Culture, Parenting and Child Development:
Is There an Optimal Developmental Trajectory ?
Cigdem Kagitcibasi
Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey
ACEVConcluding 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
Parenting in low SES homes
Low level of emotional support and cognitive stimulation
Variations in parental involvement
Cognitively stimulating home environment significant above and beyond SES
Amount of mother-child verbal interaction
Child Outcome
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.
Korenman (1995)
Eccles and Harold (1993); Epstein (1990)
Gottfried, Fleming and Gottfried (1998)
Leseman (1993)Van Tuijl & Leseman (2004)
account for
lead to
account for
for
DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCEImportance of Proximal Environment
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
Urban Shift in Developing Countries for Young Population (age 10-19)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
10-1
9 ag
e g
rou
p p
op
ula
tio
n
(mill
ion
)
urban
rural
• 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), Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman(2001), Applied Applied Developmental Psychology, 22,Developmental Psychology, 22, 333-361 333-361Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman & Cemalcilar (submitted)Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman & Cemalcilar (submitted)
Background
• Low SES•Low Education
Mediating variableMother-Child Interaction
• Direct attention given to the child• Communication with the child• Satisfaction with the child• Expectation of obedience/autonomy
Outcome:
Child’s cognitive development,
school performance,
socioemotional development
Mother Training
• Promoting child’s cognitive development• Promoting child’s socioemotional development• Empowerment of the mother• Building communication skills
THE TURKISH EARLY-ENRICHMENT PROJECT(TEEP)
DESIGN OF TEEP STUDY
Number of subjects in each group
EducationalDay-care
CustodialDay-care
HomeCare
Total
Age of child 3 yr. 5 yr. 3 yr. 5 yr. 3 yr. 5 yr.
Mother training
11 16 23 17 16 7 90
No Mothertraining
18 19 30 35 34 29 165
Total 29 35 53 52 50 36 255
FIRST FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF TEEP
1992ADOLESCENTS (13-15 years of age)
Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman(2001), Kağıtçıbaşı, Sunar, Bekman(2001), Applied Applied Developmental Psychology, 22,Developmental Psychology, 22, 333-361 333-361
PRIMARY SCHOOL GPA’S
5
5.5
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
8.5
9
Turkish Mathematics OverallAcademic
Mother TrainedNot Trained
t= 3.08, p<.002, t= 3.01, p<.003, t=2.82, p<.005
MEA
NS
CO
RES
STANDARDIZED WISC-R VOCABULARY SCORES
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Mother-trained Non-trained
MEA
N S
CO
RES
F (2, 216) = 2.16, p< .032
IS ADOLESCENT STILL IN SCHOOL?
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Mother-trained Non-trained
PER
CEN
TO
F Y
ES
RES
PO
NS
ES
X2= 9.57 P< .002%86 %67
SECOND FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF TEEP
2004YOUNG 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
11.21
10.26
8
9
10
11
12
I NI
[ANCOVA F(1, 127) =3.218, p=.07 ]
University attendance of those who either had attended an educational child care center
and/or whose mothers had training .
attending university
44.1
26.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
I NI
per
cen
tag
e
[X2=4.432, df=1, p=.03 ]
Vocabulary test performance by home based education
[ANCOVA F(1 ,98) =3.362, p=.09]
17,53
16,19
15
16
17
18
19
20
MT NMT
Age of beginning gainful employment
age of beginning gainful employment
17.53
16.19
15
16
17
18
19
I NI
F(1 ,121) =4.708, p=.03
Occupational status
occupational status
3.94
3.21
1
2
3
4
5
I NI
[F(1,128) =4.130, p=.04]
Computer ownership
owns a computer
44
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
I NI
pe
rce
nta
ge
[X2 =5.981, df=1, p=.014]
Credit card ownership
has credit card
70
52
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
MT NMT
per
cen
tag
ee
[X2 =3.955, df=1, p=.047]
• 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.
GENERAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS
TARGET
DURATION
FORM
MOTHERS WITH 5 YEAR OLD CHILDREN
GROUP DISCUSSIONS
25 WEEKS
MOTHER CHILD EDUCATION PROGRAM
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
Autonomous-Separate self
Heteronomous-separate self
Autonomous-related self
AGENCY
INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE
Heteronomous-related self
Autonomy
Heteronomy
Separation Relatedness
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
• Distancing (detachment) necessary for autonomy
— Psychoanalytic (A.Freud,
1958; Mahler, 1972;Blos, 1979; Hoffman, 1984; Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986)
Confounds agency and interpersonal distance dimensions
• Close relation (attachment) necessary for autonomy
— (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
versus
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
Parenting style AuthoritarianRelatively permissive
Authoritative
Child rearing orientation
Control / obedience Autonomy / self reliance
Control / autonomy
SelfHeteronomous
RelatedAutonomous
separateAutonomous-related
AGENCY, INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE AND THE TYPES OF SELVES IN CONTEXT
Family model of independence
Self-reliance orientation
Autonomous-Separate self
Hierarchical neglecting family
Neglecting, indifferent orientation
Heteronomous-separate self
Family model of psychological interdependence
Order setting control and autonomy orientation
Autonomous-related self
AGENCY
INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE
Family model of interdependence
Obedience orientation
Heteronomous-related self
Autonomy
Heteronomy
Separation Relatedness
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 AUTONOMYEmpirical Evidence• Lau et al. (1990)• Lin & Fu (1990)• Cha (1994)• Phalet & Schonpflug (2001)
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
Kağıtçıbaşı (1990,1996a,b)
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
But a corresponding demand for separateness not found (Kwak, 2003; Buriel et al., 2005)
Autonomous-Related Self Implicated
Environmental demands
Social comparison Processes
adolescents’ demands
for more autonomy
(Kwak, 2003; Phinney, 2005)}
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 cross-cultural 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.