Adult Reports of Parenting They Received Relates to Different Types of Moral Orientations

Darcia Narvaez, Ashley Lawrence, Ying Cheng, Lijuan Wang

Evolved Developmental Niche• “The reliable and repeatable features of stimulation and

experience occurring in an organism’s developmental context”

“ontogenetic niche” (West and King,1987)

• the set of ecological & social circumstances typically inherited by members of a given species

Stunted

Susceptible to illness

Early death

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO HUMANS?

Exploring the human evolved development niche

Note: Adapted from Montagu, 1968, with additional info from Dettwayler, 1997; Harvey & Clutton-Brock, 1985; Konner, 2010; Trevathan, 2011; World Health Organization

Human babies are needy

• Developmentally born 9-18 months early• 25% of adult brain volume at full-term birth

(40-42 weeks) (80% by age 3)• Human babies require “exterogestation”

(Montagu, 1978)• “Constructive interactionism” (Oyama, 2002)

What is the human Evolved Developmental Niche?

• Inheritance, with slight variance, from social mammalian practices over 30 million years old

• Common among small-band hunter-gatherers (99% of human genus history)

Hewlett & Lamb, 2005; Konner, 2010; Narvaez, Panksepp, Schore & Gleason, 2013

• TOUCH: Held or kept near others constantly• RESPONSE: Prompt responses to fusses, cries and needs• BREASTFEEDING: Nursed frequently (2-3 times/hr

initially) for 2-5 years• EXTENSIVE SOCIAL SUPPORT and ALLOPARENTS:

Shared care by adults other than mothers• PLAY: Enjoy free play in natural world with multiage

playmates• POSITIVE CLIMATE: Immersion in positive emotions • SOOTHING PERINATAL EXPERIENCES

Hewlett & Lamb, 2005; Ingold, 1999; Konner, 2010; Narvaez, Panksepp, Schore & Gleason, in press)

Evolved Developmental Niche(30 million year old mammalian practices)

Self-regulatory mechanisms affected by caregiving

• Brainstem function (heart rate, respiration, attention)• Vagus nerve (affects all body systems and sociality)• Stress response (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis)• Anxiety (glucocorticoid receptors in hippocampus)• Emotion systems (links between cortical executive functions

and subcortical emotion systems)• Immune system (number and ratio of immune cells)• Neurotransmitters (number and function of serotonin, NMDA

receptors)

HOW IS EARLY EXPERIENCE RELATED TO MORAL FUNCTIONING?

Does the Evolved Developmental Niche matter?

Early Life Sets the Stage for Social and Moral Development• Responsiveness matters!• Mutually responsive orientation (Kochanska) and

secure attachment (e.g., Kochanska, 2002; Weinfield et al., 2008)

• Empathy (Zahn-Waxler, Radke-Yarrow, Eisenberg)• Self-regulation (Weinfield et al., 2008)• Conscience (Kochanska)• Openness (Greenspan & Shanker, 2004)• Agency/self-efficacy/competence (Weinfield et

al., 2008)How about the other evolved parenting practices?

Family Life Project

Lijuan Wang

Jennifer Lefever Ying (Alison) Cheng

Tracy GleasonTHANKS TO•Spencer Foundation•University of Notre Dame

– College of Arts and Letters– Office of Research– Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts– Department of Psychology

•Members of the Moral Psychology Lab

Family Life Project

a. Longitudinal observational & maternal questionnaires and interviews from 4 to 36 months (data from the Centers for the Prevention of Child Neglect; n=636)

b. Maternal surveys of EDN behavior and attitudes in China (n=383) and USA (n=436)

c. Maternal survey of nurturing parenting attitudes USA (n=166)

a. Narvaez, Gleason, Wang, Brooks, Lefever, Cheng, & Centers for the Prevention of Child Neglect (2013)

b. Narvaez, Wang, Gleason, Cheng, Lefever, & Deng (2013);c. Gleason et al. (under review)

Parenting Practice & Child OutcomesEmpathy Conscience Self-

regulationCooperation IQ Depression

(not)Aggression (not)

Natural Childbirth

Breastfeeding initiation

Breastfeeding Length

Touch

Responsivity

Play

Social support/ Multiple caregivers

Current StudyParticipants: 407 adults recruited through Amazon Turk took an online survey (Mage= 33.52; 56% male, 62% Euro-American).

