Role of parenting on self-regulation from a cross-cultural perspective: major empirical findings from the first quarter of the 21st century

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102114

This paper focuses on the extant evidence about the ways children around the globe master self-regulation (SR). Our goal was to summarize emerging evidence on cross-cultural comparison of SR in young children, and evaluate culturally common as well as distinct caregiver-child interaction patterns in relation to SR. Studies retrieved from major databases spanning from 2000 to 2025 were selected if they entailed samples of caregiver-infant/toddler dyads and compared at least two cultural groups. Ethnographic field studies and in-depth interview studies on emotion-related socialization for SR were also included. Findings were presented in three sections. First, the definition of SR and its milestones in early childhood are presented. Second, taking the cultural pathways as a conceptual framework, key findings from cross-cultural research with samples of infants and toddlers are synthesized that included studies on Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm, moment-to-moment co-regulation, compliance, emotion regulation, and temperamental effortful control. Evidence supports both cultural universals and distinct socialization processes for the development of SR. In the third section, key conclusions are discussed in light of the cultural pathways hypothesis. The final section entails recommendations to advance future research, both theoretically and methodologically.