Cross-Cultural Differences in Development

							Cross-Cultural Differences in
       Development
         Dr. K. A. Korb
        University of Jos
                    Outline
•   Introduction
•   Parenting Practices
•   Infant Development
•   Moral Development




                              Dr. K. A. Korb
                              University of Jos
                  Development
•    Ontogenetic Development: Development of
     an individual across the lifetime
•    Development occurs as the interaction
     between:
    1.   Biology
    2.   Environment




                                          Dr. K. A. Korb
                                          University of Jos
            Cultural Transmission
• Cultural Transmission: Passing on culture to the next
  generation though teaching/learning
      • Observational Learning (Social Learning)
      • Guided Participation
• Types of cultural Transmission
   – Vertical Transmission: From parents to offspring
   – Horizontal Transmission: From peers
   – Oblique Transmission: From other adult and institutions




                                                           Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                           University of Jos
           Cultural Transmission
• Enculturation: Individual learns cultural practices
  simply by being encompassed in a culture
• Socialization: Deliberate teaching of cultural
  practices
• Enculturation and socialization result in behavioral
  similarities within cultures and differences between
  the cultures
• Acculturation: Cultural transmission from a
  secondary culture


                                                    Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                    University of Jos
             Theories of self
• Independent view of self: Personal
  distinctness, emphasizing unique personal
  attributes
  Interdependent view of self: Individual is
  fundamentally connected to other people,
  individual interests are secondary to group
  needs


                                                Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                University of Jos
  Six Dimensions of Child Rearing (Barry,
                     Bacon & Child, 1957)
• Obedience Training: Degree to which children are trained to
  obey adults
• Responsibility Training: Degree which children are trained
  take responsibility for tasks
• Nurturance Training: Degree to which children are trained to
  care for the younger siblings and others
• Achievement Training: Degree to which children are trained
  to strive for standards of excellence in performance
• Self- Reliance: Degree to which children are trained to be
  independent of the assistance from others for supplying their
  own needs and wants
• General independent training: Degree to which children are
  trained toward freedom from control, domination, and
  supervision


                                                            Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                            University of Jos
           Parenting Ethnotheories
• Parenting Enthnotheories: Knowledge and beliefs
  about the domain of parenting
  – Beliefs, values, and practices of parent about the proper way to
    raise a child
      •   Affection and warmth between parents and children
      •   Amount of time breastfeeding
      •   Development: When a child walks, talks, chooses friends
      •   Why children misbehave and how to discipline
      •   Amount of talk to children
      •   Sleeping patterns



                                                                    Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                    University of Jos
          Parenting Ethnotheories
• Videotapes of children in preschool in Japan and USA
  were shown to teachers (Tobin, Wu, & Davidson,
  1989)
   – Perspectives on class size:
       • US: Disapproved of the large responsibility on teachers by having a
         large number (30) of children in Japanese classrooms
       • Japanese: Disapproved of the small class size in the US because
         children would be unable to learn from others
   – Perspective on misbehavior:
       • Japanese: Children did not develop a healthy dependency on their
         mother.
       • US: Children had inherent problems


                                                                        Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                        University of Jos
               Parenting Ehtnotheories
•        Conclusions
    –        Parents and other caretakers influence their
             child’s development through socialization
             practices based on their cultural beliefs
    –        Parents reflect the standard and expectations of
             their cultural environment in:
        1.    How they treat their children
        2.    How they perceive social situations
    –        Parents do not tend to realize the extent to which
             they direct their children into cultural practices

                                                            Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                            University of Jos
              Infant Development
• African Infant Precocity: African babies develop
  considerably faster in motor skills than Euroamerican
  babies (Gerber & Dean, 1957)
   – Losing reflexes, holding up head
• Study Characteristics:
   – Different doctor to diagnose in different cultures
   – Limited to babies weighting more than 2500g
• Follow-up studies found that African Infant precocity
  was slightly exaggerated


                                                          Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                          University of Jos
               Infant Development
• Comparison of Milestones
   – African babies sit up and walk about 1 month before
     Euroamerican babies
   – Euroamerican babies crawl before African babies
• Cultural factors that may in influence infant
  development:
   –   Amount that mothers work in late pregnancy
   –   Anesthesia during birth
   –   Massaging babies
   –   Vertical position of baby while mother works
• Conclusion: There is a link between parental
  ethnotheories, cultural parental practices, and infant
  development
                                                           Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                           University of Jos
           Parenting of Infants
• Intuitive parenting practices: Cross-cultural
  similarity in parenting of infants
  – Attempt to capture and maintain the infant’s
    attention
  – Exaggerating facial expression
  – Motherese: Higher pitch and larger variations in
    pitch when speaking to infants



                                                   Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                   University of Jos
           Parenting of Infants
• Speech to children
  – Affect-salient speech: Songs, nonsense
    expressions, and incomplete statements
     • Empathize with needs of infants
  – Information-Salient speech: provide information
    about the environment with a child
     • Encourages individual expression




                                                 Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                 University of Jos
             Parenting of Infants
• Frequency of mothers in western Kenya holding their
  infants had positive correlation with the child’s affective
  disposition at 12 years (Keller & Eckensberger,1998)
• Frequency of mother-holding did not influence cognitive
  performance
• Domain-specific consequences for early experiences
• Conclusion: Different parenting practices do not have
  general development consequences, but the outcomes
  are specifically related to the parenting practices