Dependent Variables were Triune Ethics Orientations: • ENGAGEMENT: caring, compassionate, merciful, cooperative • IMAGINATION: reflective, thoughtful, inventive, reasonable • SAFETY: controlled, tough, unyielding, competitive• BUNKER: combative tough vigilant belligerent • WALLFLOWER: submissive yielding timid unassertive

Please respond to your views of how you are in SOCIAL SITUATIONS (rate 5 questions about conscious explicit goals and unconscious, socially-perceived behavior)

Predictor VariablesAttachment (CRQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz): Secure, Preoccupied, Fearful, DismissiveAnxiety and Depression: 64-item Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS; Watson et al., 2007) Physical Health: Health history, self rating (single items); past month (3 items). All were added.Moral Personality (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Davis, 1983): Empathy, Perspective Taking, Personal DistressEvolved Developmental Health-History: EDN-H is a measure for adults with 15 questions about childhood experience. We use family togetherness (2 items), affection, punishment, play (3 items); supportive childhood (3 items); positive home climate, negative home climate

Evolved Developmental Niche-History FAMILY TOGETHERNESS (6 pt. scale)1.How often did you do things together as a family outside the home (e.g., going to religious services, shows, community events, visiting parks, traveling)? 2.How often did you do things together as a family at home (e.g., eating together, doing chores together, playing)?

AFFECTION: How often were you affectionately touched, kissed, or hugged by at least one of your parents or guardians?

PUNISHMENT: Did you ever receive corporal punishment from a parent or guardian (e.g., hit, spanked, slapped, pinched)?

PLAY1.How much did you participate in activities directed by adults (e.g., organized sports, clubs, scouting, music/dance lessons, etc.)? 2.How much did you play freely with other children OUTSIDE (play organized by the children; not in organized activities)? 3.How much did you play freely with other children INSIDE (play organized by the children; not in organized activities)?

Past Home Climate (PHC) IN YOUR FAMILY HOME WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD (age 0-18), please rate the emotion sets according to how frequently you felt them (6-pt) POSITIVE•JOY (Excited, Happy, Jovial, or Lively)•EXPANSIVE (Open, Playful, or Creative)•SELF-ASSURED (Proud, Confident, or Fearless)•SERENE (Calm, Relaxed, or at Ease)NEGATIVE•GRIEF (Downhearted, Sad, or Lonely)•HUMILIATION (Humiliated, Demeaned, or Shamed)•GUILT (Ashamed, Guilty, or Blameworthy)•FEAR (Dread, Tense, Nervous, or Scared)•ANGER (Angry, Hostile, Irritable, or Scornful)•NUMBNESS (Apathetic, Numb, Passive, or Shut Down)

Analyses

• Correlations• Regressions• Mediation models

Engagement Imagination Safety Bunker Wallflower Family Together Outside home .122* .158** -- -.112* -.161** In Home .254** .277** -.153** -.322** -.269** Affection .106* -- -- -- -.109* Punishment .163** -- -- -- -- Play Organized -- -- -- -- -.149** Play Outside .263** .222** -.113* -.240** -.233** Play Inside .219** .152** -- -.133* -.123* Home Climate Positive .247** .260** .098* -- -.235** Negative -.110* -- .099* .187** .240** Supportive .191** .128** -- -- -.127*

EDN

Engagement Imagination Safety Bunker Wallflower Anxiety -.172** -.144** .166** .408** .507** Depression -.207 -.162** .212** .438** .486** Poor Physical Health -- -- -- -- .260** Empathy .583** .446** -.249** -.303** -.143** Perspective Taking .402** .426** -.100* -.245** -.160** Personal Distress -- -- -- .236** .424**

Health and interpersonal

Summary of Correlations• Early experience appears to influence

predictors of moral functioning (secure attachment, empathic concern, perspective taking) and ethical orientation– greater EDN-consistent care was correlated with

Engagement and Imagination– Generally but not always, less EDN-consistent

care tended to be correlated with Safety, Bunker and Wallflower.

• Mental and physical health were correlated with ethical orientation—better mental health was correlated with Engagement and Imagination. Worse mental health was correlated with Safety, Bunker and Wallflower.

• Poor physical health was correlated only with Wallflower.

RegressionsA regression was conducted for each ethic (Engagement, Imagination, Safety, Bunker, Wallflower), testing four models.

Model 1 included childhood experiences (EDN): play (inside, outside), family togetherness (at home, out), positive and negative climateModel 2 added attachment (secure, preoccupied, fearful, dismissive) Model 3 added physical and mental health.Model 4 added interpersonal personality (empathy, perspective taking, personal distress).

Regression on EngagementModel Summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R

Square Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .335 .112 .103 .64081 2 .397 .157 .140 .62736 3 .432 .187 .164 .61861 4 .628 .395 .373 .53569

Model

Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F Sig.

