Culture, Parenting and Child
Development:
Is There an Optimal
Developmental Trajectory ?
Cigdem Kagitcibasi
Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
ACEV
Concluding Meeting of the “QualiFLY” Project
Istanbul, May 22-25, 2007
Development of Competence
and of Self
- Focus on Disadvantage
- Focus on Social Change / Immigration
• Understand, Explain, Predict
• Ascertain Problems and Mismatches
• Help Promote Well-Being
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCE
Importance of Proximal Environment
Parenting in low SES homes
Child Outcome
Korenman (1995)
Low level of emotional
support and cognitive
stimulation
account
for
Eccles and Harold
(1993);
Epstein (1990)
Variations in parental
involvement
lead to
Gottfried, Fleming
and Gottfried
(1998)
Cognitively stimulating
home environment
significant above and
beyond SES
Leseman (1993)
Van Tuijl &
Leseman (2004)
Amount of mother-child
verbal interaction
for
account
for
1/3 to 1/2 of the
disadvantage in
verbal and math
skills
disparities in
achievement
Child cognitive
development
vocabulary/concept
formation of Turkish
immigrant children
in Holland.
The policy implications have to do with early
cognitive enrichment and education programs to
support parents and other caretakers to provide
more stimulating environments to young
children.
A very important issue here is social change
– The world’s population is fast becoming less rural and
more urban.
What was adaptive in rural context may not be
adaptive in urban life.
Urbanization of Populations
10-19 age group population
(million)
Urban Shift in Developing Countries for
Young Population (age 10-19)
700
600
500
urban
400
rural
300
200
100
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
• Given the increasing similarity in urban life
styles in the world, and particularly with the
expansion of public education, some
common standards of competence are
emerging
• We can contribute significantly to the
enhancement of the developmental
trajectories of children and youth.
IMPLICATIONS FOR APPLICATION:
EARLY ENRICHMENT as AN EXAMPLE
Concerted efforts have been expended in many
countries to provide deprived children with early
enrichment that would enhance their ability to
benefit from formal schooling.
The research program from Turkey and its resultant
program applications to be presented here derive
from a 22-year longitudinal study, including an
original 4-year longitudinal study and its first and
second follow-up, known as the Turkish Early
Enrichment Project (TEEP).
THE TURKISH EARLY
ENRICHMENT PROJECT
(TEEP)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS,
POLICY AND APPLICATIONS
Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman(2001), Applied
Developmental Psychology, 22, 333-361
Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman & Cemalcilar (submitted)
THE TURKISH EARLY-ENRICHMENT PROJECT
(TEEP)
Mediating variable
Mother-Child Interaction
• Direct attention given to the
child
• Communication with the child
• Satisfaction with the child
• Expectation of
obedience/autonomy
Background
• Low SES
•Low Education
Mother Training
•
•
•
•
Promoting child’s cognitive development
Promoting child’s socioemotional development
Empowerment of the mother
Building communication skills
Outcome:
Child’s cognitive
development,
school
performance,
socioemotional
development
DESIGN OF TEEP STUDY
Number of subjects in each group
Educational
Day-care
Age of child
Custodial
Day-care
Home
Care
Total
3 yr.
5 yr.
3 yr.
5 yr.
3 yr.
5 yr.
Mother
training
11
16
23
17
16
7
90
No Mother
training
18
19
30
35
34
29
165
Total
29
35
53
52
50
36
255
FIRST FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF TEEP
1992
ADOLESCENTS (13-15 years of age)
Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman(2001), Applied
Developmental Psychology, 22, 333-361
PRIMARY SCHOOL GPA’S
9
8.5
8
Mother Trained
Not Trained
7.5
7
6.5
6
5.5
5
Turkish
Mathematics
Overall
Academic
t= 3.08, p<.002, t= 3.01, p<.003, t=2.82, p<.005
STANDARDIZED WISC-R
VOCABULARY SCORES
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
Mother-trained
Non-trained
F (2, 216) = 2.16, p< .032
IS ADOLESCENT STILL IN SCHOOL?
