Social Psychology

Many international development efforts have been limited because they are elaborated as exclusively economic projects. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen argues, however, that combating poverty requires expanding individual freedoms and capabilities, in place of bolstering only macroeconomic growth. Based on the work of IMIFAP (The Mexican Institute of Family and Population Research) in Mexico and Latin America, this book seeks to transform Sen’s philosophical approach into an operative model for sustainable development through its Framework for Enabling Empowerment (FrEE). The book offers a new, practical paradigm based in social psychology which empowers marginalized individuals to interact critically and constructively with their social, education, health and civic contexts.

This book contains chapters which propose ways to bridge cultural and developmental approaches to human psychology. The chapters heed the call of cultural psychology to study different peoples around the world and to recognize that culture profoundly impacts how we think, feel, and act. At the same time, they also take seriously the developmental science perspective that humans everywhere share common life stage tasks and ways of learning. Doing what has not previously been done, the chapters integrate key insights and findings from cultural and developmental research. This book is in step with a world where culturally diverse peoples interact with one another more than ever due to migration, worldwide media, and international trade and travel. With these interactions come changes to cultures and the psychological development of their members, and the implications for scholarship and policy are thoughtfully examined here. The book covers a wide range of related topics. It addresses the intersection of development and culture for psychological processes such as learning and memory, for key contexts of development such as family and civil society, for conceptions of self and identity, and for how the life course is partitioned including a focus on childhood and emerging adulthood.

Following World War II, unparalleled economic prosperity, along with the largest cohort of American youth, gave rise to a new teen market and a new media landscape defined by television and radio. These influences in turn gave rise to a youth culture that found expression in the mass media, and which emphasized the virtues of a consumerist ethos made possible by an ever-expanding economy. Advertising became a vehicle for advancing this new consumer culture that enabled youth to become a major audience for entertainment media, and which gave unprecedented voice to their interests and concerns. With the advent of the Internet, media have again afforded young people with even greater opportunities to create and disseminate their own content. This has led to a transformation in both how youth are portrayed in the media and how American culture has been influenced in turn. This book describes these changes since 1950, with a focus on the role of the mass media as both an influence on youth socialization and as an evolving expression of youth concerns. Experts from various fields of media studies discuss these changes in chapters that focus on different aspects of adolescent portrayal, including: the history of the emergence of youth culture; youth representation in popular music and music videos; increasing portrayal of health risk behaviors in popular movies, advertising, and other media since 1950; changes in portrayal of gender roles, body image, and different ethnic groups; and the role of new and evolving media such as video games and the Internet. The book concludes with a discussion of potential policy directions for ameliorating harm from problematic media content, and the potential use of media literacy and other strategies to encourage healthier adolescent development.

This book offers rare and fascinating glimpses into the dynamic alliances from which some of our most important scholarly ideas, scientific theories, and art forms are born. It shows the creative process unfolding in the intimate relationships of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Henry Miller and Anais Nin, Marie and Pierre Curie, Martha Graham and Erick Hawkins, and Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz; the productive partnerships of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossmann, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, and Freeman Dyson and Richard Feynman; the familial collaborations of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus, and Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson and Mary Catherine Bateson; and the larger ensembles of The Guarneri String Quartet, Lee Strasburg, Harold Clurman and The Group Theater, and such feminist groups as The Stone Center and the authors of Women's Ways of Knowing. Many of these collaborators complemented each other, meshing different backgrounds and forms into fresh styles, while others completely transformed their fields. This book offers a unique cultural and historical perspective on the creative process and a compelling depiction of the associations that nurtured our most talented artists and thinkers. By delving into these complex collaborations, the book illustrates that the mind—rather than thriving on solitude—is clearly dependent upon the reflection, renewal, and trust inherent in sustained human relationships.

What makes us human? Why do people think, feel, and act as they do? What is the essence of human nature? What is the basic relationship between the individual and society? These questions have fascinated people for centuries. Now, at last, there is a solid basis for answering them, in the form of the accumulated efforts and studies by thousands of psychology researchers. We no longer have to rely on navel-gazing and speculation to understand why people are the way they are; we can instead turn to solid, objective findings. This book not only summarizes what we know about people; it also offers a coherent, easy-to-understand though radical, explanation. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the author argues that culture shaped human evolution. Contrary to theories that depict the individual's relation to society as one of victimization, endless malleability, or just a square peg in a round hole, he proposes that the individual human being is designed by nature to be part of society. Moreover, he argues that we need to briefly set aside the endless study of cultural differences to look at what most cultures have in common; because that holds the key to human nature. Culture is in our genes, although cultural differences may not be. This core theme is further developed by a tour through the main dimensions of human psychology. What do people want? How do people think? How do emotions operate? How do people behave? And how do they interact with each other? The answers are often surprising, and along the way, the author explains how human desire, thought, feeling, and action are connected.

Recent studies in music education have investigated the ways in which different groups construe music and music education, and the ways in which these constructions are culturally bound. This book explores the ways in which the discipline of cultural psychology can contribute to our understanding of how music learning and development occurs in a range of cultural settings, and the subsequent implications of such understanding for the theory and practice of music education. The book opens with an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of a cultural psychology of music education. Ten music education scholars and researchers provide chapters that illustrate the application of this approach to key issues in music education; its theory and practice. These chapters provide opportunities to look more deeply into the practices of music education in order to understand the role culture plays in shaping children's musical learning and thinking, the learning and teaching of music teachers, the formal and informal institutions and structures within and through which learning and teaching occur, and, the intersection of these processes and structures in the development of musical thought and practice.

