Carolin Demuth

Mother-child communication: Cultural differences

Communication with children plays a crucial role not only for cognitive and social-emotional development but also in a more general sense for an understanding of self and self in relation to others. Research from linguistic anthropology and cultural developmental psychology have shown that there exists a great variety of cultural genres of communicating with children that are in line with the relevant broader cultural ideologies of good child care. Culture, communication, and self-development are inextricably intertwined. Culturally distinct communicative practices in which children participate will therefore ultimately lead to different cultural developmental pathways. While traditional research in developmental psychology has focused on mother–child dyads and experimental designs there is an increasing recognition of the need for naturalistic studies of everyday communication with children including their broader social network.

The Multi-voicedness of Independence and Interdependence: The Case of the Cameroonian Nso

It is often claimed that independence and interdependence are two dimensions that are part of any culture and the psychology of any human being. While previous studies have considered these two concepts merely as a matter of degree, this article argues that, in fact, they can be of different quality and have a variety of meanings depending on the specific socio-cultural context. From a systemic approach, the study addresses the dialogical co-existence of these dimensions and views culture as an open system that allows for adaptation and constant reorganization according to the given context. Interviews with 10 mothers from the ethnic group of the Cameroonian Nso on their ideas on childrearing revealed that different conceptions of autonomy and interpersonal relatedness not only co-exist in this ethnic group but may serve different purposes and change depending on the specific socio-cultural conditions in which the mother lives.

Cultural models in communication with infants: Lessons from Kikaikelaki, Cameroon and Muenster, Germany

Child rearing is a universal task, yet there are differing solutions according to the dynamics of socio-cultural milieu in which children are raised. Cultural models of what is considered good or bad parenting become explicit in everyday routine practices. Focusing on early mother–infant interactions in this article we examine the discursive practices and strategies that foster cultural values such as autonomy and relatedness. Drawing on micro-analysis of videotaped mother–infant interactions from middle-class families in Muenster, Germany and farming Nso families in Kikaikelaki, Cameroon, we aim at illustrating how diverse discursive strategies construct alternative versions of the child’s experience of self and self-in-relation-to-others. In each case, mothers draw on discursive practices that convey cultural norms and values that fit the relevant cultural context.

New Directions in Qualitative Research in Psychology

Qualitative Research gains increasing popularity in the field of Psychology. With the renewed interest, there are, however, also some risks related to the overhomogenization and increasing standardization of qualitative methods. This special issue is dedicated to clarify some of the existing misconceptions of qualitative research and to discuss its potentials for the field of psychology in light of recent endeavors to overcome paradigmatic battles and a re-orientation to the specifities of psychology. The issue comprises a discussion from workshop on the future of qualitative research in psychology organized at Aalborg University, and several contributions that resulted from it.

Qualitative methodology in developmental psychology

Qualitative methodology presently is gaining increasing recognition in developmental psychology. Although the founders of developmental psychology to a large extent already used qualitative procedures, the field was long dominated by a (post)positivistic quantitative paradigm. The increasing recognition of the sociocultural embeddedness of human development, and of the importance to study individuals’ subjective experience, however, calls for adequate methodological procedures that allow for the study of processes of transformation across the life span. The wide range of established procedures in qualitative research offers a promising avenue to advance the field in this direction.

“Slow Food” Post-Qualitative Research in Psychology: Old Craft Skills in New Disguise?

The present paper addresses several aspects discussed in the special issue on the future of qualitative research in psychology. Particularly, it asks whether in light of the overhomogenization of the term “qualitative methods” researchers actually can still assume that they talk about the same thing when using this terminology. In addressing the topic of what constitutes the object of psychological research and what accordingly could be a genuinely psychological qualitative research it acknowledges the need to return to the study of persons’ unique experience. In light of the risk of “McDonaldization” in present qualitative research, it argues that we need to return to learning research methods as craft skills. It will then give an outlook on how recent developments in discursive and narrative psychology offer a fruitful avenue for studying unique psychological experience as people manage to ‘move on’ in a material world and in irreversible time.

The Future of Qualitative Research in Psychology: A Discussion with Svend Brinkmann, Günter Mey, Luca Tateo, and Anete Strand

In May 2014, a workshop on “The future of qualitative research in psychology” took place at Aalborg University (Denmark), Department of Communication & Psychology organized by Carolin Demuth. Participants from Aalborg University engaged in a lively exchange with the two invited discussants Svend Brinkmann (Aalborg University) and Günter Mey (Stendal University of Applied Science). The discussion started out by addressing the specifics of qualitative research in the field of psychology, its historical development and the perils of recent trends of standardization and neo-positivistic orientations. In light of the discrepancy of what could be potentially achieved with qualitative methods for psychological research and how they are actually currently applied, an emphasis was made that we need to return to an understanding of qualitative methods as a craft skill and to take into account the subjectivity of the researcher in the process of scientific knowledge production. Finally, a re-focus on experience as the genuine object of psychological research, as well as a transdisciplinary approach to our understanding of human psychological functioning within a socially co-constructed, biological, as well as material world was discussed.

Narrative Inquiry: An Interview With Michael Bamberg

Carolin Demuth: Michael, your work over the past decades has contributed significantly to our understanding of identity, particularly, narrative identity. Can you talk a little bit about the story of how you first got interested in the topic?

Memories of Me: Comparisons from Osnabrueck (Germany) and Delhi (India) Students and Their Mothers

The present study explores the dialogical relationship between autobiographical remembering, self and culture from a developmental and trans-generational perspective. It draws on a comparative design including self-describing memories of 10 Indian students from Delhi and 13 German students from Osnabrueck. Moreover, stories often told about oneself during childhood were investigated from the students’ as well as from their mothers’ perspective. Analysis revealed not only culture-specific ways of telling about one’s past that point to different prevailing socio-cultural philosophies, but also trans-generational similarities of stories repeatedly told to and about the child. The findings suggest that self-defining stories develop and are dialogically intertwined with the cultural narrative practices that children engage in during the course of socialization. Theoretical implications for our understanding of self-development are discussed from a Bakhtinian perspective.

Generalization from Single Cases and the Concept of Double Dialogicality

The present paper addresses how the concept of double-dialogicality may contribute to our understanding of how to generalize from single cases. Various attempts have been made within qualitative social research to define how generalization is possible from single cases. One problem with generalization in psychology is that any human activity and sense making is situated/occasioned and all psychological phenomenon are hence unique. However, they are not arbitrary but dialogically intertwined with socio-cultural traditions of sense making and acting. Discursive practices play a pivotal role in this. In social interactions, persons draw on culturally available resources without which communicative meaning would be impossible. Double dialogicality as introduced by Per Linell helps to understand this relation and allows for identifying the general in the unique.