Human Development and
Socialization
Chapter 8
Development and Socialization
– Human Development
• The changes in physical, psychological and social
behavior that are experienced by individuals across life
span
• Growth, decline and modification
– Socialization
• Process by which the individual becomes a member of
a particular culture
What impacts child development
• Quality of life
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Access to food
Living condition
Quality of education
Violence
• Family size
– Western families-nuclear family
– Non western – extended family
• Technological advancements/socioeconomic
improvements
What impacts child development –
Studies
– Knight and Kagan
• Showed that 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican American
children had slower frequency of altruistic behavior
compared to their 1st generation Mexican American peers
who are less economically advanced
– Vygotsky
• Showed that kids with more intelligent parents are quicker
to advance intellectually
– Rogoff
• Showed that in working class communities and preindustrial
communities, parents tend to assume that children can learn
things on their own
Norms, Customs, and Child Care
– What impacts child development/socialization
• Who they play with
• Where they spend their time
• What the child’s role is
– People living in collectivist countries have
authoritarian styles of parenting
– Strict demands, behavioral control
– African cultures value obedience while Western
cultures condemn most forms of adult-child
coercion
Norms, Customs, and Child Care
– Children roles
• Dependent on gender
– Girls are more likely to stay close to home
– Boys are more likely to be independent
• Dependent on culture
– Muslim families discourage rough-and-tumble play
– Thumb sucking is considered wrong by white South African
mothers
– Japanese women do not leave their kids with sitters
» Reason why Japanese boys have a higher rate of anxiety
when their parents are not their (Bornstein & TamisLeMonda)
Parental Values and Expectations
• Developmental timetables
– Expecting your children to acquire certain characteristics by a certain age
– Cultural differences
• Development of skills
– Israeli of European background mothers expected their children to develop cognitive skills
earlier than those of non European background
– US mothers expected their children to become assertive earlier than Japanese mothers
– Study between 175 mothers from India, Japan and England
» Mothers expected their children to be competent in different areas at different ages
• Formal education
– Chinese mothers were more willing to sacrifice for the sake of their children than US mothers
were
– European mothers stressed children’s self esteem and less motivation for education
• Behavior
– Study between 30 US and 30 Japanese mothers
» Both emphasized social cooperativeness and interpersonal sensitivity
» US mothers were strict about aggression and disruptive behavior
» Japanese were strict about social insensitivity and uncooperativeness
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
• All humans pass through eight developmental stages from
birth to death
– Stages are characterized by a developmental conflict
• Positive resolution, personal ego is strengthened-> healthier
personality
• Negative resolution, personal ego is weakened-> unhealthier
personality
• Healthy person
– Hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care, wisdom
• Need for encouragement of growth in virtues the person is
missing
• Criticism
– Mixes objective description with subjective prescription
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
• Stages
– Sensorimotor stage
• When infants learn about their interaction with environment
– Preoperational stage
• Development of language acquisition
– Concrete
• Logic
• Understand that volume, amount and weight may stay the
same despite physical changes
– Formal operations
• Ability to think abstractly
Opinions on Piaget’s Theory
• Dasen
– Suggests that the sequence is universal across cultures
• People think that the methods used to conclude the
stages is unreliable
– People had limited understanding of the languages they
were testing for
– Accurate birth dates were not available
• Ability to make practice decisions is not explained by
this theory
• Some believe formal operational stage is not achieved
by all adults in all societies
Stages of Moral Development
According to Kohlberg
• Preconventional Level
– Stage 1 - Based what is wrong and right on fear of punishment
– Stage 2 – Moral conduct produces pleasure, whereas immoral
conduct results in unwanted consequences
• Conventional Level
– Stage 3 – Behavior is good if it is approved by significant others
– Stage 4 – Laws determine what is moral and immoral
• Postconventional Level
– Stage 5 – Behavior is based on individual rights and social
circumstance
– Stage 6 – Behavior is regulated by universal ethical principles
that may rise above the law
Opinions on Kohlberg's Theory
• Snarey
– Saw that first two stages appear to be universal
• Methodology of testing might have been unreliable
– Hypothetical stories only related well to US subjects
• Developmental stages are linked to values of liberalist
western societies
• Ma and Cheung
– Saw that different cultures value each stage of moral
development differently
– Chinese – traditional norms, conformity to primary groups
– Western – individual rights, protection of the law
Developmental Stages
• Classification
– Life events
• Birthdays, weddings, graduations, job promotions
– Biological, behavioral and physiological changes
• Permanent teeth, first words, first menstruation,
menopause, grey hair
– Symbolic events
• First intercourse, reaching the drinking age
– Age
• Prenatal period, infancy, childhood, adolescence
• Classification may change depending on culture
Life before Birth: Prenatal Period
– Things that can impact development
• Hunger, violence, radiation exposure, pollution, lack of
professional prenatal care
– Attitudes toward pregnancy
• Traditional collectivist countries
– Family centered with guidance from family
• Individualist societies
– Childbirth is more private
• These classifications are very general though
First Steps: Infancy
• Infant mortality varies from country to country
– Depends on socioeconomic and political conditions
• US – 6.7/1,000
• Afghanistan – 144/1,000
