International Journal of Psychology, 2015 Vol. 50, No. 1, 4–5, DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12121
INTRODUCTION
Special Section: Social change, cultural evolution and human development*
In 2004, current IJP editor, Rainer Silbereisen, called for research on “human development in times of social change.” This special section responds to that call. Our focus is communities and societies undergoing social change at different rates. The studies complement those of Silbereisen and his colleagues, who have been unique in studying the psychological ramifications of the very sudden social change occasioned by the reunification of Germany; they have focused attention on coping strategies and shifts in life-cycle transitions in response to social change (Silbereisen, 2000; Silbereisen, Pinquart, & Tomasik, 2010). In this special section on Social Change, Cultural Evolution and Human Development, our focus is on changing cultural values—manifest in child behaviours, socialisation by adults and schools, cultural products and responses to social dilemmas. The articles call attention to the fact that cultural evolution can occur on many scales of time and is intimately linked with changing patterns of human development. The papers are unified by a theoretical focus: my theory of social change and human development (Greenfield, 2009/2011); they greatly expand the range of empirical phenomena that can be accounted for by the theory. The studies provide data representing a variety of developmental periods: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. They provide theory-relevant data from around the world: Arab communities in Israel, indigenous and mestizo populations in Mexico, cultural products from China, a middle-class urban sample in Burma, and a middle-class urban sample in the United States. The cornerstone of the theory is that, as communities move from subsistence, poverty, education at home, low technology and rural environments to commerce-based wealth, formal education, high technology and urban environments, values become more individualistic, egalitarian and relativistic, while cognition becomes innovative and abstract (Greenfield, 2009/2011; Manago, Greenfield, Kim, & Ward, 2014). These sociodemographic changes portray the dominant direction of change in our world, while the social values and cognitive characteristics are adaptations to these ecological changes.
Two important axioms of this theory are the following: (1) Each of the aforementioned sociodemographic variables exists on a continuum and each is equipotential in driving value change. The continuum feature means that communities or societies that have very different baselines in their sociodemographics and value systems will, nonetheless, move in the same direction when a relevant sociodemographic feature changes. For example, culture in the United States has become more individualistic in the last 200 years (Greenfield, 2013). But, Zeng and Greenfield (2015, special section) show, in this special section, that Chinese culture, under similar sociodemographic influences, has also become more individualistic in recent decades, even though important aspects of its collectivistic history are still evident. (2) The most powerful sociodemographic driver of value change at a particular time and place will be that ecological feature or those features that is/are changing most rapidly in the specific time period under study. Testing this theoretical tenet, Maynard, Greenfield, and Childs (2015, special section) show that, over a period of four decades in a Mexican Maya community, increasing numbers of children have taken an abstract approach to visual problem solving and have shown an understanding of novel stimuli. However, the drivers of cognitive change have shifted: from participation in commercial activity in the first two decades to formal education in the second two decades. This shift occurred because the main sociodemographic change in the first period was the transition from subsistence to commerce, whereas a major sociodemographic change in the second period was the expansion of formal schooling. An important analytic feature of the theory is its multilevel character: Change begins at the sociodemographic level which in turn influences values, learning environments, and, finally, human development. All studies in the special section shine an empirical light on the relationship
*A free Video Cast to accompany this article can be found online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1464-066X/homepage/ podcasts.htm.
© 2015 International Union of Psychological Science
SPECIAL SECTION INTRODUCTION
between two or more levels, but they are not always the same levels. However, every study includes the sociodemographic level, as that is considered the motor for cultural and behavioural change. In terms of research design, some researchers investigate the impact of social change directly, by diachronic methods (more than one historical time point, sometimes called cross-temporal); others study it indirectly, by synchronic methods (one historical time point). The diachronic studies are: Maynard et al.’s (2015, special section) experimental study of three generations of Maya children over 42 years; Garcia, Rivera, and Greenfield’s (2015, special section) experimental studies of Mexican children over a period of 40 years in one location and 20 years in two others; and Zeng and Greenfield’s (2015, special section) automated content analysis of thousands of Chinese books over a period of 40 years. The synchronic studies have research designs utilising intergenerational change (Weinstock 2015, special section), contrasting sociodemographic environments (Manago, 2015 special section; Weinstock, 2015, special section) and the subjective structuring of social change (Thein-Lemelson, 2015 special section). Together, these studies provide examples of different methods that can be used to study the psychological implications of social change around the world. It is an honour to contribute to this 50th anniversary issue of the International Journal of Psychology. Many thanks to Editor-in-Chief Rainer Silbereisen, Managing Editor Verona Christmas and all the authors who collaborated to produce empirical studies of social change, cultural evolution and human development. Special thanks to our commentator, Xinyin Chen (2015, special section), whose penetrating commentary gives us a vision for the future. Grateful appreciation to the 12 reviewers who provided incisive reviews that greatly improved the papers. Patricia M. Greenfield Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
REFERENCES Chen, X. (2015). Exploring the implications of social change for human development: Perspectives, issues and future directions. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 56–59.
