Self And Culture In Child Rearing
The central aim of the paper is to locate the importance of self and culture through the concept of self-construal theory in how it affects child rearing process and practices. While the self helps in identifying and associate the child with the parents. It also helps the child in understanding and formulating their beliefs as well as individuality as well. It is the self that determines the personality of the child from the moment they are born. However parental decisions also play an important role in creating the idea of the self.
Culture too plays a very significant role in providing children with the understanding of who they are, especially their background. In child rearing practices, the essence of culture provides children with the knowledge of their customs as well as beliefs. Introduces them to the society where they have to grow and contribute as well as co-exist. Thus, the knowledge of self and culture is very crucial in child rearing process. Because without either the child won’t be able to sustain themselves (Pinquart & Gerke,2019).
In this context it is essential to ponder on self-construal is a very important theory in psychology which looks into how human beings locate themselves in the society. The very concept of the self is very vague and people find different ways and modes of expression to define the same. And it is here that the self-construal theory becomes very essential because it essentially puts all the definition of the self into some perspectives which helps in meaning -making (Cross et.al,2000). It is already known that with enlightenment and with the advent of intellectual curiosity human beings have wondered and questioned the very reason of human existence and tried delving into answers of questions that ask who human beings are, what is the self in order to understand themselves and locate themselves in the larger society as well. This is at the core of self-construal theory whereby it states how people construe themselves in the context of the entire society. An example of construal is when couples refer to themselves as ‘we’ which is finding each other related in the society and on the other hand, they talk about themselves as well. Moreover, there is an extension of the self-construal theory as well which is known as individualism as well as collectivism. All of this play a very important in defining self as well as it is also very essential in understanding how this entire concept is related to childrearing (Utz, 2004).
Before delving into this it is essential understand what independent self-construal us. This theory helps in explaining one’s uniqueness as well as individuality and it is concerned with the personal attributes and characteristics of an individual as well. Thus, this can be seen as an understanding of the self. Whereas on the other hand, lies the interdependent self-construal which defines the ones individuality with respect to other relationships and the larger society. Thus, the interdependent self-construal is concerned with larger societal and cultural bonds which each individuals have (Karakitapoğlu-Aygün,2002).
Thus, in the process of childrearing both these aspects of self-construal are very important. The independent self-construal translates in to parenting decisions which is linked with how the parents see or understand themselves in the society. This is a very physical form of child rearing. Here the self or how the parent sees themselves is translated in child rearing where the parents become a source of human agency and choice too plays a very important role (Eberly-Lewis et.al,2018). These components help the self or the parent to identify themselves and their position in the society. In child rearing this is what gives the children their understanding of who they come from, it provides them with the understanding of their parents as individuals how they are, what they do. In fact, this is also translated in to the understanding of certain implications like how they feel, think and what their believes are. From the perspective of independent self-construal, the parent tries to shape, control as well as evaluate the child’s behaviour in accordance with the set standard of behaviour which they subscribe to and abide by. This will definitely differ from person to person, the authoritative individual will have their own version of self and rules and norms, which differs from permissive parents who has their own set of believes and practices Kurşuncu & Sümer,2021).
With this childrearing practices and parental decisions are also have influences from the larger society and culture. This is very obvious that the self cannot survive alone but always exits in relation with other human beings and systems in the society. This is the notion of interdependent self-construal child rearing. It is the essence of interdependent self-construal child rearing that offers children with the understanding of the importance of interconnectedness and harmony with other people that needs to be maintained (Gimenez-Serrano et.al,2022). This is something which can only be developed through interdependent self-construal child rearing. Interdependent self-construal childrearing process is key that helps children understand the importance family cohesion as well as social responsibility. Social trust is an essential aspect of interdependent self-construal child rearing it helps children develop the knowledge of whether they are treated well in the society. Hereby, it helps in distinguishing the right from the wrong. It this first step that helps in understanding how the self or the individual can be located in the society (Oyesrman, et.al,2004).
Therefore, in conclusion, the self and the culture as well as the aspect of independent and interdependent self-construal theory is very important in the child rearing process. This is essential because for the child to grow and develop in the society it is absolutely crucial, they develop a sense of their self as well as that of the culture and larger society around. It is the amalgamation of both the aspects that helps the child get a good perspective towards life and it also provides them with a proper foundation from the childhood. Thus, it can be said that independent and interdependent self-construal child rearing practices compliments each other.
Reference
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