• Child temperament
– Genetic basis
– Environmental basis
• How a parent responds to their child crying
– US – uses words
– Kenyan/Bostonian – touch, hold or talk
• Recognition of people
– Most infants develop attachment around 7 months
– Attachment patterns
• Anxious and avoidant – Children do not pay attention to their parents
– Western European countries
• Anxious and resistant – Children stay close to parents
– Non- Western countries
• Securely attached – Children are more threatened by a strangers
First Steps: Infancy
• Right-handedness
– Prevalent in all cultures – genetic
– Some practices force children not to be left-handed
• Motor development
– Use of difference techniques
– Africans develop motor skills before white children
• Brest feeding
– Industrial nations breast feed less
• Availability of formula, freedom of choice for women to decide
• Language development
– What you are exposed to impacts ability to make sounds
– Japanese - difficulties pronouncing L’s
– Russian – difficulties see difference between i and ee
Discovering the World: Childhood
• Childhood- period of continuous growth, learning and development
– Early years – wishful thinking, fantasy, magic
– Middle childhood – more abstract but still based on observation and
direct experience
• Easier to understand war than peace
– Domino and Hannah
• Children tell stories based on what they are exposed to
– Chinese – authority, moral rectitude
– US – more physical aggression
– Eating
• Cross cultural - coaxing children into eating
• Differences
– Muslims do not eat pork
– Hindu may never try beef
– Europeans avoid dog’s meat
Discovering the World: Childhood
– Sleeping
• Cosleeping – Indian Mexicans
• Separate bedrooms – US and Western mothers
– Play
• Cross cultural – encouraging cooperation, sharing and
competition
• North America – More competitive
– Suppression-facilitation hypothesis
• Behaviors that are discouraged in a culture will be seen
infrequently in mental health facilities
• Behaviors that are rewarded will be seen excessively
• Evidence to support this from Weisz experiment
Major Rehearsal: Adolescence
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Adulthood – developmental stage and cultural phenomenon
Characteristics of adolescence
– Cross-culturally
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Weight and height
Women mature earlier than men
Formal thinking replace concrete thinking
Thinking
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Contradiction, unpredictable assumptions, sudden turns, rebellion
Social and political conditions
– Studies
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Horowits and Kraus
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Fraczek
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North American students are peer-group oriented
Soviet Union students were teacher oriented
Explanation – USSR had a stronger emphasis on discipline
Poland (socialist at the time) reported more aggression in their attitudes than those of Dinland
Explanation - Polish lived in a state of emergency and violence during that time
Elbedour
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Jewish adolescents expressed less of a need to control or to conform to their friends than Bedouin adolescents
Explanation – Individualist vs. Collectivists
Adulthood
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Def – represents maturity, responsibility and accountability
Persistence vs. openness
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Persistence – Behaviors learned early in life do not change later
Openness – people change their attitudes and behaviors in effort to adjust to changing situations
Conclusion – openness
Development of identity
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Def – view of themselves as individuals and members of society
Identity is based on culture
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Education’s impact
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People start waiting long to have families
Emerging adulthood
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Traditional societies – accept their identity in the systematic and coherent environment
Western societies – offer individuals a wide range of options
Period from late teens to mid-twenties
Characterized by self-focused exploration
Wisdom of adults
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Fluid intelligence – ability to form concepts, think abstractly and apply knowledge
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Crystallized intelligence – accumulated knowledge and experience
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In western societies this is looked at as an indicator of success
In non-Western societies, this is looked at as an indicator of success
Late Adulthood
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Characteristics
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What makes one classify as being in late adulthood
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Skin becomes less elastic, hair loss, bones become brittle, cardiovascular system becomes less efficient.
Retirement, giving up major family responsibilities
Cross culture
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Life expectancy
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Japan/Switzerland – 80
Nigeria/Bangladesh/Chad – lower than 60
Social status
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Collectivist cultures – elderly have high social status
Individualist cultures – elderly are isolated and rejected
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Fuligni and Pedersen
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Showed that respect of elderly is higher in Japan and China than it is in the US
Examined 745 ethnically diverse group of US individuals from secondary school to adulthood
Sense of family obligation increased as they moved to young adulthood
Elder and Conger
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US – retirement age is 65
Russia – retirement age is 55
Norway – retirement age is 70
Showed that familial support among teenagers increases during economic crises
Understanding death
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Early childhood – time is limitless
Early adulthood – realizing time is scare
Middle age + - time is seriously limited