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
Mother-trained
%86
Non-trained
%67
X2= 9.57 P< .002
SECOND FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF TEEP
2004
YOUNG ADULTS (25-27 years of age)
(Kagitcibasi, C, Sunar, D., Bekman, S, & Cemalcilar, Z., 2006, submitted)
School attainment of those who either had attended an educational child care
center and/or their mothers had training (I) and those who had no early
intervention (NI)
School attainment
12
11.21
11
10.26
10
9
8
I
[ANCOVA F(1, 127) =3.218, p=.07 ]
NI
University attendance of those who either had
attended an educational child care center
and/or whose mothers had training .
attending university
percentage
50
44.1
40
26.6
30
20
10
0
I
[X2=4.432, df=1, p=.03 ]
NI
Vocabulary test performance by home based
education
20
19
18
17,53
17
16,19
16
15
MT
[ANCOVA F(1 ,98) =3.362, p=.09]
NMT
Age of beginning gainful employment
age of beginning gainful employment
19
18
17.53
17
16.19
16
15
I
F(1 ,121) =4.708, p=.03
NI
Occupational status
occupational status
5
4
3.94
3.21
3
2
1
I
[F(1,128) =4.130, p=.04]
NI
Computer ownership
owns a computer
50
44
percentage
40
30
24
20
10
0
I
[X2 =5.981, df=1, p=.014]
NI
Credit card ownership
has credit card
percentagee
100
90
80
70
70
60
52
50
40
30
MT
[X2 =3.955, df=1, p=.047]
NMT
GENERAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS
• Much can be accomplished by reaching
children early in life to build both environmental
and individual capacity that can be sustained
over time. Improving the environment, while
enhancing individual cognitive performance,
helps in turn to support that performance
further, in a synergistic interaction.
• Our accumulated knowledge and insights can
provide us with possibly universal standards of
competence and healthy human development.
MOTHER CHILD EDUCATION PROGRAM
TARGET
MOTHERS WITH 5 YEAR
OLD CHILDREN
DURATION
25 WEEKS
FORM
GROUP DISCUSSIONS
By 2005, 350,000 women + children reached.
Extensions to Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands,
Germany, France) and to Arab countries (Bahrain,
Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia)
TV adaptation on national and international Turkish
Public Television
DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
The Basic Thesis
Autonomy and Relatedness are two
basic needs.
Therefore, an Optimal
Developmental Trajectory should include
both.
While, all societies manage to meet
these two basic needs,
Autonomy has been prioritized in
the Western World and in Psychology
- reflected in an emphasis on individual
independence, agency, privacy...
- often at the expense of interpersonal
relatedness
What is the underlying reason?
Not evolutionary, which rather stresses the
survival value of cooperation and relatedness
in humans and other primates (Euler et al,
2001; Guisinger & Blatt, 1994).
It is cultural ... Western Individualism as a
‘Cultural Affordance’ (Kitayama, 2002;
Poortinga, 1992).
Yet, it is neither logically nor psychologically
necessary for Autonomy to mean Separateness
if we recognize the existence of two distinct
dimensions:
Agency:
Autonomy
Heteronomy
(dependency)
Interpersonal Distance:
Separateness
Relatedness
A Conceptual Model of Different
Types of Selves
AGENCY
Autonomy
Autonomous-Separate self
Autonomous-related self
INTERPERSONAL
DISTANCE
Separation
Relatedness
Heteronomous-separate self
Heteronomous-related self
Heteronomy
This conceptualization renders viable
The Autonomous-Related Self
Despite the consensual agreement that
Autonomy and Relatedness are basic needs, this
self construal has not been readily recognized in
psychology, even in cross-cultural psychology.
Yet, this model promises to be a healthy
integration.
Kagitcibasi, C. (2005). Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context:
Implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 4,
403-422.
