Studying Cross-cultural Differences in the Development of Infant Temperament: People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, and Spain

Abstract

Investigated early development of temperament across three cultures: People's Republic of China (PRC), United States of America (US), and Spain, utilizing a longitudinal design (assessments at 3, 6, and 9 months of age). Selection of these countries presented an opportunity to conduct Eastern-Western/Individualistic-Collectivistic comparisons. The greatest number of significant differences (i.e., involving more temperament dimensions) was anticipated for the US (Western/Individualistic) and PRC (Eastern/Collectivistic) comparisons. The US sample included 66, the PRC group 69, and the Spanish sample, 60 mothers, all of whom completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) 3 times, when their infants were 3, 6, and 9 months of age. Results related to mean group differences were generally consistent with our hypotheses, demonstrating a greater number of significant differences for US versus PRC, with fewer differences observed for US and Spain. Analyses addressing developmental changes in temperament indicated patterns consistent with a priori expectations and cross-cultural differences.

Visual habituation tasks: The role of infant temperament

“…Finally, cultural differences in parenting might account for differences in factor structure. First, despite a genetic component of temperament, child rearing fosters temperament characteristics that are in line with the respective cultural values (Kohnstamm, 1989;Gartstein et al, 2006). Second, parents potentially rate their infants' temperament characteristics by referring to culture-specific standards on, e.g., desirability and normativity (Slobodskaya, Gartstein, Nakagawa, & Putnam, 2012).…”

Social Withdrawal and Shyness

“…Some researchers have argued that temperamental shyness (i.e., inhibition) is more prevalent in East Asian countries compared to the United States, Canada, Western European countries, and Australia (Gartstein et al, 2006 ;Rubin, Hemphill, et al, 2006 ). For example, Rubin, Hemphill, et al (2006) found that Chinese and Korean toddlers exhibited more inhibited behavior in Kagan ' s " Inhibition paradigm " (e.g., Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988 ) than Australian and Italian toddlers.…”

Social Withdrawal, Peer Rejection, and Peer Victimization in Taiwanese Middle School Students

“…Such collectivistic characteristics are reflected in the way people interact. A higher tendency toward introversion (e.g., more reserved, less outgoing, and less sociable) was consistently found among the Chinese population (Ahadi, Rothbart, & Ye, 1993;Gartstein et al, 2006;McCrae, Costa, & Yik, 1996), and Taiwanese youth also tend to behave modestly or to be shy compared to their western peers (Carducci & Zimbardo, 1995).…”