Cross-cultural research and Nature-Nurture debates

Cross-Cultural Research

Cross-cultural studies examine how behaviour and human practises vary across different cultures, providing evidence for cultural variations in behaviour.
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study on attachment types found secure attachment to be most common across cultures, but variations within cultures were 1.5 times greater than between cultures.
Barry and colleagues, through their cross-cultural analysis, showed that obedience and respect was emphasised in nurturant-task responsible societies.
The research of Whiting and Whiting highlighted how cultural practises influence behaviour when they found Kenyan mothers who have increased responsibilities tend to have more obedient children.

The Nature-Nurture debate involves whether human behaviour is determined by the environment or a person’s genes. Nature refers to the influence of genetics, while Nurture refers to environmental influences such as upbringing and experience.
Research in psychology often falls into one of three categories: nature, nurture, or interactionist approach (mix of both nature and nurture). Genie’s case study, for example, is generally used to illustrate the effects of extreme environmental deprivation.
Psychologists like Bowlby, who emphasise the innate behaviours which influence our development, are said to be on the nature side of the debate. In contrast, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, which emphasises the role of observation and imitation, leans heavily on the nurture side.
On the interactionist side, the diathesis-stress model proposes that psychological disorders develop due to a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental stressors.