People tend to live together in extended families Female role was important Women’s contribution to the family’s economy is greater Children from Japan, India and USA acted less prosocial The most egoistic children came from USA Most complex modern society Women gave more responsibility to their children Children are usually paid to do chores Some children do not participate at all Conclusion The results indicate that the degree of modernisation influences prosocial behaviour. This was attributed to different child-rearing patterns and cultural dimensions such as individualism and collectivism. The study also shows how different aspects of socioeconomic organisation of a cultural can promote or inhibit children’s opportunities to acquire specific social behaviours. The findings also emphasises the importance of everyday practices in the promotion of concern for others. Evaluation High ecological validity Was a natural experiment Did not interfere with the participants natural activities Unable to generalise to a general population Sample was not representative of the general population Participants were still very young Reductionist study Social Responsibility, Miller et al. (1990) Aim To investigate how cultural norms and moral values influence the perception of social responsibility Procedure Researchers interviewed 400 participants Participants were adults and children They were either North Americans or Hindu Indians The interview was about what to do in hypothetical situations where a person had failed to help someone in need Parents’ obligations to help their child Friends’ obligation to help a friend
People tend to live together in extended families Female role was important Women’s contribution to the family’s economy is greater Children from Japan, India and USA acted less prosocial The most egoistic children came from USA Most complex modern society Women gave more responsibility to their children Children are usually paid to do chores Some children do not participate at all Conclusion The results indicate that the degree of modernisation influences prosocial behaviour. This was attributed to different child-rearing patterns and cultural dimensions such as individualism and collectivism. The study also shows how different aspects of socioeconomic organisation of a cultural can promote or inhibit children’s opportunities to acquire specific social behaviours. The findings also emphasises the importance of everyday practices in the promotion of concern for others. Evaluation High ecological validity Was a natural experiment Did not interfere with the participants natural activities Unable to generalise to a general population Sample was not representative of the general population Participants were still very young Reductionist study Social Responsibility, Miller et al. (1990) Aim To investigate how cultural norms and moral values influence the perception of social responsibility Procedure Researchers interviewed 400 participants Participants were adults and children They were either North Americans or Hindu Indians The interview was about what to do in hypothetical situations where a person had failed to help someone in need Parents’ obligations to help their child Friends’ obligation to help a friend
human_relationships_key_studies.docx