© 2013 Cengage Learning
Outline
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Humans Engage in Cultural Learning
 Enculturation and Socialization
 Culture, Parenting, and Families
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Whiting and Whiting’s Six Cultures Study
Diversity in Parenting as a Function of Economics
Parenting Goals and Beliefs
Global Parenting Styles
Outline (cont’d.)
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Culture, Parenting, and Families (cont’d.)
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Parenting Behaviors and Strategies
 A Domain-Specific Approach to Parenting
 Siblings
 Extended and Multigenerational Families
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Culture and Peers
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Exposure to Peer Groups
Peers and Bullying
Outline (cont’d.)
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Culture and Education
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Cross-National Differences in Math Achievement
 Social and Cultural Factors That Influence Math
Achievement
 Summary

Putting it All Together
HUMANS ENGAGE IN
CULTURAL LEARNING
Humans Engage in Cultural Learning
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Unique human ability to engage in shared
intentionality allows for "cultural learning“
 Learning not only from others but through others
 Michael Tomasello studies:
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Children understand intentionality, social learning,
and communication more complexly than great apes
Social learning and communication provides
foundation for cooperation with other humans
Only humans are capable of creating culture
ENCULTURATION AND
SOCIALIZATION
Enculturation and Socialization
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Constant across cultures: people wish to
become competent, productive adults
Different across cultures: meaning of
"competent" and "productive”
Culture must be learned with practice through
prolonged process
Socialization: process by which we learn and
internalize rules and patterns of society
Enculturation: process of youngsters learning
and adopting ways and manners of their culture
Source: Santrock, J. W. (2007). Child Development. Eleventh edition. NY:
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CULTURE, PARENTING, AND
FAMILIES
Culture, Parenting, and Families
Family: most important microsystem to child’s
development
 Margaret Mead: by observing parents we are
observing essence of a culture
 Study of parenting within cultural context tells us
what is important to that culture
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Whiting and Whitings’
Six Cultures Study
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Anthropologists collected field data in Mexico,
India, Kenya, USA, Okinawa, and Philippines
 Major focus: examine child rearing and
children's behavior in varied cultural contexts
 Child’s behavior and personality is intimately
connected to characteristics of broader ecology
 Women's work roles contribute to children's
social behaviors
Diversity in Parenting as a
Function of Economics
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Diverse economic conditions produce
socialization processes that vary across cultures
 Caregiving environment reflects set of goals
ordered in importance:
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Physical health and survival
Promotion of behaviors leading to self-sufficiency
Behaviors that promote other cultural values, i.e.
prestige
Parenting Goals and Beliefs
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Parenting goals provide motivation and
framework for raising children
 Parenting goals lead to variations in parenting
behaviors across cultures
 Parental ethnotheories: parental cultural belief
systems
 Parents’ cultural belief systems motivate and
shape what parents think is “right” way to parent
Global Parenting Styles
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Authoritarian parents: expect unquestioned
obedience; child needs to be controlled
 Permissive parents: warm and nurturing; allow
children to regulate own lives with few guidelines
 Authoritative parents: sensitive to child's
maturity; firm, fair, reasonable and affectionate
 Uninvolved parents: do not respond
appropriately to children; indifferent
Parenting Behaviors and Strategies
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One of most representative cultural differences
in parenting behaviors is sleeping arrangements
 Studies using HOME Inventory describe three
general areas in which cultures vary:
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Warmth and responsiveness
Discipline
Stimulation/teaching
Parenting beliefs and practices are congruent
with developmental goals dictated by culture
A Domain-Specific
Approach to Parenting
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Criticism of global parenting: ignores differences
due to particular child, situation, and context
 Domain-specific approach:
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Focuses on parenting behaviors rather than general
styles
Emphasizes complexity of socialization process
Domains include: protection, control, reciprocity,
guided learning, and group participation
Parenting practices must be appropriate for domain in
which child is functioning
Siblings
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Siblings play important role in socialization of
children
 Siblings can fulfill many roles: tutors, buddies,
playmates, caretakers
 Skills important to culture are learned from
siblings: perspective-taking, social
understanding, conflict negotiation
 Repeated and prolonged interaction means
older siblings can be influential role model to
younger siblings
Extended and
Multigenerational Families
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Extended families: members other than parents
and children (aunts, uncles, cousins, and
grandparents)
 Multigenerational families: grandparents in
addition to parents and children or just children
 Extended- and multigenerational-family child
rearing is integral part of enculturation process
 Extended and multigenerational families have in
common sharing of resources, emotional
support, and caregiving
CULTURE AND PEERS
Culture and Peers
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Postfigurative cultures (culture change is slow):
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Cofigurative cultures (culture change is quicker):
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Socialization occurs primarily by elders transferring
their knowledge
Adults socialize their children, but peers play a
greater role in socializing each other
Prefigurative cultures (culture change is rapid):
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Culture is changing so rapidly that young people may
be the ones to teach adults
Exposure to Peer Groups
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Cultures vary in exposure that children have to
peer groups
 Industrialized countries: children spend
significant amount of time with same-aged peers
 Solitary farm settlements: children will have
limited options to interact with wide range of
playmates
 Hunting and gathering society: children may be
socialized by multiple-age peers
Peers and Bullying
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Three criteria of bullying
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Intentional physical or psychological harm
 Based on a power imbalance between the bully and
victim
 Repeated over time
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Rate of bullying varies across cultures
 Cross-national comparisons may be problematic
if cultures define bullying in different ways
CULTURE AND EDUCATION
Culture and Education
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Educational system is single most important
formalized mechanism of instruction in many
societies and cultures
 Most think that country's educational system is
solely an institution that teaches thinking skills
and knowledge
 Educational system is most important institution
that teaches and reinforces cultural values
Cross-National Differences
in Math Achievement
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Math and culture have a very special
relationship
 Stigler and Baranes (1988): math skills “…forged
out of a combination of previously acquired (or
inherited) knowledge and skills, and new cultural
input"
 Culture is not only a stimulator of math, but is
itself represented in math, and how a society
teaches and learns it
Social and Cultural Factors That
Influence Math Achievement
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Language
School systems
Parental and familial values
Teaching styles
Teacher-student relationships
Attitudes and appraisals of students
Summary
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Cross-national differences in academic
achievement not due to biological differences
 Many social and cultural factors play a role:
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Economics
 Geography
 Resources
 Cultural values and beliefs
 Abilities and experiences
 Language
 Family dynamics
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Putting it All Together
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Each culture's way of raising children represents
culture's way of ensuring values and norms are
transmitted to children
 Practices are ritualized to transmit information
from generation to next generation
 Contemporary theories: children's active
processing of information results in reproduction
of culture and production of new elements