SOC 463/663 (Social Psych of Education) - Socialization

WEEK 2: SOCIALIZATION

Melanie Tannenbaum, M.A. Sociology 463/663

Spring 2015

This Week: Socialization

• What is Socialization?

• Peers

• Parents

• Schools

• Putting it All Together

WHAT IS SOCIALIZATION?

Definition

The lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies, providing an individual

with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society.

!

The means by which social and cultural continuity are attained.

Definition

The lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies, providing an individual

with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or her own society.

!

The means by which social and cultural continuity are attained.

Socialization of Achievement

• Examples of agents?

!

!

• Examples of things that can be socialized?

Socialization of Achievement

• Examples of agents?

!

!

• Examples of things that can be socialized?

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION: !

PEERS

Importance of Peer Groups


• Source of acceptance (or rejection) by others

• Sense of belonging

• Friendships

• Source of self-concept

• Source of status

• Source of world views, concerns, standards

• Learn how to “fit in”

• Peer groups as reference groups




• Friendships









• Friendships









• Friendships






Sources of Influence

• Examples

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvGh_n3I_M

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njz9TrLjz5k&NR=1 !

• Normative Social Influence

• Informational Social Influence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvGh_n3I_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Njz9TrLjz5k&NR=1


• Examples

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvGh_n3I_M

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njz9TrLjz5k&NR=1 !



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuvGh_n3I_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Njz9TrLjz5k&NR=1



• Awareness of norms

• Acceptability of certain views

• Social reward & punishment

• Peer Groups


• Subtle influence on perception of the world

• Providers of information

Informational Social Influence

• Sometimes, situations are ambiguous.

!

• You need to look to others to figure out the best way to act in an unclear situation.


• Sherif (1936)

• Participants were in a dark room

• A point of light was shown on the wall

• Asked: How far did the light move?

• In reality, it doesn’t move at all, but the situation is ambiguous.

• Autokinetic Illusion: A point of light will appear to move in a dark room.

• This is an ambiguous, difficult task!

• Participants first reported how far they thought the light moved while they were alone, and then made their judgments around other judging participants.

• Participants can easily doubt their own judgment

• “Was it really 1 inch, or was it 2?? I don’t know!”


• Sherif (1936)

• People’s judgments converged over time.

!

!

!

!

• Ambiguous situation = People used other answers as a valuable source of help/information.





Normative Social Influence

• Peer Pressure!

• Using others’ behavior/comments as a guide for how to fit in and avoid disapproval.

• Guides behavior to avoid social punishment.


• Conforming based on the desire to be socially accepted.


• Line Judgment Study (Asch, 1956)

• Very easy (Judge whether two lines are the same length)

• One true participant in a group of confederates

• After a couple of rounds, the confederates start to give an (obviously) wrong answer.

!


• Overall, participants conformed on 1/3 of the “critical trials,” and 75% of participants conformed at least once!

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy09nNw

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

!

!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy09nNw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA

Newcomb (1943)

• The “Bennington College” Study

• Small, all-women’s college: Cohort from 1935-1939

• Over the years, shifted conservative to liberal.

• Why? How?

• Status rewards with community

• Emancipation from parents

Newcomb (1943)




• Why? How?



Newcomb (1943)




• Why? How?



Crandall (1988)

• Binge Eating in Sororities

• Followed new pledges over the course of a school year

• Would newcomers come to embrace existing (descriptive) norms of binge eating?

• Normative bingers were more popular than others.

Crandall (1988)

• Binge Eating in Sororities

• Followed new pledges over the course of a school year

• Would newcomers come to embrace existing (descriptive) norms of binge eating?

• Normative bingers were more popular than others.

Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)

Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)

• Peer groups tend to be very similar

• Do peers influence each other or just self-selection?

• Peers exert influences above and beyond initial similarity.

• Role of stability/quality

• More stable, high-quality friendships exacerbate the effects of peers (good or bad!)

Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)






Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)






Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)






Ryan (2000) & Berndt (1999)

• Having peers that are highly involved in school, motivated, achievement-oriented, etc. can make you more involved, motivated, and achievement-oriented.

!

• Having peers who misbehave/disrupt more often can make you misbehave/disrupt more often.

Questions

• At what age do you think peers have the largest effect? The largest negative effect? The largest positive effect?

!

• Do you think that “bad influence” kids are more likely to sway the “good influence” kids, or vice versa?

• Remember the points in the Ryan reading on personal value…

!

• Do you think it’s easier to be accepted into a “less academic” social group?


PARENTS

Pomerantz et al. (2005)

• The Role of Parents

!

• Children’s Psychological Needs

!

• Positive Approach to Achievement



• Parents do things to help meet…


!




• Parents do things to help meet…


• Which then creates, in those children, a…




• Behavior (Parenting Practices)

• Cognition (Parental Perceptions & Expectancies)

• Affect (Sense of Relatedness)



• Competence

• Autonomy

• Relatedness

• Purpose



• Regulatory Resources

• Beliefs about Capacity for Achievement

• Learning Strategies












• Behavior #1: Parental Involvement

• Ex: Reading, HW help, interest

• Builds Skills

• Relatedness

• Sense of purpose for kids

• Better studying & homework habits

• Predicts better classroom behavior, even after controlling for initial achievement.


• Behavior #2: Structure

• Ex: Guidelines, rules, feedback

• Scaffolding

• Kids learn to internalize regulation

• Feel more control over achievement


• Behavior #3: Autonomy Support

• Do kids have the freedom to explore their own environments?

• Allowing kids to explore, initiate behaviors, and take an active role in solving their own problems.

• Experience of solving challenges on their own = Higher feelings of competence.

• Not controlling or passive.


• Behavior #4: Process Focus

• Focusing on the value of hard work and effort (vs. “being smart”)

• We will come back to this when we talk about attributions & self-beliefs.







• Cognition #1: Competence

• Expectations & aspirations for children’s educational performance.

• Do you think your children will fail, or do you think they will be wonderful, brilliant successes?

• Parents’ higher expectations linked to children’s higher self-esteem, motivation, and achievement.

• Why?

• Children can base self-perceptions of competence more on their parents’ perceptions than on their actual performance.

• Higher expectations ➢ More parental involvement






• Why?








• Why?








• Why?








• Why?




• Cognition #2: Value of School

• Do parents value the importance of school/education?

• Higher value conveys the idea that doing well in school is valuable & important.







• Relatedness #1: Attachment Quality

• Do children have strong, secure attachments with their parents?

• A critical part of secure attachments is that children feel encouraged and supported in independently exploring environments…

• Remember importance of autonomy/competence!


• Relatedness #2: Family Obligation

• Children who feel “obligated” to their families are more persistent in educational pursuits.

• Feel more responsible for family outcomes, don’t want to “let the family down.”


• Relatedness #3: Self-Defining Relationships

• Children who include their relationships with their parents more in how they define themselves are more likely to “take on” their parents’ goals.

• This usually leads to higher investment in schoolwork.

Questions

• Can “good parenting” be completely outweighed by the influence of peers/sheer curiosity? If so, why?

!

• What about the families that do everything “right” but don’t produce positive outcomes in their kids? Are there factors we aren’t considering?

!

• Do you think there are some situations in which “controlling” can be a good parenting style & a way of showing love & support? If so, when/why?


SCHOOLS

Education Goal #1: Assimilation


• Assimilate students to…

• World as it currently exists.

• Educational system as it currently exists.

• Equip students with proper skills for successful functioning.

• Make students into well-adjusted, productive members of society.

• The “Hidden Curriculum”

• Functionalist Approach

• Durkheim

• Reproduction of Society









• Durkheim










• Durkheim










• Durkheim



Education Goal #2: Empowerment

• Self-Actualization

• Skills for Successful Functioning

• Critical Thinking

• Decision Making Skills

Education Goal #3: Safety

• Teach compliance/conformity to rules & norms

• Lack of compliance is punished

• Suspension/Expulsion (Formal Ejection)

• Social Rejection

• Dropping Out

What do you learn in school?

