Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T00:31:01.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Cultural Influences on Peer Relations: An Ecological Perspective

from Part I - Culture and Peer Relationships: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2009

By
Anne Marie Tietjen
Edited by
Xinyin Chen ,
Doran C. French  and
Barry H. Schneider
Anne Marie Tietjen
Affiliation:
Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington, USA
Xinyin Chen
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
Doran C. French
Affiliation:
Illinois Wesleyan University
Barry H. Schneider
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Get access

Summary

Bronfenbrenner's ecological perspective (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) has had a deep and far-reaching effect on the study of human development during the past three decades. It has led researchers to investigate many influences on development beyond those that are immediate to the individual in space and time. The results of these investigations have greatly expanded and enriched our knowledge of the ways in which developing individuals are influenced by cultural beliefs, social policies and institutions, and experiences in interpersonal processes.

In the study of children's peer relations in cultural context, one of the enduring challenges has been to find ways to demonstrate the processes by which particular characteristics of cultures are linked to particular dimensions or patterns of peer relationships (Schneider, 2000). The ecological perspective offers a response to this challenge. The goal of this chapter is to show that cultural beliefs and values are manifest in children's peer relations through events and circumstances at intermediate levels of the environment. This ecological conceptualization allows researchers to identify and investigate mediating factors in the links between culture and peer relations.

Following a brief summary of Bronfenbrenner's ecological perspective, three cultures with contrasting positions on the continuum of collectivism–individualism will be introduced. These contrasting positions and their manifestations in the United States, Sweden, and the Maisin of Papua New Guinea will be traced through the layers of the ecological environment to the peer relations of children by means of a review of research findings.

