Teaching and Learning Guide for: Culture and Development of Self‐regulation

This guide accompanies the following article: Gisela Trommsdorff, ‘Culture and Development of Self‐Regulation’, Social and Personality Psychology Compass 3/5 (2009): 687–701, doi: 10.1111/j.1751‐9004.2009.00209.x Author’s introduction Across the lifespan, individuals act to achieve desired goals as agents of their own development. A central means for goal attainment is self‐regulation – modifying internal processes and behavior to reach one’s goals. Recently, self‐regulation has become a topic of intensive research in psychology, with focuses on education, intergroup processes, and consumer behavior. Individuals differ in their preference of goals and also in their ways of reaching these goals. To understand why individuals differ in the ability and motivation to self‐regulate, it is key to study the development of self‐regulation, taking into account the cultural context. Most research on the development of self‐regulation has been carried out with Anglo‐Americans, ignoring differences in standards for self‐regulation (behavior and emotion regulation) and related strategies for people from different cultural backgrounds. In line with culture‐psychological studies on socialization, it is assumed here that dominant cultural values and related cultural models of agency affect both the socialization conditions of the child and the developmental outcomes of self‐regulation. This approach allows for an explanation of cultural and individual differences in self‐regulation by linking cultural and individual agency. This article integrates recent research and suggests a cultural model of agency and self‐regulation. The proposed model goes beyond individual self‐regulation and takes into account interpersonal processes of interdependent self‐regulation. Author recommends (Descriptions of culture‐informed studies are italicized) Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective . Annual Review of Psychology , 52 , 1–26 . This seminal publication on agency integrates social cognitive and motivational approaches and takes into account the wider sociostructural influences. One feature of human agency is seen in intentionality and self‐regulation. Baumeister, R. F., & Alquist, J. L. (2009). Self‐regulation as a limited resource: Strength model of control and depletion. In J. P. Forgas, R. F. Baumeister & D. M. Tice (Eds.), Psychology of Self‐Regulation: Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Processes (pp. 21–33). New York: Psychology Press. This article clarifies the limits of conscious self‐regulation. Although benefits of self‐regulation (e.g., adjustment, better school grades, and interpersonal success) have been reported in various studies, individuals often fail at self‐regulation. Studies using the two‐task paradigm show that individuals perform worse on the second task of self‐control than on the first task. This indicates that self‐regulation is a limited resource. Blair, C. (2002). School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children’s functioning at school entry . American Psychologist , 57 , 111–127. This article provides a state‐of‐the art overview of relevant theorizing and empirical studies on school readiness. It links emotionality, executive function abilities, and academic and social competence to neurobiological approaches to cognitive and emotional development. Brownell, C. A., & Kopp, C. B. (2007) . Socioemotional Development in the Toddler Years: Transitions and Transformations. New York: Guilford. The authors bring together influential approaches on social and emotional transitions in the pivotal period of the toddler years. Individual differences in self‐control and socioemotional competence are discussed as part of a continuing interplay among other developing systems. Calkins, S. D., & Williford, A. P. (2009). Taming the terrible twos: Self‐regulation and school readiness. In O. A. Barbarin & B. H. Wasik (Eds.), Handbook of Early Child Development and Early Education: Research to Practice (pp. 172–198). New York: Guilford. The authors explain how toddlers will approach new environmental settings such as preschool ‘with interest and engagement as opposed to fearfulness and disengagement’. They assume that what is most important for a successful transition is the child’s emerging ability to self‐regulate for adaptive adjustment and achievement. Chen, X., Cen, G., Li, D., & He, Y. (2005). Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese children: The imprint of historical time. Child Development , 76 , 182–195. This study clarifies the impact of sociocultural change on the meaning of self‐regulation, social competence, and adjustment in three Chinese cohorts of elementary school children. Shyness was positively associated with social and academic achievement in the 1990 cohort, these associations became weaker in the 1998 cohort and were reversed in the 2002 cohort. Chen, X., & French, D. C. (2008). Children’s social competence in cultural context. Annual Review of Psychology , 59 , 591–616. This study reviews research on children’s social competence and peer relationships in different cultures. The authors show that social initiative and behavior control represent the major dimensions of children’s social functioning. An integrative contextual‐developmental perspective is presented. Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., Liu, M., Chen, H., Wang, L., Li, D., et al. (2003). Compliance in Chinese and Canadian toddlers: A cross‐cultural study. International Journal of Behavioral Development , 27 , 428–436. This study presents results from a cross‐cultural study on the development of a relevant aspect of self‐regulation – toddlers’ compliance – in China and Canada. Chinese toddlers showed more voluntary committed compliance than did Canadian toddlers, which was positively associated with maternal warmth and induction. Both aspects of parenting and compliance may have different cultural meanings. Cole, P. M., Bruschi, C. J., & Tamang, B. L. (2002). Cultural differences in children’s emotional reactions to difficult situations. Child Development , 73 , 983–996. This study shows how culture‐specific values and socialization influence children’s emotional reactions and beliefs about emotion regulation. Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., & Dennis, T. A. (2004). Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: Methodological challenges and directions for child development research. Child Development , 75 , 317–333. This influential study attempts to clarify the concept of emotion regulation and related methodological questions. The authors describe four methods that focus on different aspects of emotion regulation and advance the psychological understanding of this concept. Col

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