Culture components as a significant factor in child development. Symposium, 1960. 3. The effect of child rearing on behavior in different cultures.

Abstract

opportunity to observe a great many children in various circumT stances in different parts of Finland was afforded on visits made over a ten-year span. Informal and formal visits were made to homes, playgrounds and both small and large institutions. There were many opportunities to observe children a t play in recreation areas during both winter and summer. Children who had been hospitalized for a long time were seen on weekly visits over a nine-month period. Participation as a team member in a test construction project in 1958-59 permitted closer contacts with school children in rural and urban centers in the variety of communities only possible on a standardization. Workshops with the child guidance workers made comparisons with our clinical material possible. One thus gradually began to note the similarities and differences in the behavior of the Finnish children in contrast to that of American children in comparable situations. None of the observations to be reported, however, were made as the result of a specific controlled research study; rather they are the result of gradually accrued general observations. In writing this paper one had to fall back on these experiences since there were so few studies one could consult (2, 3). Few investigations about this area have been completed although several are under way. I n some instances the differences were sufficiently great to make one question to what extent they were related to the child-rearing practices of the respective countries. The following is, therefore, an attempt to examine these impressions more closely. It is apparent that casual observations or explanations do not adequately account for the behavioral variations within a country, let alone for the differences between two countries. The observations, however, are extremely provocative and suggest a tremendously rich area for cross-cultural comparisons between many more countries than have been made to date. Any generalizations about a country immediately bring u p exceptions. This is particularly true of any general statement one may make about Finland. The country can be divided into five distinct regions, each with its circumscribed cultural pattern which has devolved from the heirno, or tribe. These differ very drastically from each other in a great many ways. In