John Wesley Mayhew Whiting (June 12, 1908 Chilmark, Massachusetts – May 13, 1999, Chilmark, Massachusetts) was an American sociologist and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, specializing in

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

.John Wesley Mayhew Whiting biographical sketch
at the Minnesota State University website Whiting grew up on Martha's Vineyard, on the Massachusetts coast. He received his B.A. in 1931 and his Ph.D. in sociology & anthropology in 1938, both from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He remained at Yale until 1947 on the staff of Yale Institute of Human Relations. After two years at the State University of Iowa, he was offered a position at Harvard in the Graduate School of Education. In 1963 he transferred to the Department of Social Relations, where he taught and conducted research in anthropology and comparative child development. Together with his wife Beatrice, John Whiting organized the Six Cultures Study of Socialization, the largest and most comprehensive comparative study of child rearing and child development. The study assigned teams of anthropologists with interdisciplinary training in psychology and child development to six sites around the world: The six cultures studied are "Nyansongo: a Gusii community in Kenya" (Robert A. LeVine and Barbara B. LeVine); "the Rajputs of Khalapur, India" (Leigh Minturn and John T. Hitchcock); "Taira: an Okinawan village" (Thomas W. Maretzki and Hatsumi Maretzki) ; "the Mixtecans of Juxtlahuaca, Mexico" (Kimball Romney and Romaine Romney); "Tarong: an Ilocos barrio in the Philippines" (William F. Nydegger and Corinne Nydegger); and "the New Englanders of Orchard Town, USA". (John L. Fischer and Ann Fischer). The Whitings continued work on comparative child development, both with their own fieldwork and through many students and collaborators, throughout their careers.J.W.M. Whiting obituary
''

Harvard University Gazette Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

'', 20 May 1999 In 1973, the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

honored him with the G. Stanley Hall Award for Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Psychology. Whiting was elected the first President of the

Society for Psychological Anthropology The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

in 1978. In 1982, John and his wife, Beatrice (née, Blyth) Whiting, won the

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...

's Distinguished Service Award. In 1989, they received the Society's first Career Contribution Award.

References

External Links

Robert L. Munroe and Robert A. LeVine, "John Wesley Mayhew Whiting", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiting, John Yale College alumni Yale University faculty University of Iowa faculty Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty 1908 births 1999 deaths People from Chilmark, Massachusetts Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni