Modeling collaboration versus independence: Cultural variation in caregiver teaching beliefs and behavior

• In Event: 2-126 - Informal Teaching and Socialization across Cultures – Key Processes and Developmental Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Teaching is a universal childrearing practice that supports the high-fidelity transmission of knowledge and skills within and between generations. There is a lack of consensus, however, about variation in teaching between populations and how this variation in teaching reflects cultural norms related to expectations for collaboration versus independence when interacting with others. We used interviews and a structured comparison task to examine variation in teaching behaviors during caregiver-children interaction in the U.S., where independence is valued, and Vanuatu, a population that emphasizes collaboration.
When U.S. and Ni-Vanuatu caregivers (N = 29) were asked how children learn, U.S. caregivers were more likely to indicate that children learn as a result of direct instruction (81% U.S. responses, 11% Ni-Vanuatu, odds ratio = 0.11, p < .001), whereas Ni-Vanuatu caregivers indicated that children learn through observing and working alongside others (11% U.S. responses, 84% Ni-Vanuatu responses, odds ratio = 9.70, p < .001). Thus, the Ni-Vanuatu approach to children’s learning emphasizes cooperation, or working with others, whereas the U.S. approach focuses on the individual learner’s needs.
We found convergent evidence for these beliefs when examining caregivers’ interactions with children. Caregivers and 3- to 8-year-old children (N = 80 U.S. pairs, 45 Ni-Vanuatu pairs) were invited to construct shapes using plastic tangram pieces and we assessed whether caregivers encouraged children to complete the majority of the task themselves (emphasizing independence) or worked with children to share responsibility during the task (emphasizing cooperation). To do this, we recorded the number of actions completed by caregivers versus children and the complexity of the actions (low/high complexity) to determine whether task difficulty influenced caregivers’ and children’s interactions (see Figure 1). We used multilevel models to examine the impact of agent (caregiver, child), population (U.S., Vanuatu), and child age on each participant’s number of low versus high complexity actions. There was a significant main effect of agent F(1,247) = 272.87, p < .001, and a significant interaction between agent and population, F(1,247) = 6.87, p = .009, on the number of low complexity actions completed. Posthoc analyses indicated that Ni-Vanuatu caregivers and children distributed the low complexity actions more evenly than U.S. caregivers and children. There was a significant three-way interaction between agent, population, and child age, F(3,236) = 2.85, p = .038, on the number of high complexity actions completed. Posthoc analyses indicated that the difference in responsibility for completing the high complexity actions between younger and older children was much more drastic for HSUS caregivers and children than Tannese caregivers and children. Thus, U.S. children were encouraged to complete the task on their own whereas Ni-Vanuatu children and their caregivers tended to work collaboratively. We discuss theoretical and empirical implications of our data for cross-cultural comparison of the socialization of collaboration versus independence.

Authors

• Jennifer M. Clegg, Texas State University
  Presenting Author

• Nicole J. Wen, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Paige E. Hartman, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Alcott, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elena Keltner, The University of Texas at Dallas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristine H Legare, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author