© 2015 International Union of Psychological Science
5
Garcia, C., Rivera, N., & Greenfield, P. M. (2015). The decline of cooperation, the rise of competition: developmental effects of long-term social change in Mexico. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 6–11. Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45, 401–418. Trans. by Troadec, B. (2011). Variabilité du développement humain: Relier le changement social et le changement individual. In B. Troadec & T. Bellaj (Eds.), Psychologies et cultures (pp. 63–119). Paris: L’Harmattan. Greenfield, P. M. (2013). The changing psychology of culture from 1800 through 2000. Psychological Science, 24, 1722–1731. Manago, A. M. (2015). Values for gender roles and relations among high school and non-high school adolescents in a Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 20–28. Manago, A. M., Greenfield, P. M., Kim, J., & Ward, L. M. (2014). Changing cultural pathways through gender role and sexual development: A theoretical framework. Ethos, 42, 198–221. Maynard, A. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Childs, C. P. (2015). Developmental effects of economic and educational change: Cognitive representation in three generations across 43 years in a Maya community. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 12–19. Pinquart, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2004). Human development in times of social change: Theoretical considerations and research needs. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 289–298. Silbereisen, R. K. (2000). German unification and adolescents’ developmental timetables: Continuities and discontinuities. In L. J. Crockett & R. K. Silbereisen (Eds.), Negotiating adolescence in times of social change (pp. 104–122). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. Silbereisen, R. K., Pinquart, M., & Tomasik, M. J. (2010). Demands of social change and psychosocial adjustment: Results from the Jena study. In R. K. Silbereisen & X. Chen (Eds.), Social change and human development: Concept and results (pp. 125–147). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Thein-Lemelson, S. M. (2015). Grooming and cultural socialization: A mixed method study of caregiving practices in Burma (Myanmar) and the United States. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 37–46. Weinstock, M. (2015). Changing epistemologies under conditions of social change in two Arab communities in Israel. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 29–36 Zeng, R., & Greenfield, P. M. (2015). Cultural evolution over the last 40 years in China: Using the Google Ngram Viewer to study implications of social and political change for cultural values. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 47–55.
Copyright of International Journal of Psychology is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
INTRODUCTION
Special Section: Social change, cultural evolution and human development*
In 2004, current IJP editor, Rainer Silbereisen, called for research on “human development in times of social change.” This special section responds to that call. Our focus is communities and societies undergoing social change at different rates. The studies complement those of Silbereisen and his colleagues, who have been unique in studying the psychological ramifications of the very sudden social change occasioned by the reunification of Germany; they have focused attention on coping strategies and shifts in life-cycle transitions in response to social change (Silbereisen, 2000; Silbereisen, Pinquart, & Tomasik, 2010). In this special section on Social Change, Cultural Evolution and Human Development, our focus is on changing cultural values—manifest in child behaviours, socialisation by adults and schools, cultural products and responses to social dilemmas. The articles call attention to the fact that cultural evolution can occur on many scales of time and is intimately linked with changing patterns of human development. The papers are unified by a theoretical focus: my theory of social change and human development (Greenfield, 2009/2011); they greatly expand the range of empirical phenomena that can be accounted for by the theory. The studies provide data representing a variety of developmental periods: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. They provide theory-relevant data from around the world: Arab communities in Israel, indigenous and mestizo populations in Mexico, cultural products from China, a middle-class urban sample in Burma, and a middle-class urban sample in the United States. The cornerstone of the theory is that, as communities move from subsistence, poverty, education at home, low technology and rural environments to commerce-based wealth, formal education, high technology and urban environments, values become more individualistic, egalitarian and relativistic, while cognition becomes innovative and abstract (Greenfield, 2009/2011; Manago, Greenfield, Kim, & Ward, 2014). These sociodemographic changes portray the dominant direction of change in our world, while the social values and cognitive characteristics are adaptations to these ecological changes.
