Notes on Parental/Peer Influence, Environment, Culture, Language, and Gender (Biopsychosocial Perspective)
Parents and Peers
Big idea: Parents and peers shape who we become, but the magnitude of their influence depends on context and especially on extreme conditions.
Parents can be blamed for bad behavior, but the most substantial parenting effects show up at the extremes: abuse or extreme love/protection.
Environmental influences on development account for less than 10% of differences between children. Children are resilient and can become who they are regardless of bad parenting.
Peers influence is complementary: peers broaden experiences and teach social skills that parents might not teach.
Specific influences of parents vs. peers:
Parents influence educational attainment and career paths; they drive the level and direction of education and future goals.
Parents shape self-discipline, religious inclinations, and attitudes toward authority.
Peers influence cooperation skills, path to popularity, preferences in music, hobbies, recreation, clothing, and both good and bad habits.
In terms of interactions:
Children often cooperate with peers more than with parents, who are authorities.
Peers help learn social skills that parents may not emphasize.
Quick synthesis: Parental and peer influences overlap but tend to emphasize different domains of development (education, self-regulation, values, social behavior).
Environment and Brain
Environment effects on aging and brain health:
Enriching environments (lots of stimuli, social interaction) support stronger brain function and may delay memory-related diseases in aging.
Enrichment increases the number of synaptic connections; more neural pathways support cognitive resilience.
Brain pruning:
The brain actively prunes unused neural connections, especially during sleep, to streamline processing.
Metaphor: pruning is like removing vines to keep a highway clear for frequently used roads.
Everyday examples of forgetting or losing skills illustrate pruning (e.g., language, music, or hobbies not used for a long time).
Class exercise prompts: examples include self-taught longboarding/long periods without practice or studying a language (e.g., Chinese) and losing proficiency due to non-use.
Brain plasticity:
The brain remains plastic and can reorganize itself in response to new experiences.
Illustration: special goggles that flip left-right perception show rapid adaptive changes in motor coordination and perception as the brain adjusts to a new mapping.
Culture’s role in shaping who we are:
Culture is defined as the attitudes, ideas, values, lifestyles, and traditions shared by a group.
Culture can be national or group-specific (e.g., scene culture, video game culture, K-pop culture, volleyball culture).
Culture shock is the distress or disorientation when entering a group with different norms and behaviors.
Humans both shape culture and are shaped by culture in a give-and-take (not purely cyclical): culture is both created by and constraining for humans.
Language and cultural change:
Language evolves over time: new vocabularies, shifts in meaning, and pronunciation changes.
Progressive assimilation example: changing pronunciations (e.g., Sherbet vs. Sherbert) or adopting brand names into common usage (Band-Aid, Kleenex).
Slang and new usages rapidly become mainstream as culture evolves.
Pace of life and technology:
Life pace has accelerated (faster deliveries, more screens for social interaction).
Technology and urbanization have altered social behavior and socialization practices.
Cultural changes occur too quickly to be rooted in genetic change; environment and social factors drive these shifts.
Equality and gender norms:
Equality, including gender equality, has improved over recent years.
Socializing has shifted toward more screen time and less in-person interaction.
These rapid changes are environmental rather than genetic.
Individualism vs. collectivism:
Individualism emphasizes a unique personal identity; collectivism emphasizes group identity and interdependence.
A diagram explains how close or permeable the boundaries are between the self and others; more overlap means a greater incorporation of others’ identities into one’s own.
Personal reflection: some people, especially those living with family, have more overlap (e.g., parents shaping identity); significant others can create an overlapping influence as well.
Culture’s impact on child-rearing:
Different cultures have different norms for child-rearing; there is no single “correct” approach.
Variation exists within cultures and across cultures; Western cultures are often described as fostering independent thinking.
Personal comparison from abroad (Japan and Taiwan) shows higher independence in children in those contexts (e.g., kids traveling to school alone, running errands) compared to typical American norms; safety and collectivist norms may contribute.
Collectivist cultures often emphasize sensitivity to others and quieter public behavior; this supports the idea that childrearing practices reflect cultural values.
Gender: Sex, Gender, and Development
Key definitions:
Sex: biological characteristics that define male, female, and intersex variations.
Intersex: a variation where someone possesses both male and female biological characteristics at birth; over 30 possible intersex variations are reported.
Prevalence estimates for intersex vary widely: from to , which implies about two out of every 100 births may be intersex at birth (depending on the definition used).
