Psychological autonomy and hierarchical relatedness as organizers of developmental pathways

Principles for Adapting Assessments of Executive Function across Cultural Contexts

Direct assessments of executive functions (EFs) are increasingly used in research and clinical settings, with a central assumption that they assess "universal" underlying skills. Their use is spreading globally, raising questions about the cultural appropriateness of assessments devised in Western industrialized countries. We selectively reviewed multidisciplinary evidence and theory to identify sets of cultural preferences that may be at odds with the implicit assumptions of EF assessments. These preferences relate to motivation and compliance; cultural expectations for interpersonal engagement; contextualized vs. academic thinking; cultural notions of speed and time; the willingness to be silly, be incorrect, or do the opposite; and subject-matter familiarity. In each case, we discuss how the cultural preference may be incompatible with the assumptions of assessments, and how future research and practice can address the issue. Many of the cultural preferences discussed differ between interdependent and independent cultures and between schooled and unschooled populations. Adapting testing protocols to these cultural preferences in different contexts will be important for expanding our scientific understanding of EF from the narrow slice of the human population that has participated in the research to date.

Simulating peers: Can puppets simulate peer interactions in studies on children's socio-cognitive development?

Interactions with peers are fundamental to socio-cognitive development, but assessing peer interactions in standardized experiments is challenging. Therefore, researchers commonly utilize puppetry to simulate peers. This Registered Report investigated urban German children's (AgeRange  = 3.5-4.5 years; N = 144; 76♀) mind ascriptions and social cognition to test whether they treat puppets like peers, adults, or neither. Children attributed less mind properties to puppets than peers or adults. However, children's social cognition (i.e., normativity, prosociality, and theory of mind) varied little across partners. Puppetry relies on children's ability for pretense, but can provide valid insights into socio-cognitive development. Implications for using puppets as stand-ins for peers in developmental research are discussed.

Learning From Within

Abstract: Most developmental science occurs within a so-called WEIRD narrative: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic. Although developmental psychology has long relied on cross-cultural research to enrich and inform theories of human development, the narrow focus on children from WEIRD countries creates a biased understanding of how children develop. It is critical to diversify developmental science and ensure it reflects and responds to local contexts and cultures. In this article, we discuss how community-based participatory research (CBPR) can be integrated into theoretical frameworks of human development and used to increase the representation of traditionally marginalized populations in developmental science. We argue that a CBPR-informed approach can ensure that child development priorities are culturally sensitive, which can support the development of programs aimed at enhancing children’s development which are embedded in local cultural norms and become part of the social fabric of the community under study.

Conceptualizations of Effective Parenting: Perspectives of Religious Counselors in Ghana

Limited research on effective parenting and optimal child outcomes within an African, specifically Ghanaian context exists. This study examined conceptions of effective parenting from the perspective of religious counselors who are often sought by parents for parenting advice. Two research questions were addressed: (1) how do religious counselors conceptualize effective parenting; and (2) to what extent do their conceptualizations reflect current literature and research on effective parenting? 92 religious counselors, 19 Muslims and 73 Christians, were recruited from four urban areas in Ghana. Participants were asked about effective parenting during individual interviews. The findings revealed three major themes and several sub-themes. The three themes were socialization and structure, positive parent-child interaction, and autonomy support. Themes about what constitute effective parenting were both consistent and inconsistent with traditional views of parenting within a Ghanaian cultural context. Findings revealed some contemporary changes of parenting in Ghana with implications for effective parenting.

The burnout construct with reference to healthcare providers: A narrative review

Burnout syndrome is a psychological response to long-term exposure to occupational stressors. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cognitive weariness and physical fatigue, and it may occur in association with any occupation, but is most frequently observed among professionals who work directly with people, particularly in institutional settings. Healthcare professionals who work directly with patients and are frequently exposed to work overload and excessive clinical demands, to ethical dilemmas, to pressing occupational schedules and to managerial challenges; who have to make complex judgements and difficult decisions; and who have relatively little autonomy over their job-related tasks are at risk of developing clinical burnout. In turn, clinical burnout among clinicians has a negative impact on the quality and safety of treatment, and on the overall professional performance of healthcare systems. Healthcare workers with burnout are more likely to make mistakes and to be subjected to medical malpractice claims, than do those who are burnout-naïve. Experiencing the emotional values of autonomy, competence and relatedness are essential work-related psychological needs, which have to be satisfied to promote feelings of self-realization and meaningfulness in relation to work activities, thus reducing burnout risk. Importantly, an autonomy-supportive rather than a controlling style of management decreases burnout risk and promotes self-actualization, self-esteem and a general feeling of well-being in both those in charge and in their subordinates. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the elements constituting the burnout construct with the view of gaining a better understanding of the complex multifactorial nature of burnout. This may facilitate the development and implementation of both personal, behavioural and organizational interventions to deal with the burnout syndrome and its ramifications.

