d that parenting goals and techniques depend to some extent on the nature of the tasks that adults are expected to perform or competencies that adults are supposed to possess in a given population. For example, in the united States (a complex, modern society), adults are expected to read, write, compute, and be economically self-suficient. American children are thus expected to achieve in school, are given an allowance to learn the value of money, and are pressured to get a job at least by the time they finish their schooling. In the Fiji Islands (a simple, traditional society), adults are expected to farm, fish, and be able to make economic exchanges with relatives on the bigger islands (west, 1988). Fijian children are thus expected to relate to others in the community, to learn to help adults work, and to share resources.