Chapter 15 (Part II): Sociocultural Influences on Development Flashcards

Culture

• Culture: Behavior patterns, beliefs, and products of a group passed down through generations.
• Cross-cultural studies: Comparing aspects of two or more cultures.
• Ethnocentrism: Considering one's own group superior to others.
• Global interdependence makes culture highly relevant to lifespan development.

Individualism and Collectivism

• Individualism: Prioritizing personal goals over group goals.
  • Emphasizes values that serve the self, such as:
    • Feeling good
    • Personal distinction through achievement
    • Independence
• Collectivism: Emphasizes values that serve the group.
  • Personal goals are subordinated to:
    • Preserve group integrity
    • Support interdependence
    • Promote relationships
• Many assumptions about lifespan development were developed in individualistic cultures.
• Self-conceptions vary according to culture.
  • Focus on personal traits vs. group affiliations.
• Problems in Western cultures intensified by individualistic values:
  • Higher rates of suicide, drug abuse, crime, teen pregnancy, divorce, child abuse, and mental disorders.
• Critics argue the concept of individualistic and collectivistic cultures is too broad and simplistic, especially with increasing globalization.

Characteristics of Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures

• Individualistic:
  • Focuses on the individual.
  • Self is determined by personal traits, independent of groups; self is stable across contexts.
  • Private self is more important.
  • Personal achievement, competition, power are important.
  • Cognitive dissonance is frequent.
  • Emotions (such as anger) are self-focused.
  • People who are the most liked are self-assured.
  • Values: pleasure, achievement, competition, freedom.
  • Many casual relationships.
  • Save own face.
  • Independent behaviors: swimming, sleeping alone in room, privacy.
  • Relatively rare mother–child physical contact
• Collectivistic:
  • Focuses on groups.
  • Self is defined by in-group terms; self can change with context.
  • Public self is most important.
  • Achievement is for the benefit of the in-group; cooperation is stressed.
  • Cognitive dissonance is infrequent.
  • Emotions (such as anger) are often relationship-based.
  • People who are the most liked are modest, self-effacing.
  • Values: security, obedience, in-group harmony, personalized relationship.
  • Few, close relationships.
  • Save own and other’s face.
  • Interdependent behaviors: co-bathing, co-sleeping.
  • Frequent mother–child physical contact (such as hugging and holding)

Sociocultural Influences: Media/Screen Time

• Media and screen time play an important role in child and adolescent development.
  • Screen time includes TV watching, DVDs, video games, computers, and mobile media.
  • Associated with numerous negative outcomes.
• Media multitasking is increasing.
  • Sometimes engaged with media at the same time as they are doing homework.
• Mobile media are driving increased media use.
• Positive effects of TV:
  • Motivational educational programs, increasing information outside of the world beyond the immediate environment, models of prosocial behavior.
• Negative effects of TV:
  • Passive learning, homework distraction, stereotypes, violent models of aggression, unrealistic view of the world.
  • Linked to child and adolescent obesity.
• Violent video games raise concerns about the effects on children and adolescents.
  • Especially highly realistic video games.
  • Children and adolescents who extensively play violent video games are more aggressive, more likely to engage in delinquent acts, and more likely to accept rape myths.
• Effects of media/screen time depend on the child’s age and the type of media involved.
  • Learning from media is difficult for infants and toddlers, who learn more easily from direct experience.
  • Preschool children can learn from media with educational material.
    • If effective strategies are used.
    • If images and sounds attract young children’s attention.
    • If children’s voices are used rather than adult voices.
    • However lack of efficacy for language learning
• American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 years not watch TV.
  • Likely to reduce direct interactions with parents.
• Higher levels of parental monitoring of children’s media use has been linked to a number of positive outcomes.
• Digitally mediated social environment of youth includes:
  • Email.
  • Instant messaging.
  • Social networking sites.
  • Chat rooms.
  • Videosharing and photosharing.
  • Multiplayer online games.
  • Virtual worlds.
• There has been a dramatic increase in adolescents’ use of social media and text messaging.
• Among adolescents, most report using social networking sites daily.
• Text messaging has become the main way that adolescents connect with friends.
  • Surpasses face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging, and voice calls.
  • Special concern is sexting, or sending sexually explicit images, videos, or text messages.
• Special concerns have emerged about children’s and adolescents’ access to information on the internet, which has been largely unregulated.
• Parents need to monitor and regulate adolescents’ use of the internet.
• Internet plays an increasing role in providing access to information and communication for adults.
  • In 2019, 73% of U.S. adults age 65 and older used the internet.
  • Increasing numbers use email and smartphones.
• Internet use is associated with greater ease in meeting new people, feeling less isolated, and feeling more connected with friends and family.
• People continue to watch extensive amounts of television, especially in late adulthood.

Sociocultural Influences: Aging and Culture

• Certain factors predict high status for the elderly:
  • Older persons have valuable knowledge and control key family/community resources.
  • Older persons are permitted to engage in useful and valued functions as long as possible.
  • There is role continuity throughout life span.
  • Age-related role changes involve greater responsibility, authority, and advisory capacity.
  • Extended family is a common family arrangement, and the older person is integrated into the extended family.
• Respect is greater in collectivistic cultures.

