Culture and the Individual Kimberly Porter Martin

Personality -characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of genetics, socialization, enculturation and life experience.

The Big Five The Five Factor Model (FFM) –Conscientiousness Persistence and reliability Goal directedness –Agreeableness Compassion, warmth Gentle and sensitive –Openness to Experience Curiosity and imagination –Extraversion Positive attitude Seeks stimulating social interaction –Neuroticism Emotional instability Anxiety and hostility

Bronfenbrenner Ecological Systems Theory

Cole Culture as mediator –Stages emerge within complex social interactions –Culture provides “tools of intellectual adaptation”

Biology and Adolescence Hormonal changes, secondary sex characteristics Brain changes –Emotional self-regulation –Delayed gratification and inhibition –Planning and goal setting –Remodeling of dopamine system Rewards and pleasure –Sex, drugs, food and possibly aggression Concentration Risk taking and novelty seeking

Socialization Patterns Narrow socialization – specific expectations that limit and control behaviors Vs. Broad socialization – few restrictions, allow self expression and expect autonomy For teenagers, the latter means more exploration and/or risky behaviors.

What Influences Maturation? Biological maturation Environmental contexts? –Socioeconomic status –Birth order –Parental ethnotheories –Cultural expectations

Menarche as Test Case Sensitivity to pre-pubertal childhood context is genetically programmed. Menarche as a measure of puberty Two factors: Socioeconomic Stress Birth Order and Number of Siblings Conflicting results: East and West Germany – no younger siblings = earlier menarche (Orangutang example of epigenetics-sensitive response to environmental circumstances American Female athletes – no younger siblings = later menarche Why might this be? Lurking Variable = athletics

Variables Associated with Early Menarche Low birth weight Not breast-fed Were only children Childhood obesity and/or lacked exercise in childhood. Were exposed to smoking Absence of father from the home from early childhood (lack of contact in home with adult men?) –Analogy with marriage and incest avoidance High-conflict family relationships

Transition Rites Three aspects to transition rites: –Separation, liminality, reentry Cultural rituals are environmental signals that guide timing and content of role changes –Child to adult –Single to wife or husband –Wife or Husband to Widow or Widower

Adulthood Gender role rules Marriage patterns Polygamy –Polygyny –Monogamy –Polyandrt Reproductive patterns –Mate choice Arranged marriages Personal choice marriages –Family size

Parenting Patterns Parenting patterns –Differential parental investment in children –Sibling rivalry –Parent-offspring conflict Tension between parents and children attempting to get more parental investment than siblings.

Kagitcibasi’s Three Family Styles Independent family »Afluent, educated, middle class »Nuclear family units »Smaller families »Independence, self-sufficiency, uniqueness training Interdependent family »Agrarian, »Children help w/ subsistence, care for aging parents »Intergenerational closeness, extended families »Obedience training Psychological interdepence family »Emotional interdependence between family members »Socialized for family loyalties »Childrearing for a combination of autonomy within the context of family loyalty »Compromise between the other styles Obedience training

Old Age Less ability of elderly to adapt to cultural change (cognition, memory) “grandmother hypothesis” –Help with raising children’s children (maternal grandmothers especially) –Paternal grandmothers in context of daughter- in-law as “servant” in husband’s parents’ househole Stable, oral tradition societies (Nestor Effect) lead to respect for the elderly as “cultural libraries”