The two dimensions of interpersonal
distance and agency can indeed fit together,
loading on the same factor, in sociocultural
contexts, such as in Northern Europe (Beyers
et al., 2003), where being both autonomous
and separate is valued, but not in other
sociocultural contexts where being connected
is valued and does not imply lacking
autonomy. (Kagitcibasi, 2005)
CONTRASTING VIEWS ON RELATIONS WITH
PARENTS AS PRECURSORS OF
HEALTHY AUTONOMY
• Close relation
(attachment) necessary
for autonomy
• Distancing (detachment)
necessary for autonomy
— Psychoanalytic (A.Freud,
1958; Mahler, 1972;Blos,
1979; Hoffman, 1984;
Steinberg & Silverberg,
1986)
Confounds agency and
interpersonal distance
dimensions
versus
— (Grotevant & Cooper,
1986; Ryan et al, 1989,
2000; Quintana & Kerr,
1993; Schwartz, 2000;
Schmitz & Baer, 2001;
Grossman, et al, 1999)
Integrates agency and
interpersonal distance
dimensions
A second Thesis:
In conjunction with social change
(esp. urbanization and immigration),
Family changes, too.
From the Model of Total
Interdependence to the Model of
Psychological / Emotional
Interdependence. This model includes both
relatedness and autonomy.
FAMILY MODELS, PARENTING AND THE SELF
Interdependence
Independence
Psychological
interdependence
Relatively permissive
Parenting style
Authoritarian
Child rearing
orientation
Control / obedience
Autonomy / self
reliance
Control / autonomy
Heteronomous
Related
Autonomous
separate
Autonomous-related
Self
Authoritative
AGENCY, INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE AND
THE TYPES OF SELVES IN CONTEXT
AGENCY
Autonomy
Family model of
independence
Family model of psychological
interdependence
Self-reliance orientation
Order setting control and
autonomy orientation
INTERPERSONALAutonomous-Separate self
DISTANCE
Autonomous-related self
Separation
Relatedness
Hierarchical neglecting family
Family model of
interdependence
Neglecting, indifferent
orientation
Obedience orientation
Heteronomous-separate self
Heteronomous-related self
Heteronomy
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
•
Ryan & Lynch (1989) and Ryan et al. (1994) in the U.S. found
positive rather than negative links between relatedness to parents
and autonomy in adolescents.
•
Kim, Butzel & Ryan (1998) showed a more positive relation
between autonomy and relatedness than with separateness in both
Korean and American samples.
•
Keller et al (2003) found Greek mothers’ interaction styles with
infants to lead to autonomy and relatedness but German mothers’
to autonomy and separateness.
•
Beyers, Goossens, Vansant, & Moors (2003) found separation
and agency as two independent dimensions.
All endorsing the independence of the agency and
interpersonal distance dimensions.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE (cont.)
• Beyers, Goossens (1999); Chen & Dornbush
(1998); Garber & Little (2001) showed separateness
from parents to be associated with developmental problems.
• Chou (2000) in Hong Kong found individuation to be
associated with depression in adolescents.
• Phalet & Schonpflug (2001) found among Turkish
immigrants in Germany parental autonomy goals do not imply
separateness, and achievement values are associated with
parental collectivism, not individualism.
• Koutrelakos (2004) found decreasing material but
continuing emotional interdependencies in Greek Americans
with acculturation.
RESEARCH EVIDENCE (cont.)
• Aydın & Öztütüncü (2001) found depression to be
associated with separateness in Turkish adolescents, but not
with high parental control.
• Meeus, Oosterwegel & Vollebergh (2002) found with
Dutch, Turkish & Moroccon adolescents that secure attachment
fosters agency.
• Kwak (2003) in review of research noted the common
preference of adolescents for both autonomy and family
relatedness.
• Georgas, Berry, Van de Vijver, Kagitcibasi &
Poortinga (2006) in a 27-country study of the family found
evidence for autonomy and relatedness to coexist in the
psychologically interdependent family.
