This research was conducted as a part of cross-cultural study on socialization processes in children. Maternal expectations for child development are assumed to be important background for child-rearing practices by parents as socializing agents. Maternal developmental expectations were assessed by questionnaire for Japanese, American and Indian mothers and compared between three groups. There were differences between three groups of mothers in mean age of mastery expectation across 38 items. In addition, there were also cultural differences in maternal expectations; Japanese mothers expected early mastery on the skills of emotional maturity, self-control and social courtesy, on the other hand, mothers in U. S. expected mastery at early age on the skill of verbal assertiveness and social skills with peers, and Indian mothers expected early mastery on obedience to the olders and verbal assertiveness. The patterns of maternal control strategies were also examined between Japanese, American and Indian mothers. The responses to hypothetical compliance-relevant situations were analyzed and compared. Japanese and Indian mothers were more likely to utilize feeling-oriented appeals and showed greater flexibility than American mothers. American mothers relied more extensively on appeal to their authority as mothers. The cultural contexts that contributed to these differences in developmental expectations and control strategies were discussed. Finally, socioeconomic and religional differences were examined for Indian samples, and differences on child-rearing attitudes between Japanese fathers and mothers were also examined.