Wolfgang Friedlmeier - Böcker

vii PREFACE It was 13 years ago that we met for the ?rst time at a German developmental psychology conference. One of us, Wolfgang Friedlmeier (WF), was interested in ontogenetic development from a cross-cultural perspective. He presented a study on the development of empathy and distress in preschool age, dealing with how far children from different cultures respond to comparable demands with different emotions and regulation strategies. The other, Manfred Holodynski (MH), was - terested in ontogenetic development from the perspective of internalization: how processes that are originally socially distributed between persons are transformed into mental processes within the individual. He presented a study on the devel- ment of the emotions pride and shame in preschool age. This led the two of us to discover our common interest in central issues of emotional development: What role do the emotions play in an individual’s activity regulation? What is it exactly that is “developing” when we talk about emotional development? Do emotional processes have a social genesis? And what is the role of the early social interactions between children and their caregivers, along with the obvious fact that individuals grow up and live in completely different cultures? Even at this time, we both already suspected that the social and cultural embedment of the individual would prove to be a key to understanding how the diversity of human emotions and their regulation develop.

As intercultural encounters between people in the modern world become more common, important questions have been raised about the nature of culture-specific differences and similarities. Focusing on the relationship between culture and human development, this timely book offers an interdisciplinary exploration of key developmental processes. It combines psychological and sociological approaches with cross-cultural research to examine phenomena such as the transfer of culture between generations and the universality of attachment theory.Drawing on detailed research from a range of cultural groups, leading international researchers consider the impact of social change and modernization on the development of the individual and at the societal level. Theoretical and methodological issues are presented in terms of how to apply the results of cross-cultural research as well as recent empirical research done in specialized areas of the field. Finally, short-term intercultural exchanges are examined and used to suggest some of the potential practical uses of cross-cultural research for the future.This book will be essential reading for anyone studying or researching in cultural psychology, cross-cultural psychology, acculturation or behavioral development. It will also prove an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in sociology and the social sciences in general.

The first book to examine emotional development from birth to adulthood, Development of Emotions and Their Regulation fills in significant gaps in the literature by integrating major developmental theories of emotion with robust research on emotion regulation in adults. Noted German psychologists Holodynski and Friedlmeier have written a work that takes on dominant theories such as the desomatization of emotion as people attain maturity, as well as more recent contextual models of emotional growth. The authors define emotion in terms of attendant expression, feeling, and physical reaction, and describe its development in terms of both universal and culture-specific contexts.This trajectory is characterized first by the origination of emotions and later the move from interpersonal to intrapersonal emotion regulation, including: - Processes that occur during emotional development, starting with infancy - Links between children's emotions and communication strategies - The key role of caregivers' communication in the child's emotional development - How emotions become nuanced and individualized during the school years - The intricate relationship between emotional development and emotion regulation as the person reaches adulthood. Surprising and often startling in its conclusions, Development of Emotions and Their Regulation is sure to spark controversy among students, researchers, and practitioners in the developmental field. It may also signal a paradigm shift in the making.