Transcript Slide 1

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.
Celimli
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)
Celimli
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??
Celimli
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
Celimli
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
Celimli
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
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• 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)
Celimli