Socioeconomic Status and Poverty

• Socioeconomic status (SES): a grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.
  • Differences in the ability to control resources and participate in society’s rewards produce unequal opportunities for people.
• Parent’s SES is linked to the neighborhoods in which children live and schools they attend.
  • Can influence children’s adjustment.
• In the United States and other Western cultures, differences have been found in child-rearing among different SES groups.
• Low-SES parents:
  • Concerned that children conform to society’s expectations.
  • Make it clear parents have authority over children.
  • Use physical punishment more.
  • More directive and less conversational.
• Higher SES parents:
  • Concerned with children’s initiative and delay of gratification.
  • Children are nearly equal participants.
  • Physical punishment less likely.
  • Less directive and more conversational with children.
• Children and adolescents from low-SES homes are at risk for low achievement and emotional problems.
  • Lower occupational attainment in adulthood.
  • Unhealthy lifestyle choices and poorer overall health.
  • Nevertheless, a sizable number are competent and perform well in school.
• Adolescents from affluent families also face challenges, such as substance abuse and adjustment difficulties.
• Children in poverty represent a special concern.
  • In 2018, 16.2% of U.S. children lived in families with incomes below the poverty line.
  • U.S. figures are much higher than other industrialized nations.
• African American and Latinx families have especially high rates of poverty.
• Ethnic minority children are more likely to experience persistent poverty over many years.
  • Live in isolated poor neighborhoods where social supports are lacking and threats to positive development abound.
• Poverty has important psychological ramifications.
  • Often exposed to poor health conditions, inadequate housing and homelessness, less effective schools, environmental toxins, and violence.
  • Powerless, and vulnerable to disaster.
  • Alternatives are restricted, and being poor means less prestige.
• Persistent and long-standing poverty has especially damaging effects on children.
  • Higher physiological stress.
  • Lower cognitive functioning.
  • Less effective executive functioning.

Feminization of Poverty

• Feminization of poverty: far more women than men live in poverty.
  • High percentage of children are growing up in a mother-headed household in poverty.
  • Poor, single mothers are more distressed than middle-SES counterparts.
  • Poor mothers tend to show lower levels of support, nurturance, and involvement with children.
  • Reasons for the high poverty rate: women’s low pay, infrequent awarding of alimony payments, and poorly enforced child support.
• Economically distressed parents:
  • Feel less effective and capable in disciplining their children.
  • Are less affectionate in parent–child interactions.
  • Predict lower teacher ratings of children’s social behavior and higher ratings of behavior problems.
• Benefits provided to low-income parents may have positive outcomes for children.
  • Increased incomes of working poor parents are linked with improvement in children’s school achievement and behavior.
• Poverty interventions include school programs.
• Poverty in late adulthood is linked to increased physical and mental health problems.
  • Lower levels of physical and cognitive fitness.
• U.S. women ages 65 or older are much more likely to live in poverty than men.

Sociocultural Influences: Ethnicity

• Differences in SES often overlap with ethnic differences.
• Ethnic minority adolescents fare better than expected and often assume higher levels of responsibility than their non-immigrant counterparts.
• Relatively high levels of minority immigration have contributed to growth in the proportion of ethnic minorities in the United States.
  • Growth is expected to continue throughout the 21st century.
• Immigrants often experience special stressors.
  • Language barriers.
  • Separation from support networks.
  • Changes in SES.
  • Health problems.
  • Challenges of preserving their ethnic identity while adapting to the majority culture.
• Parents and children in immigrant families may be at different stages of acculturation.
  • Often results in conflict over cultural values.
• Large, extended families are more common among minority groups.
• Single-parent families are more common among African Americans and Latinxs.
  • Parents often have more limited resources of time, money, and energy; tend to be less educated; and are more likely to live in low-income circumstances.
• Special problems are faced by recently immigrated families, including problems with being undocumented.
• Ethnic minorities experience a disproportionate share of the effects of poverty and unemployment in the United States.
  • Poverty contributes to stressful life experiences.
  • Double disadvantage is experienced by ethnic minority children due to prejudice and discrimination along with the stressful effects of poverty.
• Community and the family can filter out destructive racist messages, and parents can present alternative frames of reference.
  • Extended family can also serve as a buffer to stress.
• Many family members of recent immigrants adopt a bicultural orientation.
  • Still retain aspects of their culture of origin.
• Ethnic minority parents focus on issues associated with promoting their children’s ethnic pride, knowledge of their ethnic group, and awareness of discrimination.
• Older ethnic minority adults face a double jeopardy in ageism and racism.
  • Also have less education and experience longer periods of unemployment, worse housing conditions, higher levels of stress, and shorter life expectancies.
• Extended family networks help them cope with having the bare essentials and provide a sense of being loved.
  • Churches provide avenues for meaningful social participation, feelings of power, and a sense of internal satisfaction.
  • Residential concentrations of ethnic minority groups give older members a sense of belonging.