• Factual Knowledge

• Skills

• Problem Solving

• Goal Pursuit Strategies

• Interpersonal Skills

• Expressive Skills (Oral & Written)

• Values

• Attitudes/Beliefs

• Norms



• Skills

• Problem Solving




• Values


• Norms



• Skills

• Problem Solving




• Values


• Norms



• Skills

• Problem Solving




• Values


• Norms

How does school shape who you are?

• Self Concept

• Identity

• Goals & Values

• Ideas

• Behavioral Patterns/Routines

• Soft Skills

HighScope Perry Preschool Study

• 123 children born into poverty; high risk of school failure

• 1962-1967: 3-4 year olds randomly assigned to…

• High Quality Preschool Program

• No Preschool Program (Comparison Group)

• 97% of participants (~40 years old) recently interviewed



Preschool Control


Preschool Control


Preschool Control


Preschool Control




Heckman (2006)

College?

• Liberalizing Effect

• Primarily in social sciences & humanities

• College ➢ Greater support for societal change

• Polarizing Effect

• Attitude changes over time

Academic Majors

• Status Quo Oriented Fields/Individuals

• Social Sciences vs. Other Fields

• Thinking about & analyzing social processes

• Concern with social equality

• Critical attitudes toward inequality & factors seen to produce it

• Focus on societal processes, not just individual processes

Explanations for Social Inequality

• Person Blame

• Fundamental Attribution Error

• Meritocratic focus on individual as responsive for his/her own outcomes

• “Everybody gets what they deserve”

• Justify inequality by referring to characteristics of individuals; no blame with system

• System Blame

• Critical focus on society as responsible for the outcomes of individuals

• Exculpating the individuals; blaming forces beyond the individuals control

Explanations for Social Inequality

• Person Blame

• Fundamental Attribution Error

• Meritocratic focus on individual as responsive for his/her own outcomes

• “Everybody gets what they deserve”

• Justify inequality by referring to characteristics of individuals; no blame with system

• System Blame

• Critical focus on society as responsible for the outcomes of individuals

• Exculpating the individuals; blaming forces beyond the individuals control

Guimond, Begin, & Palmer (1989)

Over time, social science students are less and

less inclined to blame individuals for being

poor and/or unemployed.


Over time, social science students are less and

less inclined to blame individuals for being



Over time, social science students are more and

more inclined to blame the system for

people being poor and/or unemployed.


Over time, social science students are more and

more inclined to blame the system for

people being poor and/or unemployed.


Over time, business/administration students

are less and less inclined to blame the system for people being


Schools

• Preschool/Kindergarten

• Values (Re: Education, Work, Effort)

• Behavior

• College

• Values (Re: Society, Politics)

• Attitudes

• Beliefs

Questions

• Do you think that some of the curriculum aspects that made the preschool interventions so critical could be implemented into the modern-day Kindergarten classroom, for kids who don’t get to go to preschool?

!

• Do you think that “universal preschool” is a worthwhile investment? Why or why not?

!

• Do you think that early educational interventions can outweigh the negative effects of a bad home/family situation?

Questions

• What are some ways that you think Kindergarten (or other early grades) prepares you for the rest of your life?

!

• Did you think that the description of the Kindergarten classroom as a “boot camp” was depressing or accurate? Do you think the point of view could be improved? How?

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• Is it really good to “train” kids to obey authority (like a boot camp) when we know from the parents section that we should be encouraging autonomy? What is more important - obedience or autonomy?

Questions

• Why have there not been more studies done like the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study? Why haven’t these findings been taken to heart yet and implemented?

!

• How should we feel about “remedial” programs for older students? Are they truly necessary? Are they worthwhile, given what we know about how low the return on investment is when compared with preschool?

SOC 463/663 (Social Psych of Education) - Socialization

Education

agents of socialization

examples of things

point of light

judging participants

cultural continuity

habits necessary

dark room

unclear situation