Building an assessment of community-defined social-emotional competencies from the ground up in Tanzania

Two studies were conducted in 2017 to investigate children's competencies seen as important by communities in Mtwara, Tanzania. Qualitative data from 95 parents (34 women) and 27 teachers (11 women) in Study 1 indicated that dimensions of social responsibility, such as obedience, were valued highly. In Study 2, the competencies of 477 children (245 girls), aged 4–13 years, were rated by teachers and parents. Factor analysis found the obedient factor explained the most variance in parent rating. In line with predictions, urban residence, parental socioeconomic status (SES), and parental education were all positively associated with ratings of curiosity, and parental SES was negatively associated with obedience and emotional regulation. Findings illustrate the need for culturally specific frameworks of social‐emotional learning.

Gender Differences in State Anxiety Related to Daily Function Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Questionnaire Study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge to people's day-to-day functioning and emotional and physical health, especially among older adults.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to analyze gender differences in state anxiety, daily functional self-actualization, and functional cognition as well as the relationships among those factors in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

METHODS

We collected data on the web from a sample of 204 people (102 men and 102 women) aged 60 years and older. In addition to a demographic questionnaire, we used the State-Trait Personality Inventory to assess state anxiety, the Daily Functional Actualization questionnaire to evaluate daily functional self-actualization, and the Daily Living Questionnaire to measure functional cognition.

RESULTS

Significant gender differences were found for state anxiety (t₂₀₂=-2.36, P=.02); daily functional self-actualization (t₂₀₂=2.15, P=.03); and the functional cognition components: complex tasks (Z=-3.07, P=.002); cognitive symptoms that might be interfering (Z=-2.15, P=.028); executive functions (Z=-2.21, P=.024); and executive function monitoring (Z=-2.21, P=.027). Significant medium correlations were found between both state anxiety level and daily functional self-actualization (r=-0.62, P<.001) and functional cognition (r=0.37-0.40, P<.001). Gender predicted 3% of the variance in state anxiety level, while daily functional self-actualization predicted 41% and complex activities (Daily Living Questionnaire) predicted an additional 3% (F_3,200=58.01, P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

In older adults, anxiety is associated with cognitive decline, which may harm daily functional abilities and lead to social isolation, loneliness, and decreased well-being. Self-awareness and knowledge of gender differences and relationships between common available resources of daily functional self-actualization and functional cognition with anxiety may be strengthening factors in crisis periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parental conceptions about child emotional development

Abstract Mothers’ and fathers’ conceptualizations of joy, sadness, anger, fear, pride and shame were assessed. Their beliefs regarding the importance of children’s manifestation of those emotions and the connection with the profiles of autonomy, relatedness and related-autonomy were also assessed. Sixty mother- father dyads with children up to three years old participated in the study. Questionnaires of parents’ conceptualizations of emotions were used. Most participants considered joy an important emotion to be manifested by children of their kids’ age (with an individual character motivation). However, anger, pride and shame were associated with older children. Mothers’ and fathers’ conceptualizations and beliefs were not divergent. The autonomous-related self model correlated positively with the importance mothers and parents attributed to all studied emotions.

The Mediating Roles of Psychological Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness on Work-Life Balance and Well-Being

The main objective of this current research is to investigate the impact of "work balance" on "psychological well-being" using employees within the hospitality industry in United Arab Emirates as statistical units. To meet the objective of this research, we developed a structural equation model to examine how psychological autonomy, psychological competence, and psychological relatedness affect psychological well-being and work-life balance, as well as the effect of work-life balance on psychological well-being. We also examine the mediating effect of work-life balance in these relationships. The results of this study show that psychological autonomy affect positively both psychological well-being and work-life balance, whereas psychological competence only affect psychological well-being positive. Moreover, psychological relatedness affects negatively both psychological well-being and work-life balance while work-life balance affects positively psychological well-being.

A Review of the Academic and Psychological Impact of the Transition to Secondary Education

The transition from primary to secondary education is one of the most stressful events in a young person's life (Zeedyk et al., 2003) and can have a negative impact on psychological well-being and academic achievement. One explanation for these negative impacts is that the transition coincides with early adolescence, a period during which certain psychological disorders (i.e., anxiety disorders) become more salient (Kessler et al., 2005) and marked social, biological, and psychological development occurs (Anderson et al., 2000). This review evaluates the existing literature on the psychological and academic impacts of the transition to secondary education on young adolescents. We examine the factors that plausibly increase or mitigate the risk of developing mental health issues and/or a decline in academic performance during the transition to secondary education. We also review the interplay between psychological health and academic achievement across and beyond the transition. We conclude with a summary of what schools and parents can learn from these findings to support children in a successful transition into secondary education.

