Cultural Variation in Children's Social Organization

Authors: Mejía-Arauz, Rebeca; Rogoff, Barbara; Dexter, Amy; Najafi, Behnosh

Source: Child Development, Volume 78, Number 3, May/June 2007 , pp. 1001-1014(14)

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Abstract:

This article examines how 31 triads of 6- to 10-year-old children from 3 cultural backgrounds organized their interactions while folding Origami figures. Triads of children whose families had immigrated to the United States from indigenous heritage regions of México (and whose mothers averaged only 7 grades of schooling) coordinated more often as an ensemble, whereas triads of European heritage U.S. children whose mothers had extensive schooling more often engaged dyadically or individually. When the European heritage children did engage as an ensemble, this often involved chatting rather than nonverbal conversation regarding folding, which was more common among the Mexican heritage children. Mexican heritage U.S. triads whose mothers had extensive schooling showed an intermediate pattern or resembled the European heritage children.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01046.x

Affiliations: 1: University of California, Santa Cruz

Publication date: 2007-05-01