The current study aimed to investigate the cultural differences in the developmental origins of children's intent-based moral judgment and moral behavior in the context of indirect reciprocity. To this end, we compared how German and Chinese children interpret and react to antisocial and prosocial interactions between puppets. An actor puppet…

The present study examined Japanese children's and adults' awareness of the effects of psychological taste experiences on biological processes such as growth and illness. Studies 1 and 2 showed the following: (1) preschoolers tended to assume that good-tasting experiences would make one grow taller and gain more weight, while adults seldom…

The current study investigated the role of cultural norms on the development of face-scanning. British and Japanese adults' eye movements were recorded while they observed avatar faces moving their mouth, and then their eyes toward or away from the participants. British participants fixated more on the mouth, which contrasts with Japanese…

We investigated cultural influences on young children's acquisition of social-cognitive concepts. A theory of mind (ToM) scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004) was given to 129 children (71 boys, 58 girls) ranging in age from 3 years 0 months to 7 years 10 months. The children were from three distinct cultural groups: (a) trash pickers…

This study examined cross-cultural differences in the moderating function of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles for Jewish and Arab Israeli children exposed to political violence. Respondents were parents and children aged 10-11 from 94 families (42 Arab, 52 Jewish). Parents completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions…

This study compared Mainland Chinese, Chinese American and European American mothers' self-reported emotional expression within the family. Mothers of 3-year-old European American (n = 40), Chinese American (n = 39) and Mainland Chinese (n = 36) children (n = 20 girls per group) completed the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire (SEFQ),…

This study aimed to examine when children come to distinguish between the private affairs of an individual and the group's matter in relation to group decision making and whether there are any differences between Japan and England in learning the distinction. In total 217 children aged 8, 11, and 13 years, and undergraduates participated in the…

This study explored cultural differences in the criteria young people have for becoming an adult. Specifically, the study sought (a) to compare Chinese and American responses concerning whether they believe they have reached adulthood; (b) to examine whether adulthood criteria could fit a common statistical model for both cultures; and (c) after…

US children's books are a rich source of information about mental states (Dyer, Shatz, & Wellman, 2000). Examining books from other cultures can determine whether and how such information is conveyed by other languages. Forty US and 40 Japanese picture books for preschoolers were compared. The books were coded for references to mental state…

Research on French and European American mothers' childrearing practices, and potential effects of these differences on children's behavioral development, is scarce. This study compared 33 French and 39 European American 20-month-old children and their mothers on exploratory, symbolic, and social play and interaction. French children engaged in…

Eight German and eight Italian children were observed during their first year in preschool. Cultural differences and similarities in play and behavior and sex differences are reported. Findings suggest that strategies that children use to enter kindergarten or a new group exist universally. (Author/RH)

Focuses on whether developmental trends observed within groups are different between groups (cultures) in three- to six-year-old children in a battery of tests derived from a theoretical model relating to attention, learning, and memory processes. Subjects were selected from Cambridge, Massachusetts and from two lowland villages in Guatemala.…

Two studies compared primary and secondary control beliefs of adolescents living in modern cultures (Germans, North Americans, Jewish Israelis) with those of adolescents in cultures undergoing a transition to modernity (Malaysians, Israeli Druzes). Found that adolescents from transitional cultures endorsed secondary control beliefs to a greater…

This study examines the developmental patterns of perceived control beliefs among a total of 1720 urban Chinese, rural Chinese, and American students in second through sixth grade. Children's perceived control beliefs were measured with the Revised Control, Agency, and Means-end Interview (CAMI). The results show that the latent structures of…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine comparable dimensions and linkages between child temperament and parenting styles with samples from Beijing, China and the western United States. Participants included 404 mothers and fathers from Beijing, China and 325 mothers and fathers from the western United States. Both mothers and fathers…