Search

In this article, we highlight three assumptions about culture that guide our research: (1) culture is lived but often implicitly; (2) philosophical origins illuminate cultural core values in the he...

This study examines the construction of the culture-specific self through a form of seemingly harmful socializing practices among young Taiwanese children. Spontaneous daily family interactions have been systematically and longitudinally videotaped in seven families and events of shame are found to occur regularly at all datapoints. One third of these events occur in chains, involving multiple episodes about the child’s transgressions committed at different times, mostly in the here-and-now, followed by reenactments of the past and expectations for a better self in the future. While in nearly half of the episodes, some authority is explicitly invoked to judge the child’s behaviors, family members are always co-present with the child and ready to share his/her transgression and shame. Findings of analyses on spatiotemporal and relational markers in these situated events suggest a dynamic and fluid view of the self and a holistic treatment of multi-leveled contexts.

In an effort to understand shame in Chinese terms, this ethnographic study examines parental beliefs and practices with respect to shame, as well as young children's participation in shaming events. Nine middle-class Taiwanese families participated in this study. Interviews with the primary caregivers and longitudinal observations of spontaneous home interactions revealed that the socialization of shame was well underway by age two-and-a-half. Two types of events were identified, most incidents of which were playful and involved the child's active participation.The child's rudimentary sense of shame was manipulated in order to teach right from wrong and to motivate the child to amend. These events were vivid illustrations of the practice of opportunity education.

The goal of this study was to determine how personal storytelling functions as a socializing practice within the family context in middle-class Taiwanese and middle-class European American families. The data consist of more than 200 naturally occurring stories in which the past experiences of the focal child, aged 2,6, were narrated. These stories were analyzed at 3 levels: content, function, and structure. Findings converged across these analytic levels, indicating that personal storytelling served overlapping yet distinct socializing functions in the 2 cultural cases. In keeping with the high value placed on didactic narrative within the Confucian tradition, Chinese families were more likely to use personal storytelling to convey moral and social standards. European American families did not treat stories of young children's past experiences as a didactic resource but instead employed stories as a medium of entertainment and affirmation. These findings suggest not only that personal storytelling operates as a routine socializing practice in widely different cultures but also that it is already functionally differentiated by 2,6.

Little cross-cultural research exists on parental socialization of children's learning beliefs. The current study compared 218 conversations between European American and Taiwanese mothers and children (6-10 years) about good and poor learning. The findings support well-documented cultural differences in learning beliefs. European Americans mentioned mental activities and positive affect more, whereas Taiwanese mentioned learning virtues and negative affect more. Mothers, especially European American, reciprocated their children's talk about mental activities, learning virtues, and negative affect. Children, especially Taiwanese, reciprocated their mother's talk about positive affect. Mothers invoked more mental activities and positive affect when discussing good learning, but more learning virtues and negative affect when discussing poor learning. These findings reveal a source of cultural differences in beliefs and potential enculturation.

Narrative, self, and face-to-face interaction all intersect in everyday storytelling practices in which children and caregivers make claims to personal experiences. This article examines such practices as a site for the social construction of self in early childhood. Drawing upon excerpts of narrative talk from a variety of cultural traditions in the United States, we describe the self-relevant meanings and processes entailed in three particular narrative practices. [narrative, self, childhood socialization, language socialization, ethnopsychology]

What distinguishes the human being from the animal is shame. When a person does not know shame, his/her conscience would vanish. For such a person, parents would have no way to discipline; teachers and friends would have no way to advise. Without the will to strive upward, how could one improve? To be an official without shame is treacherous; how could he be loyal? To be a son without shame is disobedient; how could he be filial? To be a neighbor without shame is wicked; how could he be kind?... As one knows shame, the sense of right and wrong would be realized, and his dying conscience would have a chance to revive. ~ The Pedigree (and Familial Instructions) of the Zhou Clan