Cultural transformations and popular scientific adaptations of psychological knowledge by parents in Turkey. A qualitative study
Final Report Abstract
Psychological knowledge and psychological practices and techniques (such as psychotherapy) change not only research but also everyday understanding. Concepts such as the Oedipus complex, attachment style, or intelligence are an integral part of language and culture. They shape the way people describe themselves and others, explain actions to themselves, and evaluate psychological phenomena. Such processes of psychologization have been analyzed many times in sociology, including Illouz's (2008) studies on marital conflict or Rose's (1998) work on self-management. What these studies have in common is that they examine psychological knowledge in cultures of the so-called West, where psychology is highly recognized. Less well researched is the role psychological knowledge plays in the everyday life of cultures beyond the West and how it is taken up but also changed there. Using Turkey as an example, the research project examined precisely this question. Psychology has been anchored in Turkish universities for over 100 years, but plays a much smaller role in everyday life than for example in Germany. The research project focuses on an exemplary context, namely mothers' everyday theories about their children and the parent-child relationship. These everyday theories were collected with the help of qualitative interviews (N = 21) with mothers from Istanbul and Sinop. The results could be compared with own research results from Germany. Overall, it was found that psychological knowledge is incorporated to a lesser extent in the reflections of Turkish parents than in Germany. Three topics were evaluated in more depth: Sibling relationships: All interviewees emphasized the emotional and social closeness of siblings as an ideal. Descriptions of sibling conflicts are accompanied by those of empathy and solidarity. In none of the interviews is the need for individual development of each sibling addressed, as is emphasized in Germany. Also missing are (indirect) references to the influence of sibling succession on personality. - Breastfeeding: Expert knowledge shapes perceptions of breastfeeding and child nutrition in Turkey as well. This is mainly medical knowledge (e.g. WHO recommendation), a psychological perspective on breastfeeding is only taken in individual cases. The mothers describe in detail their own bodily experience of breastfeeding, as well as the bond established with the child - but not with recourse to the vocabulary of attachment theory (as in Germany). Mothers who have difficulties with breastfeeding also suffer from this experience in Turkey. - Separation from the child due to day-care: As in Germany, mothers experience the first separations from the child as painful, but also as a relief. Care outside the family is perceived as "foreign" and is met with mistrust by some. While parents in Germany emphasize that day-care promotes children's development and is important for their independence, Turkish mothers see these institutions as a necessity that they would prefer to avoid.
Publications
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Early pioneer of social psychology in Turkey: Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı. Kongress der DGPs, Hildesheim.
Kapısız, Z. & Sieben, A.
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Mothers’ ethnotheories of sibling relationships: A qualitative study in Turkey. Conference of International Society for Theoretical Psychology, Sacramento, (Online).
Kapısız, Z.
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Mothers’ ethnotheories of sibling relationships:A qualitative study in Turkey. Culture & Psychology, 30(2), 345-366.
Kapısız, Zeynep & Sieben, Anna
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Psychologisierung. Kulturpsychologie, 387-398. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Sieben, Anna
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Psychologization and parental ethnotheories in Turkey. A qualitative interview study. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Kulturpsychologie und der Fachgruppe Geschichte der Psychologie, Bochum.
Sieben, A. & Kapısız, Z.
