The nurture assumption: The importance of the group socialization theory by Judith R. Harris in understanding and treating personality disorders according to the cognitive-behavioral model
Published:
Oct 15, 2020
Keywords:
Group socialization Personality disorders Cognitive behavioural therapy
Abstract
This paper presents and examines the existing evidence for an alternative theory of child development. The theory of group socialization (TGS) suggests that, contrary to older evidence, socialization takes place in the peer groups of childhood and adolescence. Processes between those groups and among their members are responsible for the cultural transmission, personality shaping and for behavioural differentiation. Data that support the theory are presented, and the criticism that the theory has received is addressed. The usefulness of the theory in the context of the clinical understanding and treatment of personality disorders according to the
cognitive behavioural model is discussed.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Ευσταθίου Γ., & Πέννα Υ. (2020). The nurture assumption: The importance of the group socialization theory by Judith R. Harris in understanding and treating personality disorders according to the cognitive-behavioral model. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 18(3), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23727
- Issue
- Vol. 18 No. 3 (2011)
- Section
- SPECIAL SECTION
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal PSYCHOLOGY adopts a Platinum open-access policy. Submission, processing or publication costs are waived by the Hellenic Psychological Society. Papers published in the journal PSYCHOLOGY are licensed under a 'Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International' licence. The authors reserve the copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of its first publication. Third-party licensees are allowed to use the published paper immediately after publication as they wish, provided they retain the defined by the license copyright formalities, regarding the reference to its author(s) and its initial publication in the journal PSYCHOLOGY. Moreover, any adjusted work should be shared under the same reuse rights, so with the same CC license.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Adler, P.A., & Adler, P. (1998). Peer Power:
Preadolescent Culture and Identity. New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Adler, P.A., Kless, S.J., & Adler, P. (1992).
Socialization to gender roles: Popularity among
elementary school boys and girls. Sociology of
Education, 65, 169-187.
Alwin, N., Blackburn, R., Davidson, K., Hilton, M.,
Logan, C., & Shine, J. (2006). Understanding
Personality Disorder: A Report by the British Psy -
cho logical Society. Ανακτήθηκε στις 15/5/09 από
την ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση: www.bps.org.uk.
Beck, A.T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental,
and theoretical aspects. New York: Hoeber.
Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., & Emery, G.
(1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New
York: The Guilford Press.
Beck, A.T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R.L. (1985).
Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive
perspective. New York: Basic Books.
Beck, A.T., & Freeman, A. (1990). Cognitive therapy
of personality disorders. New York: The Guilford
Press.
Beck, A.T., Freeman, A., Davis, D.D., & Associates
(2004). Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders
(2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
Beck, J.S. (1995). Cognitive Therapy: Basics and
Beyond. New York: The Guilford Press.
Beer, J.M., & Horn, J.M. (2000). The influence of
rearing order on personality development within
two adoption cohorts. Journal of Personality, 68,
-819.
Billig, M., & Tajfel, H. (1973). Social categorization
and similarity in intergroup behavior. European
Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 27-52.
Benas, J.S., & Gibb, B.E. (2008). Weight-related
teasing, dysfunctional cognitions, and symptoms
of depression and eating disturbances. Cognitive
Therapy and Research, 32, 143-160.
Cherlin, A.J., Furstenberg, F.F., Chase-Lansdale,
P.L., Kiernan, K.E., Robins, P.K., Morrison, D.R.,
& Teitler, J.O. (1991). Longitudinal studies of
effects of divorce on children in Great Britain and
the United States. Science, 252, 1386-1389.
Dattilio, F.M., & Freeman, A. (1994). Cognitivebehavioral
strategies in crisis intervention. New
York: The Guilford Press.
Denccik, L. (1989). Growing up in the post-modern
age: On the child’s situation in the modern
family, and on the position of the family in the
modern welfare state. Acta Sociologica, 70, 114-
Diamond, K., Le Furgy, W., & Blass, S. (1993).
