Cultural Psychology –
Developmental Perspective
Seniz Celimli
10.26.09
Cultural Psychology
• All social and emotional development occurs
in a cultural context
• Culture involves shared beliefs and practices
which unite communities and differentiate
them from other communities
• What may appear to be a universal feature of
development, is often one of myriad, cultural
solutions to a problem
Messinger
What is cross-cultural psychology?
– The critical and comparative study of cultural
effects on human psychology
• Comparative: at least two samples that represent at
least two cultural groups
• Critical: requires critical thinking
– Cross-cultural psychology establishes
psychological universals (Berry et al., 1992;
Lonner, 1980).
Shiraev & Levy, 2001
Celimli
Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Stage
Ego Crisis
Age
Positive Outcome
1
Basic trust vs. Mistrust
0-1
Drive and Hope
2
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt 2-3
Self-control and Willpower
3
Initiative vs. Guilt
3-5
Direction and Purpose
4
Industry vs. Inferiority
5-12
Method and Competence
5
Ego Identity vs. Role confusion
Adolescence Devotion and Fidelity
6
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young adult
Affiliation and Love
7
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Adulthood
Production and Care
8
Ego integrity vs. Despair
Maturity
Renunciation and Wisdom
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and Society
• Each stage is driven by a developmental conflict, problem, or crisis.
• Healthy and mature personality is defined as emerging from a positive resolution
at each stage.
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Erikson’s theory has been criticized by…
– mixing objective description with subjective
prescription
– an healthy individual is defined in accordance with
Western cultural ethics, values, and social
institutions
– an ideal has been defined rather than the actual
Celimli
Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development – Universal across Cultures?
• Erikson’s stages and their general sequence
cannot always be observed in other cultures
– In industrialized and economically developed cultures,
freedom of choice can be relatively easily practiced
– In developing or under-developed countries, choices
could be very limited that most of which had been
prescribed at birth
*** In general, Erikson’s theory is more
applicable to the developed societies (broad
socialization), where freedom of choice is enabled
and encouraged than societies have strict ways of
living (narrow socialization)
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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
• Sensorimotor (0-2): learning to interact with the
immediate environment
• Preoperational (2-7): language acquisition
• Concrete operation (7 to early adolescence): learning
logic
• Formal operations (adolescence): development of
abstract thinking
*** Do these stages apply to every culture?
Celimli
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development –
Universal across Cultures?
*** Do these stages apply to every culture?
• Some argues …. the stage sequences are universal
(Dasen, 1994)
• Some have criticized Piaget’s and his followers’
methodology and procedure (Gardiner, Mutter, &
Kosmitzki, 1998)
• Formal operational stage – accomplished by all
adolescents in all societies??
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Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
• Preconventional Level
– Obedience and Punishment
– Individualism and Exchange
• Conventional Level
– Interpersonal relationships
– Maintaining social order
• Postconventional Level
– Social contracts and individual rights
– Universal ethical principles
Celimli
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development –
Universal across Cultures??
• Some skepticism about cross-cultural validity
of Kohlberg’s theory:
– whether the hypothetical stories would also be
applicable to cultures other than Western cultures
in terms of legal structures and moral principles
*** In many cultures, moral judgments are based on
pre-existing traditions (not on freedom of choice)
Celimli
Current trend of human development
• Emphasizing the meaning of both individual
and cultural factors of socialization
• Previously, individual autonomy, defined as
independence from others: a requisite of
healthy human development
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Autonomy vs. Interdependence?
• Value system, rules, and the structure of the
family unit have been formed through the
societal demands which show variances across
time and cultures.
• A model of family change (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1996a,
1996b) - analyzes the link between the self,
family, and society in order to explain cultural
differences
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Family Interaction Patterns
(Kagitcibasi, 1996, 2005)
• Pattern of total interdependence:
– The child: the economic value
– Independence of the child: not valued and evaluated
– Obedience is the essential of the childrearing
• Pattern of dependence:
– The child: the main source of economic costs
– Independence of the child: highly valued
– Autonomy is the basic childrearing orientation
• The pattern of psychological interdependence:
– The child: no longer the economic value
– Psychological interdependence of the child: valued
– Closeness and relatedness (not separateness) is the ultimate goal in
childrearing practices
Celimli
• Mother’s reports:
– More San Pedro mothers:
• reported privileged treatment of toddler, expected that
older sibling cooperate with toddler’s wishes
• reported that toddlers do not yet understand social
consequences of own actions
• Reported that siblings (3 to 5 y.o.) are their own primary
caregivers and have household responsibilities
• Transitions and Continuity
– Mayan families: abrupt transition at birth of next child
– Salt Lake City families: continuity of treatment from
toddlerhood through childhood (rules of sharing, compelled to
behave)
• Cultural Models: Responsible cooperation developed through
freedom of choice v. sharing of rules and resources
Nayfeld
Child’s play
• Child’s development – should be evaluated
within cultural context
• Observation child’s play can help to reveal
cultural influences on children’s development
(Rogoff, 2003)
• 2nd year-old – child’s play moves from
exploratory to symbolic (pretend play)
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