Psychology chapter #3: Enculturation

the Six Cultures Study

conducted by Beatrice and John Whiting anthropologists collected field data in Mexico, India, Kenya, the United States, Okinawa, and the Philippines. The major focus of the project was to systematically examine child-rearing and children's behavior in these varied cultural contexts. the researchers documented how the natural environment shaped how households were structured, which in turn shaped how parents raised their children to fit into that particular society. A child who grew up in a society of hunters and gatherers versus a society of urban dwellers had very different experiences regarding whom the child spent time with, what activities the child was exposed to, and what behaviors and personality traits were valued, emphasized, and encouraged. Another major finding of the Six Cultures Study was that women's work roles contributed to children's social behaviors. In cultures where women contributed greatly to the subsistence base of the family—such as in sub-Saharan Africa, where women were the major food providers—the children learned to share in family responsibilities and scored low on dependence (seeking comfort and support, seeking help and information, seeking approval, praise, or attention) in cultures in which women were not expected to substantially contribute to the subsistence base of the family—such as for high-caste families in Khalapur, India—the children scored high on dependence

macrosystem

culture, religion, society

domain-specific approach to parenting

emphasizes the complexity of the enculturation process by distinguishing between distinct types or domains of parent-child enculturation. 1-protection 2-control 3-reciprocity (learning how to cooperate) 4-guided learning (learning specific skills) 5-group participation (learning to participate in social groups and cultural practices)

developmental niche

focuses on how the broader macrosystem structures the child's immediate microsystems The developmental niche includes three major components: 1-the physical and social setting 2-the customs of child care and child rearing 3-the psychology of the caregivers. The developing child is influenced by all three components, or more precisely by their interaction. In their niche, children are influenced by the various enculturation agents and institutions around them, ensuring their enculturation. At the same time, children also bring their temperamental disposition, motivations, and cognitions to the interaction.

Indigenous heritage

(e.g., Native American, Ainu, Maori) If an indigenous heritage is part of your identity, what meaning does it currently have in your life?

how to define bullying

1-intentional physical or psychological harm, 2-that is based on a power imbalance between the bully and victim, and 3-which is repeated over time. The imbalance of power can refer to differences in age, physical size, having or not having a disability, or being of majority versus minority status. Based on this definition, bullying can include hitting, name-calling, spreading rumors, and social exclusion.

rate of bullying

41% of elementary school children from Italy, 27% from England, 20% from Portugal, 18% from Spain, 11% from Japan, and 9% from Norway reported being bullied

postfigurative culture

A culture in which change is slow and enculturation occurs primarily by elders transferring their knowledge to their children. Elders hold the knowledge necessary for becoming a successful and competent adult.

configurative cultures

A culture in which change occurs rapidly. Both adults and peers socialize young people. Young people may have to turn to one another for advice and information in this type of culture.

prefigurative cultures

A culture that is changing so rapidly that young people may be the ones to teach adults cultural knowledge. The knowledge that adults hold may not be sufficient for the next generation, and adults may need to look to younger people for advice and information

permissive parents

A style of parenting in which parents allow children to regulate their own lives and provide few firm guidelines. warm and responsive to their children; however, they allow their children to regulate their own lives and provide few firm guidelines (low control).

uninvolved parents

A style of parenting in which parents are often too absorbed in their own lives to respond appropriately to their children and may seem indifferent to them They do not seem committed to caregiving, beyond the minimum effort required to meet the physical needs of their child. An extreme form of this type of parenting is neglect

authoritarian parents

A style of parenting in which the parent expects unquestioned obedience and views the child as needing to be controlled. described as being low on warmth and responsiveness toward their children

authoritative parents

A style of parenting that is viewed as firm, fair, and reasonable. This style is seen as promoting psychologically healthy, competent, independent children who are cooperative and at ease in social situations. They exhibit higher levels of control, providing clear guidelines for their children combined with a high degree of warmth and affection.

cyberbullying

Bullying through electronic means, for example, using the Internet, social media, or sending text messages. children exposed to cyberbullying also show greater depressive and somatic symptoms, anxiety, and loneliness. children who are cyberbullied are less likely to tell someone about being bullied than children who are bullied in person. children report being more likely to experience cyberbullying outside, not inside, of school.

