Beyond Behavior: Linguistic Evidence of Cultural Variation in Parental Ethnotheories of Children’s Prosocial Helping

Coppens, Andrew D.; Corwin, Anna I.; Alcalá, Lucía

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00307

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…As suggested by an anonymous reviewer, societal expectations encourage children's help or lack of it. A child who refuses to make their own bed unless they get paid for it may well be acting in accord with their community's expectations and assumptions that children's help originates with parental inducements (Coppens et al., 2020), and widespread cultural practices such as giving children an allowance in return for doing chores (Coppens & Alcalá, 2015). Middle‐class children's socialization into a broader cultural paradigm of contingency and control of children's contributions (Coppens et al., 2016; Rogoff, 2003, 2014) may undermine children's autonomy, limit their possible contributions, and demotivate their prosocial helping (see also Hay & Cook, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping

Coppens

Rogoff

2021

Social Development

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Separate lines of research on prosocial development suggest that although toddlers worldwide are eagerly helpful, older children help voluntarily in some communities but in other communities, children become resistant to helping with household work. This study investigated these discrepancies by interviewing 64 Mexican‐heritage and middle‐class European American mothers of 2–3‐year‐olds and 6–7‐year‐olds, all living in the US (20 and 12 at these ages in each community). Mothers’ reports are consistent with diverging developmental patterns, and illuminate how the children become involved in helping with work at home: Most 2–3‐year‐olds helped voluntarily, with their own initiative (although Mexican‐heritage children did so more). At age 6–7, Mexican‐heritage children usually helped with their own initiative whereas middle‐class European American children seldom did so; they generally helped under adult management and control, in contractual arrangements. Accounting for cultural variation is important for advancing theories of prosocial development; the paper suggests socialization practices that may explain the different patterns.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping

Coppens

Rogoff

2021

Social Development

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“…In interviews about children pitching in to help with work around the house, Mexican and Mexican-heritage mothers revealed an important community-based theory of learning that relies on individual agency and autonomy: that learning is born from the heart. They explained that it is important for mothers not to tell children what to do or obligate them to pitch in, because this would stifle the development of children’s own initiative, which is key to both learning and to being part of the collaborating group (Alcalá et al, 2014; Coppens et al, 2016, 2020). So the mothers do not simply let children be part of things; rather, they use a community-wide theory of learning that underlines the importance of non-intervention in children’s agency (Cervera-Montejano, 2022, this issue; Scollon & Scollon, 1981).…”

Section: In Lopi Learning With Shared Purpose Is Key To Why People Pa...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The key role of community inLearning by Observing and Pitching Into family and community endeavours (El papel clave de la comunidad enAprender por medio de Observar y Acomedirseen las actividades de la familia y la comunidad)

Rogoff

Mejía-Arauz

2022

Journal for the Study of Education and Development

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This article focuses on communities' contributions to a way of learning that seems to be common in many Indigenous communities of the Americas and among people with heritage in such communities: Learning by Observing and Pitching In to family and community endeavours (LOPI). We briefly contrast this with community contributions in Assembly-Line Instruction, a way of learning that is common in Western schooling, to highlight the distinct contributions of community in these two ways of learning. We theoretically situate the two ways of learning, considering communities and individuals as mutually constituting aspects of the process of life, not as separate entities. Then we discuss the contributions of community to the reasons that people participate, how they interact, and the underlying theory of learning and purpose of learning in LOPI. We briefly address the role of community in how people communicate with each other and evaluate learning. To conclude, we consider the prevalence of LOPI both within Indigenous-heritage communities of the Americas and elsewhere, and our hopes for the contribution of describing this way of learning. RESUMENEste artículo se enfoca en las contribuciones de la comunidad a un modo de aprender que parece ser común en muchas comunidades indígenas de las Américas y entre los pueblos descendientes de estas comunidades: Aprender por medio de Observar y Acomedirse en actividades de la familia y la comunidad (LOPI, por sus siglas en inglés). Comparamos brevemente estas contribuciones de la comunidad en Instrucción en Línea de Ensamblaje, un modo de aprendizaje común en las escuelas occidentales, para poner de relieve las contribuciones distintas de la comunidad en estos dos tipos de aprendizaje. Situamos teóricamente ambos modos de aprender, mientras consideramos a las comunidades y a las personas como aspectos mutuamente constituyentes del proceso de vida, no como entidades separadas. Después discutimos las contribuciones de la comunidad en torno a las razones por las que participan las personas, cómo interactúan, y la teoría ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…Physicians, for example, have obligations to help in emergencies that non-physicians do not share (McKoy, 2006). Some research indirectly supports this notion in the household: In some homes, parents expect children to contribute to cleaning up, whereas in others, children are to stay out of the way (Coppens et al, 2020;Rheingold, 1982).…”

Section: Situated Judgments About Helping: Three Key Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging adults’ judgments about helping at home: Situational and experiential sources of variability

Martinez

Dahl

2022

Social Development

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Judgments and decisions about household helping affect how families function, and they develop through everyday experiences. Much prior research has examined stable individual differences in prosocial orientations, but such orientations also vary within individuals. The present work examined situational and experiential sources of variability in emerging adults' judgments and reasoning about helping at home. The research assessed judgments and reasoning about household helping in events that were either hypothetical (Studies 1 and 2) or took place in participants' own homes (Study 2). Participants' judgments about helping incorporated moral, personal, and social-conventional considerations and differentiated helping in one's own home from helping in another home. Participants' past experiences with household helping predicted their judgments about helping. Findings supported the view that emerging adults' judgments about household helping are informed by both situational considerations and personal experiences.

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Beyond Behavior: Linguistic Evidence of Cultural Variation in Parental Ethnotheories of Children’s Prosocial Helping

Cited by 5 publications

References 86 publications

Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping

Cultural variation in the early development of initiative in children's prosocial helping

The key role of community inLearning by Observing and Pitching Into family and community endeavours (El papel clave de la comunidad enAprender por medio de Observar y Acomedirseen las actividades de la familia y la comunidad)

Emerging adults’ judgments about helping at home: Situational and experiential sources of variability

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