Enculturation & the Development of Self (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Enculturation & the development of self

• Enculturation is a form of socialisation: it is the process by which individuals learn and internalise the norms, traditions, rituals, attitudes and practices of the culture into which they are born and raised

• Enculturation happens almost at an unconscious level

  • People are not fully aware that they are being enculturated; it is simply part and parcel of growing up within a specific culture

• Enculturated behaviours and attitudes often become deeply embedded in identity and are resistant to change

Transmission of enculturation

• Enculturation is transmitted vertically

  • E.g., from parents (the most significant figures in enculturation)

• Enculturation is also transmitted horizontally

  • E.g., from siblings and peers

• Enculturation may also occur via oblique transmission

  • E.g., from other adults, celebrities, media and institutions

Functions of enculturation

• Enculturation is adaptive as it helps people to survive and thrive within their culture, preserving cultural practices from one generation to the next

• Enculturation affects and influences all aspects of a person’s life

  • The attitudes, beliefs and behaviours involved in parenting

  • Parents generally try to raise their children using the best practices and traditions that they themselves have experienced and these are largely dependent on the culture in which they have been raised

• One aspect of parenting that is affected by enculturation is the attitude of parents towards gender roles

  • The ways in which girls and boys 'should' behave

  • What is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ depending on whether the child is a boy or a girl

Cultural differences

• Research tends to suggest that parents from collectivist cultures are more rigid and inflexible in their attitudes towards gendered behaviour, compared to more the progressive and liberal attitudes of individualistic cultures

Research which supports enculturation & the development of self

Basu et al. (2017)

Aim:

• To investigate enculturation in adolescents and their parents regarding gender-appropriate behaviour

Participants:

• Adolescents aged 11–13 years and their parents

• One sample was from a highly socially and economically disadvantaged area of Delhi, India

  • 16 boys, 15 girls; parents aged 25–44, 40% with no formal education

• The other sample was from a low-income, disadvantaged area of Shanghai, China

  • 17 boys, 17 girls; parents aged 35–54, 75% with some formal education

Procedure:

• Narrative interviews were conducted with the adolescents and their parents separately

• The topic being discussed was ‘gender socialisation’ with discussions exploring ideas as to how each gender should dress, behave, prepare for adulthood, and so on

Results:

• The researchers used thematic analysis which generated a range of themes, some of which were:

  • Delhi:

    • Girls were expected to be modest (e.g., wear long skirts, no jeans), “ladylike”, or risk punishment

    • Boys were encouraged to be brave and tough, with fewer restrictions

    • Girls prepared for roles as wives and mothers

    Shanghai:

    • Girls were expected to display “proper” demeanour (upright posture, gentleness, and quietness) to avoid dishonouring the family

    • Boys were given more freedom but expected to be polite and considerate

    • Parents emphasised career success for both boys and girls

    Both cultures:

    • Strict prohibitions on male–female interaction, with punishments (e.g., shaming, beatings) for rule violations

    • Mothers were the most influential in gender socialisation, with teachers and older siblings also playing roles

Conclusion:

• Some cultures enculturate traditional gendered behaviour, which may have a negative impact on children, e.g., the use of corporal punishment for perceived rule violations

• Some cultures adhere to deeply entrenched gendered behaviours and rules which appear to be unequal, e.g., boys being given more freedom than girls

Evaluation of enculturation & the development of self

Strengths

• The use of narrative interviews means that Basu's research collected qualitative data which is rich, in-depth and insightful

  • This means that it has good explanatory power, which is essential for the study of a complex topic such as enculturation

Limitations

• Narrative interviews can sometimes be derailed and veer off-topic if the participant wishes to talk at length on some unrelated matter

• The sample is not representative; e.g., more affluent areas of the two cities may well have reported less traditional attitudes towards gender socialisation

Link to concepts

Change

• Interviewing both the adolescents and their parents enabled the researchers to compare the extent of enculturation across generations

  • By doing so the researchers could determine the extent to which gendered behaviour may change over time and with increased exposure to globalisation

  • Younger generations are more aware of behaviours from other parts of the world – predominantly via US/Western media – which is likely to inform and guide their expectations of what it means to be male/female

• Cognitive dissonance may occur when the children of first-generation immigrants feel that they are both part of and removed from their parents' culture

  • They may acknowledge that their original culture is important while at the same time feeling some disconnection from it

Bias

• Basu's research avoids culture bias to some extent, as it focuses on two collectivist cultures, not assuming that there is a universal norm (modelled on Western, individualistic ideas)

  • However, as the two samples came from very different countries (India and China), there is bound to be some detail and refinement that gets 'lost in translation'

  • Unless research is truly emic it cannot encapsulate the validity of what it means to be enculturated in the culture which is the focus of the study