Creencias y prácticas de crianza: el estudio del parentaje en el contexto costarri.

This article provides an analytical review on the issue of parenting, which describes the main local and international research related to two major issues in developmental psychology in the Costa Rican context: the goals and practices of parenting within Costa Rican culture and the main results that characterize the predominant styles of mother-infant interaction. Based on research evidence from the past 30+ years, research developed by the author, and from the socio-cultural construct of orientation to interrelatedness and independence, main issues within cultural and cross-cultural studies on the subject are discussed from a perspective of cultural developmental psychology. Based on a review and critique of traditional, theoretical approaches in cross-cultural psychology applied to development, their applicability, scope, and relevance in studies of interaction styles and parental socialization goals are analyzed. The development of a culturally sensitive approach on developmental psychology is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]