CONTROL and AUTONOMY
Empirical Evidence
•
•
•
•
Lau et al. (1990)
Lin & Fu (1990)
Cha (1994)
Phalet & Schonpflug (2001)
Models
Kağıtçıbaşı
(1990,1996a,b)
CONTROL and WARMTH
Empirical Evidence
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Kağıtçıbaşı (1970)
Rohner & Pettengill (1985)
Trommsdorf (1985)
Ryan & Lynch (1989)
Kim, Butzel & Ryan (1998)
Jose et al. (2000)
Oosterwegel & Vollebergh (2002)
Kwak (2003)
Lansford et al. (2003)
Dekovic, Pels & Model (in press)
Models
Baumrind (1980, 1989)
Maccoby & Martin
(1983)
The implications of these conceptualizations
and research for immigration:
Immigration most often involves contact between
‘culture of relatedness’ (immigrants) and individualistic
‘culture of separateness’ (host society).
Ethnic minority parents tend to be labeled
‘authoritarian’ because of strong parental discipline
because it appears very controlling (Gonzales, et al,
1996). But, this may be a wrong attribution because
there is often also relatedness and warmth
(psychological value of children) in the Family Model
of Psychological Interdependence, especially with
increased education.
Ethnic Minority Research in Europe and the U.S. point to:
 Closely-Knit family relations
and
 Parental control together with care (warmth)
Chao (1994)
Smetana & Gaines (1999)
Jose et al. (2000)
Kwak (2003)
Lansford et al. (2003)
Dekovic et al. (2005)
Dekovic, Pels & Model (2006) study as a case in
point:
• Six major ethnic groups in the Netherlands (including
also the native Dutch)
• General finding: Parents who use strong discipline
(authoritarian control) can also be warm and
supportive .. ‘An unlikely combination.’
• Why unlikely? Because of the assumption that
parental control means parental rejection (hostility)
and suppression of autonomy, based on an
individualistic view assuming that permissive,
independence oriented parenting which leads to
separation and individuation promotes autonomy.
Adaptation is a key concept in understanding
content of change through acculturation
Environmental
demands
Social comparison
Processes
}
adolescents’ demands
for more autonomy
(Kwak, 2003; Phinney, 2005)
But a corresponding demand for separateness not
found (Kwak, 2003; Buriel et al., 2005)
Autonomous-Related Self Implicated
The Explanatory Factor Underlying the Findings: Family
Model of Psychological Interdependence
• Where autonomy and control coexist
• Permissive independence-oriented parenting not
endorsed by immigrants because it carries the risk
of separation (of the child from the family) in
adolescence-young adulthood
• The goal is not separation but closeness (emotional
interdependence)
• Immigrants disapprove the ‘too lenient’ Dutch
childrearing and the ‘disrespectful’ behavior of
Dutch children (‘on top of their mothers’ heads’’)
What is often labeled authoritarian parenting may
be reflecting a sense of decency and morality, for
example respect for age, with a concern for the ‘proper’
development of the child in the immigrant ‘culture of
relatedness’.
Ethnic minority mothers complain that social service
agencies ignore parent’s views and sometimes separate
children from their families or that Dutch clinicians do
not understand them, a problem that goes beyond the
language gap.
With increasing education and acculturation, The
Family Model of Psychological Interdependence
emerging, entailing both autonomy and relatedness.
To Conclude:
• Given that the autonomous-related self is a healthy
human model, since it satisfies both of the basic
needs...
• Given that the recognition of agency and
interpersonal distance dimensions helps resolve
conceptual and measurement issues in I-C and
Independent-Interdependent self... and
• Given that the Family Model of Psychological
Interdependence involves both autonomy, control
and warmth (psychological value of children)...
Ethnic minority family patterns should not be seen as
unhealthy.
Immigrants, particularly those with low levels of education
and social capital have a lot to learn and have to
acculturate to the host societies. However, from a crosscultural psychological perspective, they have a lot to
offer, also.
Immigration involves culture contact with the
potential for mutual learning and change.
In particular, there could be a convergence toward the
Family Model of Emotional Interdependence and the
Autonomous-Related Self in multicultural society.
Thus Possibly Universal Optimal
Developmental Trajectory because of
converging Life Styles and Basic Human
Needs
Involving:
- Social + Cognitive Competence
- Autonomous-Related Self
- Psychologically /Emotionally
Interdependent Family
Kagitcibasi, C. (2007) Family, Self and Human Development Across
Cultures. Lawrence Erlbaum.