Multigenerational families

In many cultures, such as in India extended- and multigenerational-family child-rearing is an integral and important part of the enculturation process. The extended family is an important means of transmitting cultural heritage from generation to generation. Extended-family members can also provide a buffer to stresses of everyday living. In the United States, multigenerational households have been steadily increasing. In 2016, 29% of African Americans, 27% of Asian and Pacific-Islanders, 26% of Latino/as lived in multigenerational families, compared with 16% of European American families

attitudes of appraisals of students

found that Asian American students tended to show a stronger desire to please parents, reported greater parental pressure, but also higher levels of parental support, than did the European American students. U.S. students attributed academic achievement more often to ability than did Asian international students. U.S. students also believed that effort was more important for success than lack of effort was for failure, whereas Asian international students considered effort equally important for success or failure. Studies comparing U.S., German, Russian, and Japanese children's beliefs about school performance showed that U.S. children had the highest levels of personal agency and control expectancy, but the lowest belief-performance correlations

single mothers

here the extended and multigenerational family plays an important role in the child-rearing process, especially in the case of teenage parents. The presence of the maternal grandmother in these families is a protective factor for risks associated with teen mothering The grandmother often serves as a valuable source of information about child development. She also tends to be more responsive and less punitive with the child than the teen mother is. The grandmother in these three-generation households plays a very important role as teacher and role model to her daughter and can provide favorable, positive social interaction for her grandchild.

co-sleeping based on economics

households making less than $20,000 a year were more likely to report co-sleeping in eastern Kentucky, families who had large houses were more likely to have their children sleep in another room Nonetheless, even when economic status was controlled for in this study in eastern Kentucky, locally born mothers were more likely to have their babies sleep with them compared to mothers who were born in another state, suggesting that there were indeed cultural (as well as economic) reasons that led to different sleeping arrangements.

guided learning

is more widespread in cultures that rely heavily on formal schooling, whereas other cultures may utilize group participation processes to a greater extent

Harkness and Super

parental ethnotheories serve as a basis for guiding parenting practices that structure children's daily lives. conducted in-depth interviews with parents and asked them to keep a daily diary of what they do with their children compared the ethnotheories of middle-class U.S. American and Dutch parents researchers found that U.S. American parents hold an ethnotheory about the importance of spending special time with their children, whereas Dutch parents hold an ethnotheory of spending family time with their children. U.S. American parents talked extensively about creating time alone with their child in an activity that was focused primarily on attending to the needs of that particular child. Dutch parents talked extensively about the importance of spending time together as a family, such as sitting down for dinner every night

tiger mom

popularized to describe Asian parenting tiger mothers are highly demanding and drive their children to high levels of academic success, while Western parents are much less demanding and more concerned about their children's social and emotional development, such as fostering high self-esteem. Fu and Markus (2014) found that Asian American high school students reported that their mothers did indeed pressure them more than European American high-school students. while this pressure was related to lower perceived support for European American students, for Asian American students this pressure was a source of motivation that did not relate to more strained relationships with mothers. although tiger mothering exists among Asian heritage families, it is not common. Tiger mothering is also linked to poorer child outcomes, both academically and socioemotionally. there is much more variation in Asian-heritage parenting beyond the stereotypical depictions of being strict, controlling, and demanding. Adolescents of Asian-heritage parents also report that their mothers are supportive, loving, openly communicative, and warm

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory

provides a useful framework for organizing the many dimensions of enculturation human development is a dynamic, interactive process between individuals and various ecologies that range from the proximal, immediate environment to the more distal. These environments include the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem argued that to understand how a child develops, we must consider the experience of the child within each of these systems. Who you are today is a result of interactions with the people in your family, classmates in school, friends and neighbors in your community, policies and institutions of the country (or countries) that you were raised in, and the particular point in history in which you live. children are not simply passive recipients of the enculturation process they also contribute to their own development by selecting, interacting with, and influencing the people, groups, and institutions around them. Thus, children are active producers and architects of their own culture and development.

