Psychology

Research suggests an imbalance of duties exists between spouses in cultures in which hierarchical family relationships prevail (Neff, 2001; Turiel, 1998). Within these relationships, the male superiors are often seen to have more rights and the female subordinates more duties. We conducted a cross-cultural investigation within India and the United States (N=80) examining perceived transgressions between husbands and wives. We coded responses to interview questions tapping both the type of transgression mentioned and the reasons provided. More Americans than Indians reported inequality in the relationship as the basis of the transgressions, whereas more Indians than Americans reported failure to fulfill role obligations as the basis of the transgressions. Our results suggested that in India expectations and duties were not imbalanced as both husbands and wives had reciprocal role obligations. Gender norms vary with regard to their emphasis on egalitarianism versus hierarchy. In an egalitarian gender structure, the balance of power between males and females is divided equally. On the other hand, in a hierarchy, there is a power imbalance between both genders such that one gender holds more power than the other. Ambiguity remains, however, regarding what exactly this imbalance entails in terms of the everyday experiences of those whose lives intertwine with these norms. Social domain theorists have focused on the subversive opposition to hierarchical gender norms by those in a subordinate position. Such opposition is usually expressed by women living in patriarchal societies, who invoke moral arguments against hierarchical gender structures on the grounds that they violate such moral standards as individual rights and

We examined the relationship between cognitive style, empathy, and willingness to help. In Study 1 (N = 186), we measured preference for visuospatial or verbal cognitive style using the ZenQ (Zenhausern, 1978), and empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983). In Study 2 (N = 76), we experimentally elicited verbal or visual cognitive processing via priming and measured empathy in response to a vignette about a woman injured in a car accident. In both studies, we measured willingness to help by assessing participants' willingness to assist the injured woman. Results showed that visuospatial cognitive processing increased empathy and willingness to help. Empathic concern mediated the relationship between cognitive style and willingness to help. Results highlight the importance of mental imagery in increasing empathy and helping.

Drawing from our cross-cultural research on social attribution, interpersonal morality, and motivation, we identify contributions as well as challenges of cultural research in developmental psychology. Cultural research not only is valuable in enhancing awareness of diversity in developmental outcomes but in providing new conceptual insights into existing psychological claims and greater awareness of culturally variable developmental endpoints and pathways. We argue for the need to conduct cultural research that embodies sensitivity to contextual variation. We also focus on effective methodological strategies for cultural developmental research, including the use of projective measures and of interview approaches that involve both quantitative indices and empirical coding of open-ended qualitative responses. The cultural research that we have undertaken uncovers culturally variable age trends in social attribution, expands the scope of the moral domain, and identifies culturally variable meanings of deontic considerations in work on motivation. In terms of challenges, we point to the need to tap outlooks in more naturalistic ways that go beyond simple taxonomic schemes to embody a greater sensitivity to the meanings and practices of particular cultural groups.

The present three-study investigation examined cultural influences on the internalization of social expectations. Testing the claim of self-determination theory that lesser internalization of social expectations is linked to socialization practices that portray social expectations as in conflict with autonomy, in Study 1 we undertook a content analysis of the views of social expectations portrayed in US and Indian storybooks. Results indicated that only American and not Indian storybooks more frequently portrayed characters as displaying negative emotions when behaviors were socially expected as compared with spontaneous. In Study 2 (n = 120), we undertook a vignette-based experiment, which showed that American parents viewed social expectations as incompatible with agency whereas Indian parents viewed them as compatible with agency. In Study 3 (n = 224), we undertook a related vignette based experiment among 7-and 10-year olds in the US and India. Results indicated that younger children shared a view of social expectations as compatible with agency, with qualitative developmental change occurring among American children who come to view social expectations as in conflict with autonomy with age, and quantitative developmental change occurring among Indian children who deepen their earlier understandings of social expectations with age. Our results point to the presence of early relational outlooks that young children use in assimilating cultural variable messages communicated in socialization practices. Challenging simple ‘fax’ models of cultural learning, our results indicate that children do not passively absorb cultural messages but actively interpret them in integrating them with their emerging sense of self.