Enculturation

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Chapter 5

• Enculturation

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• Socialization - The process by which we learn and
  internalize the rules and patterns of behavior
  that are affected by culture
• A long process
• Enculturation - The process by which individuals
  learn and adopt the ways and manners of culture
• Socialization and enculturation agents the
  people, institutions, and organizations that
  exist to help ensure socialization and
  enculturation.
• Who are the agents?
• Parents, families, friends, schools, churches,
  ect.

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Enculturation process Bronfenbrenners model

• Microsystem
• Immediate surroundings (family, school, peers)
• Mesosystem
• The linkage between microsystems
• Exosystem
• The context that indirectly affects children,
  such as parents workplace
• Macrosystem
• Religion, society, culture

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Child Rearing and Personality Traits

• A major assumption of many theories of
  personality is that childhood experiences play a
  critical role in the development of personality
  traits.
• Some researchers concluded that child-rearing
  patterns are influenced and maintained by the
  economic and political characteristics of a
  culture. In turn, child-rearing patterns
  influence personality variables.

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Parenting styles

• Authoritarian
• Low in warmth and high in firmness
• Permissive
• High in warmth and low in firmness
• Authoritative
• High in warmth and firmness
• Uninvolved
• Low in warmth and firmness
• Which style has the best outcome?

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Research on American children

• Authoritarian
• More anxious, lack of spontaneity and
  intellectual curiosity
• Permissive
• Immature, impulsive and difficulty acting
  independently
• Authoritative
• More positive mood, self-reliant, better social
  skills
• Uninvolved
• Noncompliant and demanding
• Would the results be the same in cross-cultural
  research? Why or why not?

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Economics and parenting

• Career choices are influenced by family
  background because parents and children often
  attain similar levels of education. Thus
• Middle income background is associated with
  high-paying professions.
• Low income background is associated with blue
  collar occupations.

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Economics and parenting

• Parenting style is also associated with
  socioeconomic status.
• Middle income families encourage their children
  to be curious and independent, traits well suited
  for professional roles.
• Low income families teach children to conform and
  obey, traits needed to survive in subordinate
  positions.

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Religion

• Neglected by academia
• Powerful and ever present social and
  psychological enculturation agent
• The importance and pervasiveness varies across
  cultures (95 of American adolescence believe in
  God, and 32 attend weekly religious services
• A religious ceremony for many cultures is a rite
  of passage (Infants in India undergo a hair
  shaving ceremony when they are born, and a prayer
  and holy water when they are named)

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