Hsu and her daughter, Rose Hsu Jordan; and Ying-ying St. Clair and her daughter, Lena St. Clair. Each
of them has conflicts inside their mother-daughter relationship. There are often conflicts between the mothers and the daughters because the daughters see their
mothers as a critical, controlling, and demanding people.
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