enculturation

refers to the process by which individuals learn about their cultures, that is, the meaning and information systems in the many contexts of a person's life. focus on the learning of cultural contents

control

In order to function in society, children must learn how to live by culturally defined rules. This means that children must sometimes suppress their own personal desires that violate these rules. An appropriate parenting behavior would be to modify children's misbehavior using suitable levels of control or discipline. In doing so, children eventually internalize cultural rules and no longer rely entirely on their parents' control. So depending on the particular situation—whether the child is distressed or whether the child is misbehaving—a different type of parenting behavior will be required. From this perspective, appropriate parenting behaviors should correspond to the relevant domain of enculturation. If, for instance, your child was pushed by another child and started crying, but you misinterpreted your child's crying as fussiness and responded with discipline and control, your parenting response would probably not be very effective

school practices and school environment

Japanese and Chinese school children spend more days per year in school, more hours per day in school, a greater proportion of time in school devoted to purely academic subjects, and a greater proportion of time devoted to math In addition, Japanese and Chinese teachers spend a greater proportion of time working with the whole class than do U.S. teachers. As a result, U.S. students spend less time working under the supervision and guidance of a teacher. U.S. teachers tend to use praise to reward correct responses. Teachers in Japan, however, tend to focus on incorrect answers, using them as examples to lead into discussion of the computational process and math concepts. Teachers in Taiwan tend to use a process more congruent with the Japanese approach. These teaching differences speak to the cultural emphasis in the United States on rewarding uniqueness and individualism and the emphasis in Japan and China on finding ways to engage in group process and sharing responsibility for mistakes with members of the group In Japan, principals of eighth-graders reported far fewer behaviors threatening a safe and orderly learning environment. although Japanese principals reported far fewer disturbances, they were much more likely than U.S. principals to see these disturbances as serious problems

co-sleeping in different culture

One of the single greatest concerns of U.S. parents is getting their baby to sleep through the night, and to do so in a room separate from that of the parents. Traditionally, U.S. parents shun co-sleeping arrangements, with the underlying assumption that sleeping alone will help develop independence. Prominent pediatricians and medical doctors have proposed that co-sleeping fosters children's unhealthy dependence on parents. They argued that, developmentally, it is better for babies to sleep alone to promote independence and autonomy. To date, however, there is no evidence that sleeping alone actually does so To help babies learn to fall asleep alone, "security objects," such as a special blanket or toy, and bedtime rituals, are often used. Many other cultures do not share this notion of promoting independence in children by learning to sleep alone, and comfort objects or bedtime rituals are not common in other cultures. In Japanese families, infants and young children sleep next to their parents on mattresses, or on futons on the floor, or all together in the adult bed In China, it is common for school-age children to sleep in the same bed or room as their parents Mayan mothers allow their children to sleep with them for several years because of a commitment to forming a very close bond with their children. When a new baby comes along, older children move to a bed in the same room or share a bed with another member of the family

parenting styles

research on U.S. American and European children indicates that children benefit from the authoritative parenting style children of authoritative parents demonstrate better school performance, more positive mood, self-reliance, self-confidence, higher emotional and social skills, and secure attachment to caregivers Children of authoritarian parents, in contrast, are found to be more anxious and withdrawn, lacking spontaneity and intellectual curiosity. Children of permissive parents tend to be immature; they have difficulty controlling their impulses and acting independently. Children of uninvolved parents fare the worst, being noncompliant and demanding. found that authoritative parenting predicted higher school achievement for European American, African American, and Hispanic American adolescents, but not for Asian Americans

exosystem

the context that indirectly affects children, such as parent's workplace

Microsystem

the immediate surroundings, such as the family, school, peer group, with which children directly interact

Chronosystem

the influence of time and history on the other systems

Mesosystem

the linkages between microsystems, such as between school and family

Hays' ADDRESSING model

Pamela Hays developed the ADDRESSING model to help therapists consider identity and sociocultural influences on their clients. She notes that there are oppressed statuses within each identity category (e.g., children/elderly, gay/lesbian, immigrants, international students, women, transgender people), which may influence in part how people are treated within different cultural contexts. These categories impact who we are, regardless of our privileged/oppressed status in the various categories. Relevant to this module on enculturation, people may interact differently with a child depending on that child's identity within each of these various categories. 1-Age and generational influences 2-Developmental disabilities 3-Disabilities acquired later in life 4-Religion and spiritual orientation 5-Ethnic and racial identity 6-Socioeconomic status 7-Sexual orientation 8-Indigenous heritage 9-National origin Gender

parental ethnotheories

Parental cultural belief systems.