Two important axioms of this theory are the following: (1) Each of the aforementioned sociodemographic variables exists on a continuum and each is equipotential in driving value change. The continuum feature means that communities or societies that have very different baselines in their sociodemographics and value systems will, nonetheless, move in the same direction when a relevant sociodemographic feature changes. For example, culture in the United States has become more individualistic in the last 200 years (Greenfield, 2013). But, Zeng and Greenfield (2015, special section) show, in this special section, that Chinese culture, under similar sociodemographic influences, has also become more individualistic in recent decades, even though important aspects of its collectivistic history are still evident. (2) The most powerful sociodemographic driver of value change at a particular time and place will be that ecological feature or those features that is/are changing most rapidly in the specific time period under study. Testing this theoretical tenet, Maynard, Greenfield, and Childs (2015, special section) show that, over a period of four decades in a Mexican Maya community, increasing numbers of children have taken an abstract approach to visual problem solving and have shown an understanding of novel stimuli. However, the drivers of cognitive change have shifted: from participation in commercial activity in the first two decades to formal education in the second two decades. This shift occurred because the main sociodemographic change in the first period was the transition from subsistence to commerce, whereas a major sociodemographic change in the second period was the expansion of formal schooling. An important analytic feature of the theory is its multilevel character: Change begins at the sociodemographic level which in turn influences values, learning environments, and, finally, human development. All studies in the special section shine an empirical light on the relationship
*A free Video Cast to accompany this article can be found online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1464-066X/homepage/ podcasts.htm.
© 2015 International Union of Psychological Science
SPECIAL SECTION INTRODUCTION
between two or more levels, but they are not always the same levels. However, every study includes the sociodemographic level, as that is considered the motor for cultural and behavioural change. In terms of research design, some researchers investigate the impact of social change directly, by diachronic methods (more than one historical time point, sometimes called cross-temporal); others study it indirectly, by synchronic methods (one historical time point). The diachronic studies are: Maynard et al.’s (2015, special section) experimental study of three generations of Maya children over 42 years; Garcia, Rivera, and Greenfield’s (2015, special section) experimental studies of Mexican children over a period of 40 years in one location and 20 years in two others; and Zeng and Greenfield’s (2015, special section) automated content analysis of thousands of Chinese books over a period of 40 years. The synchronic studies have research designs utilising intergenerational change (Weinstock 2015, special section), contrasting sociodemographic environments (Manago, 2015 special section; Weinstock, 2015, special section) and the subjective structuring of social change (Thein-Lemelson, 2015 special section). Together, these studies provide examples of different methods that can be used to study the psychological implications of social change around the world. It is an honour to contribute to this 50th anniversary issue of the International Journal of Psychology. Many thanks to Editor-in-Chief Rainer Silbereisen, Managing Editor Verona Christmas and all the authors who collaborated to produce empirical studies of social change, cultural evolution and human development. Special thanks to our commentator, Xinyin Chen (2015, special section), whose penetrating commentary gives us a vision for the future. Grateful appreciation to the 12 reviewers who provided incisive reviews that greatly improved the papers. Patricia M. Greenfield Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
REFERENCES Chen, X. (2015). Exploring the implications of social change for human development: Perspectives, issues and future directions. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 56–59.
© 2015 International Union of Psychological Science
5
Garcia, C., Rivera, N., & Greenfield, P. M. (2015). The decline of cooperation, the rise of competition: developmental effects of long-term social change in Mexico. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 6–11. Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45, 401–418. Trans. by Troadec, B. (2011). Variabilité du développement humain: Relier le changement social et le changement individual. In B. Troadec & T. Bellaj (Eds.), Psychologies et cultures (pp. 63–119). Paris: L’Harmattan. Greenfield, P. M. (2013). The changing psychology of culture from 1800 through 2000. Psychological Science, 24, 1722–1731. Manago, A. M. (2015). Values for gender roles and relations among high school and non-high school adolescents in a Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 20–28. Manago, A. M., Greenfield, P. M., Kim, J., & Ward, L. M. (2014). Changing cultural pathways through gender role and sexual development: A theoretical framework. Ethos, 42, 198–221. Maynard, A. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Childs, C. P. (2015). Developmental effects of economic and educational change: Cognitive representation in three generations across 43 years in a Maya community. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 12–19. Pinquart, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2004). Human development in times of social change: Theoretical considerations and research needs. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 289–298. Silbereisen, R. K. (2000). German unification and adolescents’ developmental timetables: Continuities and discontinuities. In L. J. Crockett & R. K. Silbereisen (Eds.), Negotiating adolescence in times of social change (pp. 104–122). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. Silbereisen, R. K., Pinquart, M., & Tomasik, M. J. (2010). Demands of social change and psychosocial adjustment: Results from the Jena study. In R. K. Silbereisen & X. Chen (Eds.), Social change and human development: Concept and results (pp. 125–147). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Thein-Lemelson, S. M. (2015). Grooming and cultural socialization: A mixed method study of caregiving practices in Burma (Myanmar) and the United States. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 37–46. Weinstock, M. (2015). Changing epistemologies under conditions of social change in two Arab communities in Israel. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 29–36 Zeng, R., & Greenfield, P. M. (2015). Cultural evolution over the last 40 years in China: Using the Google Ngram Viewer to study implications of social and political change for cultural values. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 47–55.
Copyright of International Journal of Psychology is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