Type
Chapter
Information
Peer Relationships in Cultural Context , pp. 52 - 74
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almqvist, K., & Broberg, A. G. (1999). Mental health and social adjustment in young refugee children 3 1/2 years after their arrival in Sweden. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(6), 723–730.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andersson, B. (1989). Effects of public day care – A longitudinal study. Child Development, 60, 857–867.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barker, J. (1991). Maisin. In Hays, T. E. (Eds.), Oceania. Encyclopedia of world cultures (Vol. II). New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files.Google Scholar
Barker, J. (2004). Between heaven and earth: Missionaries, environmentalists, and the Maisin. In Lockwood, V. (Eds.), Globalization and culture change in the Pacific Islands. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1975). The contribution of the family to the development of competence in children. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 14, 12–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belle, D. (1982a). The impact of poverty on social networks and supports. Marriage and Family Review, 5(4), 89–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belle, D. (1982b). Social ties and social support. In Belle, D. (Ed.), Lives in stress: Women and depression. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Billings, A. G., & Moos, R. H. (1983). Comparisons of children of depressed and nondepressed parents: A social-environmental perspective. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 463–485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1969)Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Broberg, A. G., Hwang, C. P., & Chace, S. V. (April, 1993). Effects of day care on elementary school performance and adjustment. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Brodsky, A. E. (1999). Making it: The components and process of resilience among urban, African-American, single mothers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69, 148–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brody, G., & Flor, D. (1998). Maternal resources, parenting practices, and child competence in rural, single-parent African American families. Child Development, 69(3), 803–816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brody, G., Flor, D., & Gibson, N. M. (1999). Linking maternal efficacy beliefs, developmental goals, parenting practices, and child competence in rural single-parent African American families. Child Development, 70(5), 1197–1208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brody, G., Ge, X., Conger, R., Gibbons, F., Murry, V., Gerrard, M.. (2001). The influence of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting on African American children's affiliation with deviant peers. Child Development, 72(4), 1231–1246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In Damon, W. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 993–1028). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bryant, B. (1985). The neighborhood walk: Sources of support in middle childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, 210 (3).Google ScholarPubMed
Ceballo, R., & McLoyd, V. (2002). Social support and parenting in poor, dangerous neighborhoods. Child Development, 73(4), 1310–1321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X. (2003). The peer group as a context: Mediating and moderating effects on relations between academic achievement and social functioning in Chinese children. Child Development, 74(3), 710–727.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cochran, M. (1990). Environmental factors constraining network development. In Cochran, M., Larner, M., Riley, D., Gunnarson, L., & Henderson, C. R. Jr., Extending families: The social networks of parents and their children. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 277–296.Google Scholar
Cochran, M., & Brassard, J. (1979). Child development and personal social networks. Child Development, 50, 601–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochran, M., Larner, M., Riley, D., Gunnarsson, L., & Henderson, C. R. Jr. (1990). Extending families: The social networks of parents and their children. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Conger, R., & Elder, G. H. J. (1994). Families in troubled times: Adapting to change in rural America. Chicago: Aldine-de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Crnic, K., Greenberg, M., Robinson, N. M., & Ragozin, A. S. (1984). Maternal stress and social support: Effects on the mother-infant relationship from birth to 18 months. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54, 224–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniels, D., & Moos, R. H. (1988). Exosystem influences on family and child functioning. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3(4), 113–133.Google Scholar
Doyle, A. B., Markiewicz, D., & Hardy, C. (1994). Mothers' and children's friendships: Intergenerational associations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, pp. 363–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, G., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. (1994). Economic deprivation and early childhood development. Child Development, 65, 296–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elder, G. H. Jr. (1974). Children of the great depression. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Elder, G. H. Jr., King, V., & Conger, R. (1996). Intergenerational continuity and changes in rural lives: Historical and develomental insights. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 10, 439–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englund, M., Levy, A., Hyson, D., & Sroufe, L. A. (2000). Adolescent social competence: Effectiveness in a group setting. Child Development, 71, 1049–1060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. (1991). Quality infant day-care and grade school behavior and performance. Child Development, 62, 863–870.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furstenberg, F. F. Jr., Cook, T. D., Eccles, J., Elder, G. H. Jr., & Sameroff, A. (1999). Managing to make it: Urban families and adolescent success. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gottman, J. M., & Katz, L. F. (1989). Effects of marital discord on young children's peer interaction and health. Developmental Psychology, 25, 373–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, L. R., & Spindler, A. (2003). Community violence exposure, social cognition, and aggression among urban elementary school children. Child Development, 74(5), 1561–1576.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, E. M., Cox, M., & Cox, R. (1979). Play and social interaction in children following divorce. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 26–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hewlett, S. A., & West, C. (1998). The war against parents. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Google Scholar
Hoffman, L. W., & Youngblade, L. (1999). Mothers at work. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
Holahan, C. J., & Moos, R. H. (1987). Risk, resistance, and psychological distress: A longitudinal analysis with adults and children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 3–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Homel, R., Burns, A., & Goodnow, J. (1987). Parental social networks and child development. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 4, 159–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupersmidt, J., Griesler, P., DeRosier, M., Patterson, C., & Davis, P. (1995). Childhood aggression and peer relations in the context of family and neighborhood. Child Development, 66, 360–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, M. S. K., Hwang, C.-P., & Broberg, A. (Eds.). (1992). Child care in context. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Larner, M. (1990). Local residential mobility and its effects on social networks: A cross-cultural comparison. In Cochran, M., Larner, M., Riley, D., Gunnarsson, L., & Henderson, C. R. Jr. (Eds.), Extending families: The social networks of parents and their children. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 205–229.Google Scholar