Attitudes of preschool children toward their peers
with disabilities: a year-long investigation in
integrated classrooms. Journal of Genetic
Psychology, 154, 215-221.
Dishion, T.J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When
interventions harm: Peer groups and problem
behavior. American Psychologist, 54, 755-764.
Ευθυμίου, Κ. & Χαρίλα, Ν. (Επιμ. έκδ.) (2004). Ψυ-
χοθεραπευτική πράξη - Μελέτη περιστατικών: Η
εφαρμογή της γνωσιακής-συμπεριφοριστικής θε-
ραπείας σε πέντε κλινικές περιπτώσεις. Αθήνα:
Ελληνικά Γράμματα.
Emmelkamp, P., Benner, A., Kuipers, A., Feiertag, G.,
Koster, H., & van Apeldoorn, F. (2006).
Comparison of brief-dynamic and cognitivebehavioural
therapies in avoidant personality
disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 189, 60-64.
Freese, J., Powell, B., & Steelman, L.C. (1999). Rebel
without a cause or effect: Birth order and social
attitudes. American Sociological Review, 64, 207-
Freud, S. (1994). Τρεις μελέτες για τη θεωρία της σε-
ξουαλικότητας. Αθήνα: Επίκουρος.
Giesen-Bloo, J., van Dyck, R., Spinhoven, P., van
Tilburg, W., Dirksen, C., van Asselt, T., Kremers,
Ο μύθος της ανατροφής 359
I., Nadort, M., & Arntz, A. (2006). Outpatient
psychotherapy for borderline personality
disorder, randomized trial of schema-focused
therapy vs transference-focused psychotherapy.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 649-658.
Harris, J.R. (1995). Where is the child’s environment?
A Group Socialization Theory of Development.
Psychological Review, 102, 458-489.
Harris, J.R. (1998). Ο Μύθος της ανατροφής. Γεννιό-
μαστε ή γινόμαστε; Αθήνα: Ελληνικά Γράμματα.
Harris, J.R., & Kagan, J. (1998). Challenging the
nurture assumption (op-ed essay). The Psycho -
logy Place.
Harris, J.R. (1999). How many environments does a
child have? Harvard Education Letter, 15, 8.
Harris, J.R. (1999). How to succeed in childhood. The
Wilson Quarterly, 23, 30-37.
Harris, J.R. (2000a). Context-specific learning,
personality, and birth order. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 9, 174-177.
Harris, J.R. (2000b). The outcome of parenting: What
do we really know? (Commentary on Lykken).
Journal of Personality, 68, 625-637.
Harris, J. R. (2000c). Socializing, personality develop -
ment, and the child’s environments: Comment
on Vandell (2000). Developmental Psychology,
, 711-723.
Harris, J.R. (2001). Why can’t birth order account for the
differences between siblings? Ανακτήθηκε στις
/5/2009 από την ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση: http://
xchar.home.att.net/tna/birth-order/sibdiff.htm.
Harris, J.R. (2001). Why are birth order effects
dependent on context? Ανακτήθηκε στις
/5/2009 από την ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση:
.htm.
Harris, J.R. (2002). Why do people believe that birth
order has important effects on personality? Ανα-
κτήθηκε στις 15/5/2009 από την ηλεκτρονική δι-
believe.htm.
Harris, J.R. (2002). The mystery of Born to Rebel:
Sulloway’s re-analysis of old birth order data.
Ανακτήθηκε στις 15/5/2009 από την ηλεκτρονική
διεύθυνση: http://xchar.home.att.net/tna/birthorder/
methods.htm.
Harris, J.R. (2004). Personality and birth order:
Explaining the differences between siblings
(commentary on Townsend). Politics and Life
Sciences, 19, 160-163.
Harris, J.R. (2006). Parental selection: A third
selection process in the evolution of human
hairlessness and skin color. Medical Hypothesis,
, 1053-1059.
Hartup, W.W. (2005). Peer Interaction: What Causes
What? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33,
-394.
