These research notes look at the differing ways in which the basis for including a criterion regarding children's opinions in disputed custody and visitation processes, in the US as compared with Sweden, impacts on the role and place that children's opinions and wishes will have on the process. Sweden's rationale for including children's…

This cross-cultural study of the moral judgements of Mainland Han-Chinese, Chinese-Canadian, and Euro-Canadian children aged seven to 11 examined the evaluations of narrative protagonists' modest lies and self-promoting truthful statements in situations where they had done a good deed. The story characters had thus either lied or told the truth…

This study investigated how Korean (N = 397) and U.S. (N = 333) children and adolescents (10 and 13 years of age) evaluated personality (aggression, shyness) and group (gender, nationality) characteristics as a basis for peer rejection in three contexts (friendship rejection, group exclusion, victimization). Overall, peer rejection based on…

Illustrates the cultural differences (and similarities) of China and the Soviet Union as reflected in the drawings of each country's children. In China, children's drawings reflected friendship and warmth toward others. In the Soviet Union, children's reserved and cautious attitudes about drawing are consistent with the perspective of that…

Significant differences in thoughts about death appear to be cultural and specifically tied to sex role expectations. Patterns of thoughts about death appear to be more consistent among Brazilian than U.S. children. It appears that religion strongly influences the Brazilian girls' conceptualizations of death but not the other children's in the…

A study of group values through analysis of children's drawings showed children in the United States to be high in smiling and low in competition, cooperation, games and sports, and work. New Zealand and Canadian children scored high in cooperation and work. English children ranked highest in competition, Australians in humor. (Author/DE)

Two studies examined beliefs about revealing emotion among children from Brahman, Tamang and American cultures. Findings indicated three distinct cultural patterns: Tamang were more likely to appraise difficult situations in terms of shame, while the others endorsed anger. Brahmins were more likely not to communicate negative emotion. Americans…

Reports an analysis of an interview study of three groups of 51 lower-class maternity cases--West African, Negro, and East Indian--about their intentions for behavior toward their children and their preferences for behavior by their children. (JM)

Examined gender and cultural differences in over 3,000 children's ideas about what leads to academic success. Found close correspondence between children's achievement and competence-related beliefs, with the exception that young girls appeared to specifically discount their talent. The effect held regardless of children's achievement,…

Interviewed 519 children between the ages of 5 and 13 from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Liberia, and the United States. Fifteen fears cited most often were identified. Age differences and some cultural differences were found; little difference between genders was found. Results suggest shift toward increasing fears of people and of being alone.…

Longitudinally assessed Icelandic children at ages 7, 9, 12, and 15, and cross-sectionally assessed Chinese children at corresponding ages, concerning reasoning about choices, motives, and moral justifications of a protagonist in a sociomoral dilemma. Icelanders referred more often to self-interest and contractual concerns; Chinese focused on…

Examined Swedish and Japanese mothers' understanding of the story, "The Giving Tree," by Shel Silverstein, and possible effects of how their conceptions relate to social and cultural experiences in each society. Found six qualitatively different conceptions, related to differences in age and differences in cultural background. (JPB)

This study coded descriptions of disliked peers provided by U.S. and Indonesian 11- and 14-year-olds for references to physical, verbal, and three types of relational aggression. Found that physical aggression was mentioned more frequently by boys, adolescents, and Indonesians, with no significant differences in verbal aggression references. Girls…

This study examined the adult body shape preferences of 6- and 10-year-olds from the United States, Mainland China, and Turkey. Findings indicated that even the youngest children preferred thin, male and female figures and least preferred the very obese figures. Heavier female figures were chosen by Turkish children more than by other children.…

To gauge the effect that different cultural attitudes and child-rearing practices may have on the development of empathy, the Feshbach and Roe Affective Situational Test for Empathy was administered to 64 Greek city children and to 60 Greek rural children, all aged six to seven. The empathic responses of the Greek children were compared to those…