Abstract:Interactions among mothers and children around food are prime opportunities for teaching and learning core cultural values, including their emotional and motivational components. Cognitive theories of culture identify key features and processes that capture the complexity and importance of even brief, but emotionally powerful moments surrounding food and feeding. The Murik concept of mothering is a metaphor of reciprocity and power applied to encompass people in varied and multiple mothering roles in shifting … Show more
“…The last person will presumably consider how much has been left for her/him. Novices, and children in particular, are trained not to be greedy, and parents may find it necessary to remind them about the rules of sharing (Barlow, 2010;Busch, 2012). Verbal reminders may be unnecessary, though, as serving food and dividing portions are unspoken signals of fairness and order that occur on a subconscious level (Visser, 1991).…”
This study focuses on the connection between prosocial behavior, defined as acting in ways that benefit others, and shared meals, defined as meals that consist of food(s) shared with others. In contrast to individual meals, where consumers eat their own food and perhaps take a sample of someone else's dish as a taste, shared meals are essentially about sharing all the food with all individuals. Consequently, these meals create situations where consumers are confronted with issues of fairness and respect. One should not be greedy and consume most of a dish; instead, rules of polite food sharing need to be obeyed. It is therefore proposed that those who have often engaged in shared meals during childhood will have a more prosocial personality, as compared to those who less often took part in shared meals during childhood. To test this hypothesis, data about frequency of shared meals during childhood and altruistic personality in early adulthood were collected using a cross-sectional survey in Belgium (n = 487). Results confirm that higher levels of shared meal consumption correspond to higher scores on the self-report altruism scale among students.
“…The last person will presumably consider how much has been left for her/him. Novices, and children in particular, are trained not to be greedy, and parents may find it necessary to remind them about the rules of sharing (Barlow, 2010;Busch, 2012). Verbal reminders may be unnecessary, though, as serving food and dividing portions are unspoken signals of fairness and order that occur on a subconscious level (Visser, 1991).…”
This study focuses on the connection between prosocial behavior, defined as acting in ways that benefit others, and shared meals, defined as meals that consist of food(s) shared with others. In contrast to individual meals, where consumers eat their own food and perhaps take a sample of someone else's dish as a taste, shared meals are essentially about sharing all the food with all individuals. Consequently, these meals create situations where consumers are confronted with issues of fairness and respect. One should not be greedy and consume most of a dish; instead, rules of polite food sharing need to be obeyed. It is therefore proposed that those who have often engaged in shared meals during childhood will have a more prosocial personality, as compared to those who less often took part in shared meals during childhood. To test this hypothesis, data about frequency of shared meals during childhood and altruistic personality in early adulthood were collected using a cross-sectional survey in Belgium (n = 487). Results confirm that higher levels of shared meal consumption correspond to higher scores on the self-report altruism scale among students.
“…More powerful people such as elders and chiefs should have more than others. Their wealth obligates them to be especially generous (see also Barlow ; Howard ; Keating ; Peterson ; Sahlins ). As one man explained,It is said that the eldest [sibling]…is generous.…”
Children in the Republic of the Marshall Islands regularly do a number of things that are inappropriate or even taboo among adults: they walk with food that they do not offer to share; they refuse to give; they directly demand things; and they directly criticize and insult each other. One explanation for their behavior is that they are too developmentally immature to speak in the indirect and polite manner of adults. But I show that, while Marshallese children's apparently direct forms of speech are indeed linked to immaturity, they are linked to immaturity not as a developmental stage but as a social status. Hence, this article reveals, discusses, and challenges two different ideologies of childhood and language: (1) a Western ideology that associates directness with developmental immaturity; and (2) a Marshallese ideology that associates "not hiding"-either words or goods-with being a child. Through their apparently direct forms of speech, children negotiate their relative age and power relationships with each other while simultaneously constructing each other as peers and indexing participants as immature relative to adults. This analysis reveals how age and childhood are produced through speech and considers the implications of this production for understandings of language variation and socialization.
“…One differentiates it through acts of nurture. Parents give food to children (Barlow 2010). They are then understood not to grow 'big' or 'strong' for having eaten but to become indebted to them both sentimentally and ritually for having benefited from their 'hard work' (Barlow 1985).…”
Section: The Embodiment Of Murik Personhoodmentioning
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