Social Structure, Socialization Values, and Disciplinary Techniques: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Previous research suggests that supervision of adults in salient behavioral domains is an important antecedent of differential valuation of conformity and self-reliance in socialization. This study attempts to extend this research by implicating differential valuation of these traits as an antecedent of the use of physical punishment. Using a sample of cultures drawn from the Standard Cross-cultural Sample and the Human Relations Area Files, we found as expected that a cultural emphasis on conformity relative to self-reliance had a substantial positive effect on physical punishment. Moreover, the conformity/self-reliance variable played a role (albeit a limited one) in transmitting the effects of six measures of structural supervision on physical punishment.