ABSTRACT
The most important mammalian psychological characteristic is the bonding which occurs between an infant and its primary caretaker. The most important primate psychological characteristic is an individual’s life-long involvement with a subsistence group. Socialization consists of all the influences that people, institutions, and media have on individuals and groups. For North American children the most important socializing agents are their families, peers, schools, and television. Cultures differ considerably in the nature of their families, and hence, in the types of influence families have on their children’s development. The nuclear family consisting of mother, father, and their offspring, residing in a single separate household, is the ideal of relatively few cultures. The mutual attachment of an infant to her primary caretakers is the beginning of the infant’s personality development. The sense of self (personality) primarily develops through a child’s interactions with other people.