bully studies across cultures

Smith and his colleagues studied children (8-year-olds) and adolescents (14-year-olds) in 14 countries—Austria, China, England, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Thailand To identify what was considered bullying, 25 stick-figure pictures of different situations were shown to children and adolescents in each country They then had to decide which actions were considered bullying. Twenty-three pictures depicted various forms of aggressive or exclusionary behavior that might be considered bullying (such as excluding a child from playing a game), and two pictures illustrated prosocial behaviors (such as offering a pencil to another child who forgot to bring one). Across all countries, there were few gender differences in what was considered bullying. In other words, all children defined bullying in very similar ways. Another similarity across countries was a general age difference in what was considered bullying: at age 8, children distinguished between aggressive and nonaggressive behaviors, but at 14, adolescents distinguished between different kinds of aggression: physical aggression, verbal aggression, and social exclusion. In England, for instance, bullying was commonly seen as occurring between two individuals, happening usually on the playground. In contrast, in Japan, bullying was commonly seen as an entire class excluding an individual, happening usually within the classroom. Other studies of Asian countries have also found that social exclusion, rather than physical or verbal aggression, is the main form of bullying. In contrast to countries such as England and the United States, in Korea, girls are more likely to be bullies than boys, and physical aggression is a relatively rare form of bullying

parental and familial values

Cultural differences in parenting beliefs about education have an impact on children's educational experiences. For example, Japanese and Chinese parents are more likely to consider all children as equal, with no differences between them. U.S. parents are more likely to recognize differences and find reasons to treat their children as unique. U.S. parents are also more likely to consider innate ability more important than effort; for Japanese and Chinese parents, however, effort is far more important than ability U.S. parents tend to be more easily satisfied at lower levels of competence than either Japanese or Chinese parents. Also, when problems arise, U.S. Americans tend to be more likely to attribute the cause of the problem to something they cannot do anything about found that children who believe that ability, rather than effort, determines intelligence tend to give up faster when faced with a difficult or challenging problem. Chinese mothers of preschoolers placed a very high value on education; believed they needed to engage in much time, effort, and sacrifice in order for their children to succeed; believed in the importance of direct intervention approaches to their children's schooling; and believed that they play a major role in their children's school success. American mothers also believed in a less directive approach in instruction, showed greater concern for building their children's social skills and self-esteem, and were concerned about "burnout" if they pushed their child to excel academically. American parents' early emphasis on self-esteem, coupled with satisfaction at lower levels of academic performance

protection

Especially in the first years of life, children depend on their parents to protect them from harm. When children are distressed, an appropriate parenting behavior is to respond sensitively and offer comfort. In doing so, children learn to develop a sense of security and, eventually, learn how to regulate their own distress.

Age and generational influences

How does your age, and the historical events you have experienced, influence your values and how others respond to you?

national origin

How has your national identity (citizenship) and your language ability impacted who you are and how others treat you?

Developmental disabilities

How has your personal experience with a developmental disability impacted how you view the world and how others treat you? What impact has there been on you due to the disability of a parent, sibling, or other family member?

Disabilities acquired later in life

How has your personal experience with a disability acquired later in life impacted how you view the world and how others treat you?

sexual orientation

How has your sexual orientation impacted your experience and how others treat you in this culture? If you identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, what have been the responses of family/friends since coming out?

school systems

Some cultures encourage a didactic model of teaching, in which an expert teacher gives information to students, who are expected to listen and learn. Other cultures view teachers as leaders through a lesson plan, providing the overall structure and framework by which students discover principles and concepts. Some cultures view the imparting of praise as an important process. Other cultures focus on mistakes made by students in the learning process. Some cultures have special classes and mechanisms to deal with many different types of students—for example, students with learning disorders, physical disabilities, and special gifts or talents. Other cultures tend to downplay such differences among their students, treating them all as equals School institutionalizes cultural values and attitudes and is a significant contributor not only to the intellectual development of the child but, just as important, to the child's social and emotional development. one need only recognize that not all cultures of the world rely solely on an institutionalized school setting to teach math. For example, important math skills are taught to Micronesian islanders in the Puluwat culture through navigation, and to coastal Ghanaians by marketing fish