Some analysts, led by Sigmund Freud, have addressed the issue of culture in psychoanalytic theory. Freud was interested not in the impact of cultural differences on the evolution of mental life, but rather in culture's conflict with nature in which the individual psyche plays a central role. Culture helped shape the development and functioning of the psyche, namely, the formation of the superego. The essays in this book explore the Indian psyche and how it is affected by the culture that is so distinct from the culture of the Western world. Using diverse sources, including case studies, Indian myths and legends, and fiction, the author examines the various facets of Indian identity and sexuality. Apart from discussing culture in psychoanalytic thought, the author shares his personal account of the role of culture in psychoanalysis and psychology. He also discusses the influence of Freud and Carl Jung on psychoanalysis in India, the relationship between psychoanalysis and non-Western cultures, the maternal-feminine in Indian psychoanalysis, the so-called maternal enthrallment, middle age, rumours and religious riots, and the psychology of Islamist terrorism.

Human beings are unique in their ability to think consciously about themselves. Because they have a capacity for self-awareness not shared by other animals, people can imagine themselves in the future, anticipate consequences, plan ahead, improve themselves, and perform many other behaviors that are uniquely characteristic of human beings. Yet, despite the obvious advantages of self-reflection, the capacity for self-thought comes at a high price as people's lives are adversely affected and their inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their relationships, and undermines their happiness. Indeed, self-relevant thought is responsible for most of the personal and social difficulties that human beings face as individuals and as a species. Among other things, the capacity for self-reflection distorts people's perceptions, leading them to make bad decisions based on faulty information. The self conjures up a great deal of personal suffering in the form of depression, anxiety, anger, envy, and other negative emotions by allowing people to ruminate about the past or imagine the future. Egocentrism and egotism blind people to their own shortcomings, promote self-serving biases, and undermine their relationships with others. The ability to self-reflect also underlies social conflict by leading people to separate themselves into ingroups and outgroups. Ironically, many sources of personal unhappiness — such as addictions, overeating, unsafe sex, infidelity, and domestic violence — are due to people's inability to exert self-control. For those inclined toward religion and spirituality, visionaries throughout history have proclaimed that the egoic self stymies the quest for spiritual fulfillment and leads to immoral behavior.

Research has traditionally shown high schools to be hostile environments for gay youth. Boys have used homophobia to prove their own masculinity and distance themselves from homosexuality. While this has been a consistent finding for over three decades, The Declining Significance of Homophobia tells a different story. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews of teenage boys in three British high schools, Dr. Mark McCormack shows how heterosexual male students’ attitudes toward their gay peers have dramatically improved. Heterosexual male students are proud of their pro-gay attitudes and friendship with openly gay students. Indeed, homosexuality is not an important variable in determining a boys’ popularity. However, The Declining Significance of Homophobia goes beyond documenting this important shift. It also examines how decreased homophobia results in the expansion of gendered behaviors available to teenage boys. Dr. McCormack shows that in these British schools, heterosexual boys are able to develop meaningful and loving friendships. Furthermore, their friendships span across different groups of boys, so that jocks can befriend those more concerned with their school work. These boys have replaced peer violence, misogyny and homophobia with hugging and emotional intimacy. Free from the constant threat of social marginalization, boys are able to speak about once-feminized activities without censure. Incisive and accessible, The Declining Significance of Homophobia is essential reading for all those interested in the damage that homophobia brings to both gay and straight youth. Whether teacher, parent, student or academic, you will find this research to be remarkably uplifting. The sophisticated analysis and accessible language make this a truly insightful examination of the changing nature of teenage masculinity.

This book is about digital spaces that can support positive youth development. This book is driven by values and by a sense of urgency —as the design of our digital landscape is increasingly guided by commercial purposes and not by developmental concerns. Designers of digital landscapes that promote positive development, must take into consideration the children’s social, emotional, cognitive, physical, civic and spiritual needs. But should also consider the unique design features of each technology and the practices and policies that shape different interactions in the digital landscape. Although this book is about new technologies, it is inspired by an old question: “How should we live?” This book presents an approach to help children gain the technological literacies of the 21st century while developing a sense of identity, values and purpose. Too often youth’s experiences with technology are framed in negative terms. This book acknowledges problems and risks, and takes an interventionist perspective. It invites readers to not only observe and describe the digital landscape, but to actively engage in co-designing it by focusing on positive behaviors that can be promoted by new technologies. Based on over a decade and a half of research, this book provides a theoretical framework for guiding the implementation of experiences that take advantage of new technologies to support learning and personal development, as well as examples from concrete experiences. These engage children in playful learning by supporting content creation, creativity, choices of conduct, communication, collaboration and community building. These are the six C’s proposed by the Positive Technological Development framework presented in this book. They can guide the design and the evaluation of experiences from early childhood to adolescence. This book offers a possible path to help children out of the playpens into the playgrounds of this technological era.