1 Regression 20.840 4 5.210 12.688 .000

Residual 165.076 402 .411

Total 185.916 406

2 Regression 29.269 8 3.659 9.296 .000

Residual 156.647 398 .394

Total 185.916 406

3 Regression 34.757 11 3.160 8.257 .000

Residual 151.159 395 .383

Total 185.916 406

4 Regression 73.426 14 5.245 18.277 .000

Residual 112.490 392 .287

Total 185.916 406

Model

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig. Beta

4 (Constant) 5.450 .000

PLAY: Inside + outside .061 1.361 .174

Negative Home Climate .003 .067 .947

Positive Home Climate .133 2.729 .007

Family Togetherness -.005 -.103 .918

SECURE Attachment .053 1.038 .300

PREOCCUPIED Attachment .007 .161 .872

FEARFUL Attachment .013 .284 .776

DISMISSIVE Attachment -.027 -.621 .535

Depression Symptoms -.120 -1.631 .104

Anxiety Symptoms -.018 -.247 .805

Health (high score=poor) .095 1.989 .047

Empathic concern .450 8.828 .000

Personal Distress .042 .915 .361

Perspective Taking .110 2.332 .020

Regression on WallflowerModel Summary

Model R R Square

Adjusted R

Square

Std. Error of the

Estimate

1 .332 .110 .102 .94436

2 .451 .204 .188 .89795

3 .573 .328 .309 .82812

4 .609 .371 .348 .80432

ANOVA

Model

Sum of

Squares df

Mean

Square F Sig.

1 Regression 44.477 4 11.119 12.468 .000

Residual 358.509 402 .892

Total 402.986 406

2 Regression 82.071 8 10.259 12.723 .000

Residual 320.915 398 .806

Total 402.986 406

3 Regression 132.104 11 12.009 17.512 .000

Residual 270.882 395 .686

Total 402.986 406

4 Regression 149.390 14 10.671 16.494 .000

Residual 253.596 392 .647

Total 402.986 406

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardized

Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

t Sig. B Std. Error Beta

4 (Constant) 1.260 .435 2.900 .004

PLAY: Inside + outside -.007 .020 -.017 -.364 .716

Negative Home Climate -.052 .056 -.048 -.928 .354

Positive Home Climate -.145 .050 -.144 -2.917 .004

Family Togetherness -.013 .026 -.024 -.514 .608

SECURE Attachment .011 .024 .024 .456 .649

PREOCCUPIED

Attachment

.035 .023 .073 1.550 .122

FEARFUL Attachment .048 .025 .090 1.963 .050

DISMISSIVE Attachment .069 .023 .135 3.045 .002

Depression Symptoms .194 .106 .138 1.828 .068

Anxiety Symptoms .107 .035 .221 3.040 .003

Health (high score=poor) -.007 .013 -.025 -.520 .603

Empathic concern -.002 .069 -.002 -.032 .974

Personal Distress .278 .055 .233 5.035 .000

Perspective Taking -.047 .069 -.033 -.690 .491

a. Dependent Variable: wallflowerethic

Summary of Regressions

• The fourth model in each regression explained the greatest amount of variance.– For Engagement: EDN home climate; interpersonal

morality (empathy, perspective taking) were significant predictors

– For Wallflower: EDN home climate (lack of positive); Fearful and Dismissive attachment; poor mental health (anxiety and depression); and interpersonal reactivity (personal distress)

Mediation Models Predicting Engagement

EDN Variable

Empathic Concern

Perspective Taking

Engagement Orientation

Direct and indirect effects are significant for

• Family Togetherness (at home and away)• Play (inside and outside)• Positive Home Climate• Breastfeeding

Discussion

• Adults’ self-reported early experience (EDN) was related to the predictors of moral functioning (attachment, interpersonal orientation), to mental health, and to ethical orientations in correlations and regressions.

• Initial mediation analyses indicate not only direct effects of EDN on Engagement but indirect effects (EDN mediated by empathic concern and perspective taking).

Conclusion

• The epigenetic and developmental plasticity effects of early experience need to be closely examined for their specific influences on moral functioning.

Epigenetics of Moral Development

PRESENCE Right brain dominant

FOCUS ON POSSIBILITYLeft brain dominant

IMAGINATION ETHICCONDITIONED PAST

Wallflower

Bunker

SECURITY ETHIC

Communal Imagination

Vicious Imagination

ENGAGEMENT ETHIC

Personal Imagination

Subjective moral

orientations

Detached Imagination

SAFETY

For more information

• Darcia Narvaez (dnarvaez@nd.edu)

• Webpage (download papers): http://www.nd.edu/~dnarvaez/

• My blog at Psychology Today: Moral Landscapes http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes

2014, W.W. Norton Series on Interpersonal

Neurobiology