Cultural Dimensions of Self-Regulation

• Self-Regulation Development Across Cultures: The Combination of Individual and Social Interactions

Personal regulation is the ability of an individual to implement and control their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in line with specific goals. This topic is particularly important in developmental psychology because individuals are greatly affected by their environments, families, people, or social perceptions and behaviors. It is necessary to take into account cross-cultural differences in order to understand this development process.

• The Relationship Between Regulation and Culture

I can talk about the differences between cumulative societies and individualist societies separately under this heading.

Individualistic societies: It mostly draws attention to self-centered issues such as independence, personal goals and personal achievements. It is possible to observe that the individual behaviors of very young children are in line with their own desires and goals. For example, during my life in America, I can say that young people aged 14-15 both continue their education on their own and at the same time work in a business environment and take control of their own economic freedom.

Cumulative societies: This approach is quite common in Eastern cultures as well as in the Turkish society we live in. It is seen as the main goal to adapt to the perceptions and lifestyles that are accepted as correct by society. What individuals think and what kind of behaviors they want to exhibit is not taken into consideration. Rather, it is expected to what extent they will act in a way that meets social or family expectations.

• Cross-Cultural Influences on the Development Process

In this section, we can mostly talk about the effects of families, people around them and school life.

Family Roles: In cultures with an individual approach, it can be easily observed that children or young people have more independent thoughts and make analytical decisions. Because we can say that people have learned and are prepared to deal with their own problems on their own. However, it is possible to talk about the opposite in cultures with cumulative or, in other words, communitarian structures.

Education Systems: Differences in education systems also affect self-regulation processes in people in different ways. The answer to the question of how is the disciplined lifestyle in Asian cultures while the more individual and free-thinking encouragement in Western cultures.

• Conclusion

We can say that the issue of self-regulation or self-control is actually more than just an individual lifestyle or perception of life, but is entirely related to the societies we were born and raised in. I think it is important to mention that cultural differences and influences should also be taken into consideration in the various studies conducted in this field.