Learning to control through culture: Explaining variation in the development of self-regulation

Self-regulation is a goal-directed behavior involving adaptive decision making. It consists of multiple cognitive and motor skills, is shaped by complex sociocultural environments, and has short- and long-term consequences for child outcomes. However, most of what we know about the development of self-regulation comes from research conducted among communities that are unrepresentative of most of the global population. To fully understand the complexities of the development of self-regulation requires globally representative data on the diverse and complex cultural environments in which children learn. Our objective is to highlight discoveries about how complex cultural influences shape the development of self-regulation. We discuss the impact of child-rearing environments, educational influences, and environmental stressors on the development of self-regulation based on research conducted with populations worldwide. We provide empirically based recommendations for measuring self-regulation in context. Our conclusion includes suggestions for future research to promote efforts to build a globally representative science of self-regulation.