Culture and Development: A Systematic Relationship

This article argues that the relationships between culture and development are differential and systematic. Therefore the presentation of the Western middle-class developmental pathway in textbooks as universal is grossly neglecting the reality and the psychologies of the majority of the world' s population. First, the conception of culture as the representation of environmental conditions is presented. The level of formal education acts as organizer of social milieus that define different learning environments for children. Mainly two developmental pathways are portrayed: the Western middle-class trajectory and the traditional farmer childhood. Different developmental principles are highlighted, demonstrating systematic cultural differences in the development of a conception of the self: developmental dynamics as exemplified in early mother infant interactions, the timing of developmental milestones emphasizing cultural precocities in motor development and self-recognition, developmental gestalts in different attachment relationships and precursors and consequences demonstrating that different, sometimes contradictory behavioral patterns have the same developmental consequences with the examples of empathy development and autobiographical memory. It is argued that evaluating the development in one pathway with the principles and standards of the other is unscientific and unethical. The recognition of different developmental pathways is a necessity for basic science and a moral obligation for the applied fields.

Cross-Cultural Psychology as a Solution to Global Inequality: Optimism, Overconfidence, or Naiveté?: A commentary on “The Positive Role of Culture: What Cross-Cultural Psychology Has to Offer to Developmental Aid Effectiveness Research” by Symen A. Brouwers

This article presents an accurate assessment of international aid and its failure to reach declared objectives. The reason for this widespread miscarriage is attributed to the inability to understand cultural differences. People’s opposition, resistance, or apathy toward interventions are credited to social-psychological predispositions. To save the “saviors,” Brouwers suggests that welfare initiatives should collaborate with cultural sciences, more specifically cross-cultural psychology. I agree with the author about interventions being rather blind to cultural differences resulting in frequent failure to achieve ecological validity. The potential contributions of cultural and social scientists in this field are also undeniable. However, I have some reservations about the confidence placed in cross-cultural psychology for several reasons. Cross-cultural psychology works with individual-psychological and social-collective phenomena, addressing only a fragment of the story of inequality among and between the people of the world. There is little or no attention to history, geography, economics, or politics, all of which have profound impact on poverty and disadvantage. It is as if the world’s problems of poverty can be fixed by reframing how people (both agents and beneficiaries) think about “culture-behavior relationships.” This optimism appears to emerge from overconfidence or naiveté, or both.

The Influence of Socialization on Early Helping From a Cross-Cultural Perspective

This cross-cultural study examines, first, whether 18-month-olds’ helping behavior differs between cultures and, second, the way in which caregivers’ socialization goals and practices are associated with toddlers’ helping behavior. Helping behavior was assessed in three out-of-reach tasks with increasing motivational demands. We found that Delhi toddlers ( n = 32) helped more than Münster toddlers ( n = 60). Regarding socialization practices (SPs), Delhi mothers, compared with Münster mothers, reported to provide more opportunities to help in the family context and to praise less when fostering toddlers’ prosocial behavior. Furthermore, Delhi mothers reported to use more punitive practices after their children did not follow a helping request. On an intra-cultural level, we found that helping was positively associated with punitive practices in the Delhi sample, whereas helping was negatively related with punitive practices and providing opportunities to help in Münster. On the basis of these results, we first propose that culture affects toddlers’ helping behavior from the time of emergence during the second year. Second, we propose that the culture-specific conceptions of prosocial behavior influence which SPs parents use, which, in turn, may influence children’s motivation underlying early prosocial behavior.

Understanding self and others: from origins to disorders

In order to interpret and engage with the social world, individuals must understand how they relate to others. Self-other understanding forms the backbone of social cognition and is a central concept explored by research into basic processes such as action perception and empathy, as well as research on more sophisticated social behaviours such as cooperation and intergroup interaction. This theme issue integrates the latest research into self-other understanding from evolutionary biology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry. By gathering perspectives from a diverse range of disciplines, the contributions showcase ways in which research in these areas both informs and is informed by approaches spanning the biological and social sciences, thus deepening our understanding of how we relate to others in a social world.

Why developmental psychology is incomplete without comparative and cross-cultural perspectives

As a discipline, developmental psychology has a long history of relying on animal models and data collected among distinct cultural groups to enrich and inform theories of the ways social and cognitive processes unfold through the lifespan. However, approaches that draw together developmental, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives remain rare. The need for such an approach is reflected in the papers by Heyes (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150069. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0069)), Schmelz & Call (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150067. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0067)) and Keller (2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150070. (doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0070)) in this theme issue. Here, we incorporate these papers into a review of recent research endeavours covering a range of core aspects of social cognition, including social learning, cooperation and collaboration, prosociality, and theory of mind. In so doing, we aim to highlight how input from comparative and cross-cultural empiricism has altered our perspectives of human development and, in particular, led to a deeper understanding of the evolution of the human cultural mind.