[Paper spotlight] Gender‐Typed & Gender‐Segregated Play Among Hadza & BaYaka youth

Terrific new paper out now in Child Development — from FCS members Sheina Lew-Levy and Adam Boyette along with their colleagues — exploring the development of gendered play in two hunter-gatherer communities.

Read the press release here!

Abstract: "Few data exist on gender‐typed and gender‐segregated play in hunter‐gatherer societies, despite their unique demographic and cultural features which may influence children’s gendered play. Using naturalistic observations of Hadza (N = 46, 41% female) and BaYaka (N = 65, 48% female) hunter‐gatherer 3‐ to 18‐year‐olds from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo, we showed that access to playmates was negatively associated with playing in mixed‐gender groups. Young boys did not engage in more rough‐and‐tumble play than girls, but adolescent boys participated in this type of play more than adolescent girls. Children were also more likely to participate in work‐themed play which conformed to gender norms within their society. Findings are discussed within the context of gendered division of labor, child autonomy, and demography."

[Paper spotlight] The developmental origins of risk and time preferences across diverse societies.

Excited to share our new paper, out now in JEP:General, exploring variation in risk and time preferences among kids of four cultures: the US, India, Toba/Qom children in Argentina, and hunter-horticulturalist Shuar children in Ecuador. Click here for a PDF of the pre-print!

Abstract:

"Risk and time preferences have often been viewed as reflecting inherent traits such as impatience and self-control. Here, we offer an alternative perspective, arguing that they are flexible and environmentally informed. In Study 1, we investigated risk and time preferences among children in the United States, India, and Argentina, as well as forager-horticulturalist Shuar children in Amazonian Ecuador. We find striking cross-cultural differences in behavior: children in India, the United States, and Argentina are more risk-seeking and future-oriented, whereas Shuar children are more risk-averse and exhibit more heterogeneous time preferences, on average preferring more today choices. To explore 1 of the socioecological forces that may be shaping these preferences, in Study 2, we compared the behavior of more and less market-integrated Shuar children, finding that those in market-integrated regions are more future-oriented and risk-seeking. These findings indicate that cross-cultural differences in risk and time preferences can be traced into childhood and may be influenced by the local environment. More broadly, our results contribute to a growing understanding of plasticity and variation in the development of behavior."

[Paper spotlight] Autonomy, cognitive development, and the socialisation of cooperation in foragers

A new paper from Adam Howell Boyette, exploring autonomy, cognitive development, and socialization of cooperation among Aka children.

Read the paper here!

Abstract

"It is well established that respect for autonomy and sharing are two core values that, along with egalitarianism have great influence over thought and action in mobile foraging society. However, resolving the tension between these values is also key to forager social life, which requires both a lack of dependence on specific others and consistent and significant generosity to maintain social harmony. Children’s emerging conceptions of these values and their coming to accept them through their everyday experiences with social norms has not received much attention and is the subject of this study. Here, a cognitive approach to value socialisation from anthropology is integrated with research from developmental psychology regarding children’s internalisation of normative behaviour – sharing norms in particular – to shed light on how children come to resolve psychological conflicts between the value of sharing, with its explicit normative practices of giving away, and the value of autonomy, which may be implicitly seen by children when others accept occasionally selfish behaviour. Drawing from semi-formal interviews with 31 Aka forest forager children around the ages of 5–16 years old, children’s responses to questions about their experiences sharing food and other resources and caring for infants are subjected to content analysis. Results add further empirical support that sharing is an early internalised value and influence over children’s behaviour. They also suggest an integration of psychological anthropology and developmental psychology is useful in understanding forager socialisation."