siblings

The longest relationship that many of us will have is with our siblings. The definition of who is considered a sibling may differ across cultures. In many cultures, siblings refer to family members who are biologically related. In other cultures, siblings refer to people who are biologically and nonbiologically related. Siblings can fulfill many roles; they can be tutors, buddies, playmates, or caretakers In many cultures, it is common practice for older siblings to act as caretakers for younger siblings, and in some cultures, siblings are the primary caretakers of young children ex: siblings as highly involved caregivers can be seen among the Kwara'ae in the Solomon Islands. In this culture, the responsibilities involved in caregiving are viewed as a training ground for siblings to become mutually dependent on one another in adulthood. For example, one sibling may be designated to go to school, while the others combine their resources to support that sibling. In turn, this sibling will support the family financially once they have finished their schooling and found a job Our sibling relationships provide a context to learn prosocial and antisocial behaviors such as empathy and aggression

enculturation (and socialization) agents

The people, institutions, and organizations that exist to help ensure that enculturation occurs. The first and most important of these agents is parents, who help instill cultural mores and values in their children, reinforcing those mores and values when they are learned and practiced well and correcting mistakes in that learning

socialization

The process by which we learn and internalize the rules and patterns of behavior that are affected by culture. This process, which occurs over a long time, involves learning and mastering societal and cultural norms, attitudes, values, and belief systems. more of a nuance on the learning of "society"

siblings and gender roles

These researchers followed a group of sibling pairs over one year. They found that younger siblings tended to model their older siblings in terms of their gender-role attitudes, gendered personality traits, and gender-stereotyped leisure activities. Gender-role attitudes referred to how traditional their attitudes toward women were; gendered personality traits referred to stereotypical traits such as "kind" and "active"; and gender-stereotyped activities referred to activities such as sports and craftwork. Interestingly, the study showed that it was the older siblings', and not parents', gendered attitudes, personality, and activities that were a better predictor of younger siblings' attitudes, personality, and activities. The study showed that if older siblings engaged in delinquent behaviors, their younger siblings were also more likely to do so, and especially if they were of the same sex siblings can be influential role models— for both positive and negative behaviors—to their younger siblings. Taken together, these findings speak to the important role that siblings play in children's lives in areas such as gender identity and delinquency.

Home Observation and Measurement of the Environment Inventory

To administer the HOME Inventory, a researcher visits a family in their home for about one hour. During this hour, the researcher makes observations of parent-child interactions and also asks the parents a number of questions concerning how they interact with their child. described three general areas in which cultures vary: 1-warmth and responsiveness 2-discipline 3-stimulation/teaching In the United States, one way parents show responsiveness is through physical affection. The Yoruba of Nigeria, however, show responsiveness not by physical affection primarily, but through their tone of voice or praising their child. In many Western industrialized societies, responsiveness is also measured by how often the parent engages in spontaneous conversations with their child. In India, however, where children are expected to respect their elders, it is considered disrespectful to speak without permission. As children grow older, both European American and Chinese American mothers place more emphasis on manners, school-related skills, and emotional adjustment when their children are six to eight years old than when they were three to five In China, Mexico, India, and the United States, when parents allowed their adolescents greater behavioral autonomy (such as choosing their own clothes and friends), adolescents reported greater perceptions of parental support and higher motivation to do well in school Across 12 different nations or ethnic groups from Africa, Australia, Asia, the Balkans, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America, there was one thing in common that parents did that made their children feel loved: providing a valuable commodity

gender

What gender-related information is most important or salient for you (e.g., roles, expectations, relationships)? Do you visibly fit the gender norms that your culture has for your gender (e.g., physical presentation, public choice of major/career, public behaviors)? What meaning does your gender identity have for you and for how you are treated?

Socioeconomic status

What is your current socioeconomic status? What was your socioeconomic status growing up? How has that impacted you or impacted how others treat you?

Ethnic and racial identity

What is your ethnic and racial identity? What is the meaning of your ethnic/racial identity in a rural area like Oxford, in the area in which you grew up, or within your family? If you are biracial or adopted, how does the meaning of who you are change in different contexts?

Religion and spiritual orientation

What was your religious upbringing? What are your current beliefs and practices? How does this affect your values/beliefs, your experience in the broader culture, and your interactions with others?