Aiming to contribute to the cross-cultural understanding of the nature and meaning of the sensitivity construct, this exploratory study observed 26 mothers and their 18-60-month-old children in rural (15) and urban Iran (11) for 30 minutes of free interaction in the home context. This first study to use video observations of parenting in Iran showed that mothers were generally comfortable with being filmed, intercoder reliability could be established for the Ainsworth sensitivity scale, and the full range of sensitivity scores was observed. Qualitative descriptions of representative interactions are provided to illustrate stylistic differences between rural and urban mothers. Urban mothers tended to engage in verbal interactions centered around toys, whereas rural mothers and children often engaged in chores related to the family's livelihoods such as tending animals, and generally talked less. Both sensitivity and insensitivity were observed in playful and chore-based activities.
Keywords: Iran; maternal sensitivity; observation; rural versus urban.