Hetherington, E.M., Stanley-Hagan, M., & Anderson,
E.R. (1989). Marital transitions: A child’s
perspective. American Psychologist, 44, 303-312.
Hoffman, L.W. (1991). The influence of the family
environment on personality: Accounting for
sibling differences. Psychological Bulletin, 110,
-203.
Hogg, M.A., & Abrams, D. (2006). Social Identifications.
London: Routledge.
Horowitz, F.D. (1997). Η Κληρονομιά του John B.
Watson: Μάθηση και Περιβάλλον. Στο Γ. Κουγι-
ουμτζάκης (Επιμ. έκδ.), Αναπτυξιακή Ψυχολογία:
Παρελθόν, παρόν, και μέλλον (σσ. 232-252).
Ηράκλειο: Πανεπιστημιακές εκδόσεις Κρήτης
(έτος πρωτότυπης έκδοσης 1992).
Leinbach, M.D., & Fagot, B.I. (1993). Categorical
habituation to male and female faces: Gender
schematic processing in infancy. Infant Behavior
and Development, 16, 317-332.
Levine, J.M., Resnick, L.B., & Higgins, E.T. (1993).
Social foundations of cognition. Annual Review of
Psychology, 44, 585-612.
Linehan, M.M., Comtois, K.A., Murray, A.M., Brown,
M.Z., Gallop, R.J., Heard, H.L., Korslund, K.E.,
Tutek, D.A., Reynolds, S.K., & Lindenboim, N.
(2006). Two-year randomized controlled trial and
follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs
therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and
borderline personality disorder. Archives of
General Psychiatry, 63(7), 757-766.
Loehlin, J.C. (1997). A test of J. R. Harris’s theory of
peer influences on personality. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1197-
Maccoby, E.E. (1990). Gender and relationships: A
developmental account. American Psychologist,
, 513-520.
Maccoby, E.E. & Jacklin, C.N. (1987). Gender
segregation in childhood. Advances in Child
Development and Behavior, 20, 239-287.
McGue, M., & Lykken, D.T. (1992). Genetic influence
on risk of divorce. Psychological Science, 3, 368-
Γιώργος Ευσταθίου και Υβόννη Πέννα
McLanahan, S., & Booth, K. (1989). Mother-only
families: Problems, prospects, and politics.
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 557-580.
Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive affective
system theory of personality: Reconceptualising
situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance
in personality structure. Psychological Review,
, 246-286.
Parker, J.G., & Asher, S.R. (1993β). Friendship and
friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with
peer group acceptance and feelings of
loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Develop -
mental Psychology, 29, 611-621.
Pettit, G.S., Bakshi, A., Dodge, K.A., & Coie, J.D.
(1990). The emergence of social dominance in
young boys’ play groups: Developmental
differences and behavioral correlates. Develop -
mental Psychology, 26, 1017-1025.
Plomin, R., & Daniels, D. (1987). Why are children in
the same family so different from one another?
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10, 1-16.
Reber, A.S. (1985). Dictionary of Psychology.
London: The Penguin Books.
Rowe, D.C. (1990). As the twig is bent? The myth of
child-rearing influences on personality develop -
ment. Journal of Counseling and Development,
, 606-611.
Svartberg, M., Stiles, T.C., & Seltzer, M.H. (2004)
Randomized, controlled trial of the effectiveness
of randomized, controlled trial of the effectiveness
of short-term dynamic psycho therapy and
cognitive short-term dynamic psycho therapy and
cognitive therapy for cluster C personality
disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161,
-817.
Vandell, D.L. (2000). Parents, peer groups, and other
socializing influences. Developmental Psycho -
logy, 36, 699-710.
Vernberg, E.M. (1990). Experiences with peers
following relocation during early adolescence.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 466-472.
Young, J.E., Klosko, J.S., & Weishaar M.E. (2003).
Schema Therapy: A Practitioner’s Guide. New
York: The Guilford Press.
Watson, J.B. (1924). Behaviorism. New York: Norton
(Ανατύπωση 1970).
