中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: this study investigates the factors affecting the happiness of children participating in housework using the perspectives of classical housework theories, happiness theories, and psychosocial stage theories. Methods: to collect data, I conducted 8 focus group interviews, a qualitative research method, with children from elementary, middle, and high schools as well as undergraduates from schools located in the northern and southern areas of Taiwan. Content analysis was used to extract concepts and categories from the data. Results: the three main findings are as follows: first, when housework becomes a form of leisure, a personal preference, or a task that can be easily completed, children feel immediately joyful in doing housework; second, when personal developmental needs can be fulfilled by learning new skills, conquering difficulties, having the autonomy of doing housework, receiving positive rewards, or maintaining the external image of being in good shape, children enjoy doing housework; and third, children's attitudes toward housework become more positive by reducing the pressure on their parents, increasing the quality of family life, and devoting more family time to doing housework together. Conclusions: the first result can be explained by process and activity theories, while the second and third results can be explained by need and goal theories. In addition, I found that to understand the reason underlying the happiness of children participating in housework, tasks performed during the child's developmental stages should also be considered. Advice on parenting education is proposed on the basis of the results of this study.