Culture and Emotional Development

• Cultural differences in parenting practices and values contribute to differences in emotional expression. (e.g. empathy)

Culture and Emotional Development

• Parents’ ideas about the usefulness of particular emotions vary within subcultures of the major culture– (e.g. Mothers living in a dangerous

neighborhoods more tolerant of aggression, especially in girls)

How Parents Socialize Their Children

• Parents socialize their children’s emotional development through:– Their expression of emotion with their children and other

people (e.g. Expression of positive related to social competence, low aggression, high self-esteem; Negative expressions related behavioral problems and social and

learning difficulties). Correlational!!!

– Their reactions to their children’s expression of emotion

– Their discussions with their children about emotion and the regulation of emotion

Depression by Gender and Age

Emotional Expression in Adolescence

• Is the gender difference genuine?

• Is it a difference in level of emotionality or expression?

• What factors might be underlying this gender difference?

Attachment

Themes:

• Nature and Nurture

• The Sociocultural Context

• Individual Differences

Historical Underpinnings• 1930s and 1940s children raised in orphanages, or

refugee camps during WWII or other institutions were, despite have their physical needs met…

• Seemed to have no concern for others

• Withdrawn, isolated

• Others overactive and abusive

• Physically and mentally retarded

• Sick, depressed, and more likely to die (37%) than at institutions with daily contact with mothers (0%)

Wire Mothers?

Wire Mother Results• the monkeys spent significantly more time with the cloth

mother (15 hours) than the wire mesh mother (2 hours), regardless of who provided the milk

• goes against behaviorism and psychoanalytic theories which treated ‘food’ as the only reinforcement important to children.

• emphasized the need to have emotional and psychological needs met in addition to physical needs

Harlow’s Wire Mother Experiment Video

Harlow’s Wire Mother Experiment Video

• Raised infant monkeys in isolation from birth• When placed with other monkeys at 6 months they had severe

disturbances• (biting and rocking themselves, avoiding other monkeys, unable

to communicate or learn from others, females had no interest in sex, if impregnated they did not know what to do with their babies (ignore, reject, or kill them)

• Weakness = total social isolation not just caregiver bond but…

• Strongly supports the view that normal development and social emotional competence is rooted in early social interactions

Historical Underpinnings...Harlow’s Monkeys

Historical Underpinnings cont’d...• Infants who had been allowed to develop a bond

with mothers and then were separated showed signs of intense grief and depression

• Adoption--the earlier the better• Led researchers to understand the importance of

having their psychological /emotional needs met--importance of attachment

What is Attachment?

• an emotional bond with a person that is enduring over time and in different contexts

• But are all attachments with caregivers the same? Are there different attachment patterns that lead to different outcomes in the child’s behavior?

individual differences in attachment

• Ainsworth, et al. hypothesized that differences in the quality of attachment relationships could be detected by the interaction between mother and infant, the infants reactions to separations and reunions with mother, and reactions to strangers

• The Strange Situation was designed to assess the degree of security between infant and caregiver

Strange Situation

Video!

Patterns of Attachment• Secure (about 65%)

– Infants actively seek proximity to caregivers upon reunion– Communicate their feelings of stress and distress openly and then

readily return to play

• Insecure-Avoidant (about 20%) (Group A)– Infants who do not seem distressed during separation and ignore

caregiver upon return. (more angry and negative than other 2 groups)

• Insecure-Ambivalent (about 15%) (Group C)– Infants who become extremely distressed when the caregiver departs

but are ambivalent or resistent on her return. They run to her but then arch away or push her.

• Disorganized/Disoriented (~5% of insecurely attached)

– Changeable, confused behavior, exhibit fear toward mom but still approach

Harlow’s Wire Mother : Secure Base Video

what determines attachment style?the care-giving hypotheses

“Secure” parenting• Sensitivity (responding promptly, consistently, and appropriately)• Positive attitutude, affectionate• Support/attentiveness• Stimulation

“Avoidant” parenting• Less of “secure” attributes• Aversion to bodily contact• Rejecting • More angry and yet less emotional expression overall

“Ambivalent” parenting• Less of “secure” attributes• anxious• More evidence of difficult temperament

Attachment and Temperament

Because of the correlational nature of the studies on parenting style and attachment can’t determine direction or if third variable

E.g. child’s temperament could lead to changes in parenting style

Or, the mom’s and infant’s behavior could correlate due to shared genes

Culture, Experience, and Attachment

• Northern Germany: Parents encourage children to be independent and discourage close ‘clingy’ behavior. More German babies show avoidant attachment than US babies.

• Intense separation anxiety (characteristic of ambivalent style) more common in Japan where caregivers rarely leave their children with substitute caregivers.

• Thus, child’s early experiences (amount of contact with strangers, day care etc) can explain some of the differences on the Strange Situation

Long Term Effects?• Securely Attached

– age 2-6. Better problem solvers (persistent and enthusiastic), more complex creative play, more positive emotions, cooperative and sympathetic, more attractive playmates.

– age 11-15. Better social skills, better peer relations more likely to have more close friends

• Insecure– age 2-3. Socially and emotionally withdrawn, hesitant to initiate play behaviors with peers, less curious, less

interested in learning.– age 11-15. Poor peer relations, fewer close friendships, more likely to have psychopathological symptoms. – Avoidant = more likely to display ‘deviant’ behaviors (disruption/disobedience)– Ambivalent = easily frustrated, less competent

Long Term Effects?

• Is this because of the importance of the very first interactions between caregiver and infant? Or because good parents tend to stay good parents and bad, bad…?

• Regardless of the “cause” intervention seems helpful