Self- and family-conceptions of Turkish migrant, native German, and native Turkish children: A comparison of children's drawings

•Children's conception of self and family is expressed in their drawings.•Conceptions of self and family vary with the cultural context.•Turkish migrant children's drawings are partly influenced by the culture of origin.•The receiving culture also impacts on drawing features, especially figure size.•The results correspond with the cultural context and mothers’ cultural orientation.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the cultural conception of self and family held by Turkish migrant preschool children in comparison with native German and native Turkish children by the assessment of self- and family-drawings. The final sample consisted of 40 Turkish migrant children, 56 German urban middle-class children, 47 German rural children, 61 Turkish urban middle-class children, and 21 Turkish rural children. The children of the five cultural milieus did not differ in age, gender distribution, or human figure drawing ability. Besides the drawings, the mothers’ sociocultural orientation was assessed, as well as migrant mothers’ involvement in the German and Turkish cultures. The results revealed similarities between Turkish migrant children's self- and family-depictions with those of children from their culture of origin, particularly in some categorical features such as gender-specific characteristics, torso type, and neighbors. On the other hand, however, the drawings differed from those of Turkish rural children in the size of the depicted self. These findings are in line with the specific ecocultural context and the cultural orientation of Turkish migrant families toward psychological autonomy and hierarchical relatedness. It can therefore be concluded that Turkish migrant children's drawings are influenced by both their culture of origin, probably mediated by their familial socialization, and their social experiences in Germany.