TY - JOUR

T1 - Do Schooling and Urban Residence Develop Cognitive Skills at the Expense of Social Responsibility? A Study of Adolescents in the Gambia, West Africa

AU - Jukes, Matthew C.H.

AU - Zuilkowski, Stephanie S.

AU - Grigorenko, Elena L.

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - The recent growth of schooling and urban residence represents a major change to the cultural context of child development across Africa. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between these social changes in the Gambia and the development of both cognitive skills and behaviors viewed by participant communities as the basis for success in village life, comprising six aspects of social responsibility. We compared these skills and behaviors in a sample of 562 Gambian adolescents (M age = 17.1 years) from 10 villages who had either attended a government primary school (n = 207; 36.8%) or a madrasa (n = 355; 63.2%). A total of 235 participants (41.8%) had spent a short time living in the Gambia’s major urban center (median visit duration of 4.2 months). This temporary urban residence was associated with improved performance in all six cognitive tests and a decrease in five of the six social responsibility scores, as rated by adults in the community. Government schooling was associated with improved performance in five of the six cognitive tests, but there was no consistent relationship with social responsibility ratings. Associations may result from the profiles of young Gambians who choose or who are selected to go to school or live in the city, or they may result from the effects of those environments on their behaviors and skills. In either case, the implications of our findings are that schooling values certain cognitive abilities and urban life values these cognitive abilities too but devalues social responsibility.

AB - The recent growth of schooling and urban residence represents a major change to the cultural context of child development across Africa. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between these social changes in the Gambia and the development of both cognitive skills and behaviors viewed by participant communities as the basis for success in village life, comprising six aspects of social responsibility. We compared these skills and behaviors in a sample of 562 Gambian adolescents (M age = 17.1 years) from 10 villages who had either attended a government primary school (n = 207; 36.8%) or a madrasa (n = 355; 63.2%). A total of 235 participants (41.8%) had spent a short time living in the Gambia’s major urban center (median visit duration of 4.2 months). This temporary urban residence was associated with improved performance in all six cognitive tests and a decrease in five of the six social responsibility scores, as rated by adults in the community. Government schooling was associated with improved performance in five of the six cognitive tests, but there was no consistent relationship with social responsibility ratings. Associations may result from the profiles of young Gambians who choose or who are selected to go to school or live in the city, or they may result from the effects of those environments on their behaviors and skills. In either case, the implications of our findings are that schooling values certain cognitive abilities and urban life values these cognitive abilities too but devalues social responsibility.

KW - Africa

KW - cognitive ability

KW - culture

KW - developmental: child/adolescent

KW - Gambia

KW - schooling

KW - social and emotional learning

KW - social responsibility

KW - urbanization

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85038595594&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/0022022117741989

DO - 10.1177/0022022117741989

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85038595594

VL - 49

SP - 82

EP - 98

JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

SN - 0022-0221

IS - 1

ER -