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LeVine, R. D., Dixon, LeVine, S., Richman, S., Leiderman, A., Keefer, P. H., , C. H. & Brazelton, B. (1994). Child care and culture. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLoyd, V. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 53(2), 185–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Medrich, E. A., Roizen, J. A., Rubin, V., & Buckley, S. (1982). The serious business of growing up: A study of children's lives outside school. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Mistry, R., Vandewater, E., Huston, A., & McLoyd, V. (2002). Economic well-being and children's social adjustment: The role of family process in an ethnically diverse low-income sample. Child Development, 73(3), 935–951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morelli, G., Rogoff, B., & Angellilo, C. (2003). Cultural variation in young children's access to work or involvement in specialised child-focused activities. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 264–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NICHD Network for Early Child Care Research. (2001). Child care and children's peer interaction at 24 and 36 Months: The NICHD study of early child care. Child Development, 72(5), 1478–1500.CrossRef
Park, K., & Waters, E. (1989). Security of attachment and preschool friendships. Child Development, 60, 1076–1081.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peisner-Feinberg, E. S., Burchinal, M. R., Clifford, R. M., Culkin, M. L., Howes, C., Kagan, S. L.. (2001). The relation of preschool child-care quality to children's cognitive and social developmental trajectories through second grade. Child Development, 72(5), 1534–1553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pulkkinen, L. (1983). Finland: The search for alternatives to aggression. In Goldstein, A. P. & Segall, M. (Eds.), Aggression in global perspective. (pp. 104–144). New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Pulkkinen, L., & Saastamoinen, M. (1986). Cross-cultural perspectives on youth violence. In Apter, S. J. & Goldstein, A. P. (Eds.), Youth violence: Programs and prospects. (pp. 262–281). New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Putallaz, M. (1987). Maternal behavior and children's sociometric status. Child Development, 58, 324–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putallaz, M., & Heflin, A. H. (1990). Parent-child interaction. In Asher, S. R. & Coie, J. (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ramey, C., & Ramey, S. (1992). Early educational intervention with disadvantaged children – To what effect?Applied and Preventive Psychology, 1, 131–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford, England:Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, B. (2000). Friends and enemies. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Silbereisen, R., Juang, L., & Reitzle, M. (2000). The transition to adulthood in the context of a changed Germany. International Journal of Behavioral Development Newsletter, 37(2), 1–4.Google Scholar
Silverstein, L. B. (1991). Transforming the data about child care and maternal employment. American Psychologist, 46, 1025–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpkins, S., & Parke, R. D. (2001). The relations between parental friendships and children's friendships: Self-report and observational analysis. Child Development, 72(2), 569–582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sroufe, L. A. (1983). Infant-caregiver attachment and patterns of adaptation in preschool: The roots of maladaptation and competence. In Perlmutter, M. (Ed.), Minnesota symposium in child psychology (Vol. 16). Hillsdale, NJ: LawrenceErlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. (1999). One social world: The integrated development of parent-child and peer relationships. In Collins, A. & Laursen, B. (Eds.), Relationships as developmental contexts (pp. 241–261). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Taylor, R. D., & Roberts, D. (1995). Kinship support and maternal and adolescent well-being in economically disadvantaged African American families. Child Development, 66, 1585–1597.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tietjen, A. (1982). The social networks of preadolescent children in Sweden. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 5, 111–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tietjen, A. (1985a). Infant care and feeding practices and the beginnings of socialization among the Maisin of Papua New Guinea. In Marshall, L. (Ed.), Infant care and feeding in the South Pacific. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Tietjen, A. (1985b). Relationships between the social networks of mothers and their children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 8, 195–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tietjen, A. (1985c, May). The social networks and social support of married and single mothers in Sweden. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 489–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tietjen, A. (1986). Prosocial reasoning among children and adults in a Papua New Guinea society. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 861–868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tietjen, A. (1989). The ecology of children's social support networks. In Belle, D. (Ed.), Children's social networks and social supports. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Tietjen, A. (June, 1994). Receiving and giving social support: The development of cultural competence in a Papua New Guinea Society. Paper presented at the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Amsterdam, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Tietjen, A., & Walker, L. (1985). Moral reasoning and leadership among men in a Papua New Guinea village. Developmental Psychology, 21, 982–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H. C. (1990). Cross-cultural studies of individualism and collectivism. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Verschueren, K., & Marcoen, A. (1999). Representation of self and socioemotional competence in kindergartners: Differential and combined effects of attachment to mother and to father. Child Development, 70(1), 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinraub, M., & Wolf, B. M. (1983). Effects of stress and social support on mother-child interations in single- and two-parent families. Child Development, 54, 647–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisner, T. (1984). Ecocultural niches of middle childhood: A cross-cultural perspective. In Collins, W. A. (Ed.), Development during middle childhood. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Whiting, B. B., & Edwards, C. P. (1988). Children of different worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Zelkowitz, P., & Jacobs, E. (April, 1985). The composition of the social networks of preschool-age children. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Toronto.Google Scholar
Zhou, Q., Eisenberg, N., Losoya, S. H., Fabes, R., Reiser, M., Guthrie, I. K.. (2002). The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children's empathy-related responding and social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 73(3), 893–915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×