                                                          Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                          University of Jos
           Attachment of Children
• Attachment: Deep emotional bond developed between
  an infant and its primary caretaker
   – Attachment is the result of interactions between an infant and the
     mother
   – Secure attachment allow the child to explore the environment
   – Secure attachment to one primary caregiver is necessary for social and
     emotional development
   – Secure attachment assessed by the Strange Situation
• Cross- Cultural equivalence of Strange Situation is
  questionable
   – Many societies use multiple caregivers




                                                                       Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                       University of Jos
                         Play
• Children playing is culturally universal
• Functions of play:
  – Promote cognitive development
     • Symbolism, Language use, problem solving, role-
       playing, creativity
  – Promote social development
     • Friendship, Social competence, Emotional maturity




                                                           Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                           University of Jos
                      Play
• Cultural differences in play
  – Amount of time children spent playing
  – Age at children stop playing
  – Sibling involvement in play
  – Adulthood involvement in play
• Children in complex cultures play more and
  play with more complexity


                                               Dr. K. A. Korb
                                               University of Jos
                        Play
• Chinese children spent more time playing with other
  children whereas American children spent more time
  playing individually (Haight,Wang, Fung, Williams, &
  Mintz, 1999)
• When playing with toddlers, Japanese mothers focus
  more on social interactions while American mothers
  use play to teach knowledge of the world.




                                                   Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                   University of Jos
         Ecology and Child Rearing
• Pastoral and Agricultural societies are high in food
  accumulation
   – Hypothesized to be highly conscientious, compliant, and conservation
• Hunting and Gathering societies are low in food
  accumulation
   – Hypothesized to the highly individualistic, assertive, and venturesome
• On a scale of compliance-assertion (Barry, Child, and
  Bacon, 1959)
   – Of the 23 societies ranking high in compliance, 20 were high food
     accumulating
   – Of the 23 societies ranking high in assertion 19 were low food
     accumulation




                                                                         Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                         University of Jos
  Gender Difference in Child Rearing
• Girls tent to be socializes more towards:
  – Obedience
  – Responsibility
  – Nurturance
• Boys tend to be socialized more towards:
  – Achievement
  – Self-Reliance



                                              Dr. K. A. Korb
                                              University of Jos
  Gender Differences in child Rearing
• Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)
   – www.yale.edu/hraf/home.htm
   – Describes 863 cultures across the world
• Universal Gender Rearing practices
   – Males: Self-assertive, Achievement-Oriented Dominant
   – Females: Socially responsive, Passive, Submissive
• Research has found that these gender rearing
  practices are:
   – Almost universal
   – Almost never reversed
   – Size of gender differences range from very large to very small



                                                                  Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                  University of Jos
  Gender Differences in Child Rearing
• Universals in Division of Labor
   – Women tend to prepare food and care for children
• Differences in Division of Labor
   – Degree to which women contribute to subsistence
     (Schlegel & Barry, 1986)
      • Women tend to have high contributions in agriculture and
        gathering societies
      • Women tend to have low contributions in animal husbandry,
        intensive agriculture, fishing, and hunting societies




                                                                    Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                    University of Jos
  Gender Differences in Child Rearing
• Women’s participation in subsistence tend to
  affect:
  – Adaptive Mechanisms
     • Polygyny, Bride-price, Birth control, Work training for
       girls
  – Attitudes toward women
     • Females relatively highly valued
     • Females allowed freedom
     • Less likely to viewed as object for male needs



                                                             Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                             University of Jos
       Child Rearing Conclusion
• Some child-rearing practices are similar across
  all cultures
• Child-rearing also differs from one society to
  the other
• Universalist Perspective




                                              Dr. K. A. Korb
                                              University of Jos
           Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
                 Development
• Kohlberg stated that development of moral reasoning
  follows same sequence in all cultures
   – Differences in the rate of development and number of people who
     reached the highest levels
• Cross-Cultural studies have provided support:
   –   Invariance of the sequence of stages
   –   First two level of reasoning of found in many societies
   –   No evidence for post-conventional stage in any village cultures
   –   Post-conventional reasoning appears to only result from complex
       urban societies




                                                                         Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                         University of Jos
          Moral Development
• Research from other paradigms have found
  evidence:
  – Alternative post-conventional moralities based on
    natural law, justice, or family orientation as
    opposed to individualism
  – Right-based vs. Duty-based orientation




                                                  Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                  University of Jos
         Development Conclusion
• The development of a child is influenced by:
   – Physical and social settings
      • Social interactions and environmental conditions and dangers
   – Child-care customs
      • Cultural practices and institutions
   – Caretaker psychology
      • Beliefs, values, and practices of parents
• Different practices can promote or constrain
  development


                                                                       Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                                       University of Jos
                     Revision
• Explain the six dimensions of child rearing .
• Explain the concept of parental ethnotheories and
  how they can influence development.
• What are some common and different parenting
  practices across cultures?
• Explain how the three perspectives on cross-cultural
  psychology (absolutism, universalism, and relativism)
  relate to Attachment Theory and Kohlberg’s Theory
  of Moral Development.


                                                    Dr. K. A. Korb
                                                    University of Jos