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Lives Across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human Development, 6th edition

Published by Pearson (February 6, 2017) © 2018

  • Harry W. Gardiner University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

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For courses in Cross-Cultural Development
An interdisciplinary exploration of cross-cultural human development throughout the lifespan
Lives Across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human Development focuses on cultural similarities and differences in human development throughout the world and across the lifespan, while emphasizing the links between theory, research, and practical applications. Presented chronologically by topic, Harry Gardiner’s Sixth Edition combines the most current information with engaging vignettes, stories, and personal experiences in his highly praised, scholarly yet conversational, and often humorous writing style.
NOTE: This ISBN is for a Pearson Books a la Carte edition: a convenient, three-hole-punched, loose-leaf text. In addition to the flexibility offered by this format, Books a la Carte editions offer students great value, as they cost significantly less than a bound textbook.
A cross-cultural perspective expands awareness and reduces ethnocentric thinking
  • Recurring themes — ecological and contextual approaches, developmental niches, and developmental and cross-cultural perspectives — are regularly interwoven into the narrative of each chapter to provide a comprehensive and cohesive understanding.
  • Cultural diversity is fully integrated throughout the entire text — not just sprinkled on with a few selected boxes or features here and there. The text weaves scores of real-life examples of cross-cultural research and findings through every chapter of development.
  • UPDATED! The authors help students place content from each chapter within ecological context via opening vignettes that bring concepts to life. The topics of these vignettes are revisited throughout the chapter to boost understanding.
    • Most chapters open with stories of two individuals from different geographical areas of the world, who illustrate several of the behaviors described in the chapter. The developmental differences in these individuals are integrated into the chapter in which they appear, familiarizing students with as many cultures as possible.
Engaging features foster critical thinking, self reflection, and better understanding
  • UPDATED! Italicized questions throughout each chapter encourage students to pause and reflect on important issues, and on how the material applies to their own lives and those of their friends and family.
  • Points to Ponder, within each chapter, ask students to consider a number of questions relevant to themselves and others — the answers to which will help them better understand the many ways culture influences behavior. They are asked to observe, analyze, and apply this information to a variety of situations and to think critically about its meaning to gain a clearer understanding of the major points. Understanding one’s own developmental niche, observing public parenting, finding an identity, and learning language are among the topics discussed.
  • Developmental Analysis boxes appear in chapters 3 to 9. Written in the first person, they tell the life story of Matilda “Maddi” Skelton, who engagingly applies important concepts to her own development over the lifespan. This pedagogical feature helps clarify the material and provide continuity across chapters. It also motivates students to write their own developmental analysis to better understand how they became the person they are today.
  • Key Ideas make concepts easy to understand by placing them in bold type the first time they appear, immediately defining them, and providing numerous examples to illustrate their cultural relevance. For a quick review or preview, each chapter ends with a concise summary of important points.
  • Further readings, in annotated form, are listed at the close of each chapter to provide students with opportunities to expand their understanding of the topics just covered.
New and updated content ensures the most current learning experience available
  • NEW! The text has been completely updated with the addition of several new topics and the inclusion of the latest in research findings and references. A few examples are:
    • Cultural images of aging;
    • The changing context of families and grandparenting;
    • Transgenderism and gender-neutral parenting;
    • Studies on dyslexia that provide insight into the relationships between cognition and language; and
    • Ecological influences on health issues.
  • NEW! New photographs and boxed material have been added throughout the text.
  • NEW! New study questions and suggestions for further readi
A cross-cultural perspective expands awareness and reduces ethnocentric thinking
  • UPDATED! The authors help students place content from each chapter within ecological context via opening vignettes that bring concepts to life. The topics of these vignettes are revisited throughout the chapter to boost understanding.
    • Most chapters open with stories of two individuals from different geographical areas of the world, who illustrate several of the behaviors described in the chapter. The developmental differences in these individuals are integrated into the chapter in which they appear, familiarizing students with as many cultures as possible.
Engaging features foster critical thinking, self reflection, and better understanding
  • UPDATED! Italicized questions throughout each chapter encourage students to pause and reflect on important issues, and on how the material applies to their own lives and those of their friends and family.
Several new topics, as well as the latest in research findings and references, keep the text current
  • Chapter 1 provides expanded clarification of the emic-etic distinction, individualism-collectivism, and additional information on the Human Genome Project — including access to a website on the subject.
  • Chapter 2 includes expanded coverage of the major theories, their strengths and limitations, and real-life examples. New applications of Bronfenbrenner’s approach — as well as applications of the developmental niche model on policy planning and early childhood development programs — are also discussed.
  • Chapter 3 offers new information on socialization, sleep, malnutrition, breastfeeding, female genital mutilation, and an expanded discussion of China’s one-child policy that was officially abandoned in October 2015.
  • Chapter 4 covers new material on cultural images of aging, gay/lesbian relationships, mothering and fathering, and an expanded discussion of the changing context of families and grandparenting. Sections on mate selection, marriage and long-term relationships, and the transition to parenthood receive additional attention.
  • Chapter 5 includes new research on cross-cultural comparisons of second-language learning, as well as results from studies on dyslexia that provide insight into the relationships between cognition and language. New material on reasoning and decision-making in adulthood — including controversies surrounding cognitive aging — is also discussed.
  • Chapter 6 has new material on environmental and genetic influences on temperament and personality development. It also covers cultural influences on identity formation, changes in personality during later adulthood, and expanded coverage of the “aging” self.
  • Chapter 7 focuses greater attention on early social relationships within the ecological context; the expanding role of individualism and collectivism; and new information on the critical issues of bullying, peer relationships, and play.
  • Chapter 8 is devoted to culture and issues of gender and sexuality. An expanded discussion of changing gender culture throughout the world, includes a discussion of transgenderism and gender-neutral parenting.
  • Chapter 9 focuses greater attention on ecological influences on health issues — illness behavior across cultures, obesity, eating disorders, acculturation, Alzheimer’s, and coping strategies and behaviors.
  • Chapter 10 has been updated to reflect some of the future trends in cross-cultural developmental research and applications, and meeting the needs of individuals in an era of increasing globalization.
New and updated content ensures the most current learning experience available
  • New photographs and boxed material have been added throughout the text.
  • New study questions and suggestions for further reading have been included.

Brief Contents

  1. Introduction to Cross-Cultural Human Development
  2. Theories and Methodology
  3. Culture and Socialization
  4. The Family in Cultural Context
  5. Culture, Language, and Cognition
  6. Culture, Self, and Personality
  7. Culture and Social Behavior
  8. Culture and Issues of Gender and Sexuality
  9. Culture, Health, and Illness
  10. Future Trends and Applications
Harry Gardiner is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin—La Crosse with degrees from American International College (BA), the University of Hawaii (MA), and the University of Manchester, England (PhD), where he met his wife, Ormsin, of Thailand. Married in both Buddhist and Christian ceremonies, he taught at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok for two years. He and his wife have four children and six grandchildren.
He has engaged in training, teaching, and research in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Dr. Gardiner was a charter member of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology and served as president of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research. In addition to publishing articles in a wide variety of journals and participating in national and international meetings, he has co-authored a number of chapters on cross-cultural topics for other books.
He enjoys watching the development of his six grandchildren as they navigate a much more culturally diversified world than he, or his children, experienced at their ages.

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