Gender: the social, behavioral, and identity aspects of being male, female, or other; influenced by both biology and environment; not determined solely by biology.
Development of gender:
Gender development begins prenatally with chromosomes and reproductive hormones starting around the seventh week, setting initial reproductive developments.
Puberty brings a large surge of hormones over about two years, enabling sexual maturation.
Gender roles (societal expectations for behavior) shift across time and place; gender identity is the personal sense of being male, female, or other.
How gender develops: three influences
Social learning: observing others’ gender roles and identities.
Observational conditioning: rewards and punishments shape which gender-typed behaviors are reinforced.
Innate sense: children also gravitate toward what they feel is right, beyond external reinforcement.
Note: children’s own sense of gender identity can precede or override social pressures; self-identity is a powerful, sometimes less than external influence.
Gender roles vs. gender identity:
Gender role: expected behaviors for men and women; highly variable over time and place.
Gender identity: personal sense of being male, female, or other.
Differences between men and women (psychology and health):
Mental health & disorders:
Men: higher suicide mortality; more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or ADHD; higher risk for antisocial personality disorder.
Women: higher risk for depression and eating disorders (significant influence from gender norms and societal expectations).
Aggression:
Minor physical aggression is similar between genders.
Men: more likely to commit extreme violence.
Women: more likely to engage in relational aggression (harm to relationships).
Social power and roles:
Men historically occupy leadership roles; higher salaries; more likely to be elected; more in governing positions.
Men are somewhat less religious and engage in prayer less often.
Parenting responsibilities tend to converge by around age 50.
Social connectedness, emotions, and intelligence:
All humans have the same capacity for belonging, creativity, emotions, and intelligence; gender differences are not a measure of overall capability.
Practical and ethical implications:
Gender development is shaped by a mix of biology and culture; no single factor determines outcomes.
Societal norms influence mental health risks and coping mechanisms; policies should address structural gender inequalities.
Educational and clinical approaches should consider both social learning and individual differences in identity formation.
Biopsychosocial Model and Open System View
Nature and nurture as an open system:
Nature (biological) and nurture (environmental) constantly interact from birth to death.
The biopsychosocial approach organizes influences into three domains:
Biological factors: genome, genetic variations, prenatal development, sex-related genes, hormones, physiology.
Psychological factors: gene–environment interactions, early experiences shaping neural networks, responses to personal characteristics (gender, temperament), beliefs, feelings, experiences.
Social/Cultural factors: parental and peer influences, cultural traditions, values, gender norms.
Practical takeaways:
No single determinant; multiple interacting forces shape development.
When studying behavior, consider how biology, psychology, and social culture converge.
For coursework and research, frame findings within the biopsychosocial model to capture the full context.
Notes on course context:
The instructor notes that gender-specific topics are offered in separate psychology courses (e.g., Gender in Psychology, Psychology of Men), indicating specialized but complementary perspectives.
Synthesis and Takeaways
The central theme is the dynamic interaction of nature and nurture; development emerges from a web of factors rather than a single cause.
Culture and environment are potent forces that shape beliefs, norms, and behaviors across generations, yet individuals actively shape their cultural context as well.
Gender is a multifaceted construct that integrates biological bases with social learning, identity formation, and cultural expectations.
The biopsychosocial framework provides a practical lens to study behavior, emphasizing integration across biological, psychological, and social dimensions.
Real-World Relevance and Reflection
When evaluating behavior or policy, consider:
Are we addressing extreme environmental risks (e.g., abuse) and buffering resilience factors (e.g., supportive environments) to maximize development?
How do cultural norms around gender and family roles impact mental health, education, and economic opportunities?
How can education and parenting practices leverage insights about plasticity, pruning, and learning to support healthy development across the lifespan?
Quick Glossary
Pruning: brain process of removing unused neural connections, especially during sleep.
Plasticity: the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections in response to learning or experience.
Culture shock: discomfort when encountering a culture with different norms.
Culture: attitudes, ideas, values, lifestyles, and traditions shared by a group.
Individualism vs. collectivism: orientation toward self-identity as independent vs. identity embedded in a group.
Sex: biological characteristics defining male, female, intersex.
Gender: social, behavioral, and identity aspects of being male, female, or other; influenced by biology and environment.
Biopsychosocial model: framework integrating biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding behavior.
References to Related Courses (Instructor’s Note)
Gender in Psychology
Psychology of Men