Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development: Its evolution from ecology to bioecology

We describe the evolution, over three phases, of Bronfenbrenner's theory from an ecological to a bioecological theory. Phase 1 (1973–1979) culminated in the publication of The Ecology of Human Development (1979). Phase 2 (1980–1993) saw almost immediate modifications to the theory, with more attention paid to the role of the individual and greater concern with developmental processes. In Phase 3 (1993–2006), proximal processes were defined and placed at the heart of bioecological theory, and from 1998, the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model was described as the theory's appropriate research design. Given the extent of these changes, and to avoid theoretical incoherence, scholars should be cautious about stating that their research is based on Bronfenbrenner's theory without specifying which version they are using

The Wishes and Expression of Gratitude of Youth

Little research has examined the development of gratitude in youth, and none has related their gratitude to their wishes. We therefore asked 358 7- to 14-year-old North American participants (56% female; 55% White) to write their greatest wish and what they would do for their benefactor. Using chi-square and linear curve estimation, we found that younger youth (aged 7 to 10) were significantly more likely to express hedonistic wishes (desire for immediate gain) and concrete gratitude (not taking the benefactor's wishes into account); older youth (aged 11 to 14) were significantly more likely to wish either for something involving future well-being for themselves or the well-being of others and connective gratitude (taking into account the benefactor's wishes). Within both age groups, there was a significant inverse relation between hedonistic wishes and connective gratitude. This research has implications for encouraging the feeling and expression of connective gratitude

The cultural ecology of play: Methodological considerations for studying play in its everyday contexts

Children’s play in industrialized societies such as the United States tends to be observed either under controlled conditions, in a laboratory or studied via closed-choice questionnaires, or under semi-controlled conditions in the home or child-care center. By contrast, studies of play in the majority world tend to be conducted by ethnographers who observe in any of the typical settings in which children are found. There are both disciplinary and paradigmatic reasons for this. However, even those methods that are intended to assess children’s naturally occurring play in their everyday contexts may misrepresent the extent to which children play, their types of play, and their typical partners in play. Misrepresentation may occur by examining play in limited settings or by relying on parental reports (in the industrialized world) or by ignoring the heterogeneity of contexts in rapidly changing parts of the majority world. We present a method, designed explicitly to fit within a contextualist paradigm, for observing play in its everyday contexts, and use data derived from a single city from each of the United States, Kenya, and Brazil to illustrate the heterogeneity of young children’s experiences and cast doubt on the generality of earlier findings

Child-rearing values in southern Brazil: Mutual influences of social class and parents’ perceptions of their children’s development

The authors examine social-class differences in parents’ child-rearing values for autonomy, self-direction, and conformity and the extent to which their values are influenced by their perceptions of their developing children’s characteristics. Parents from 25 middle-class or working-class families in a Brazilian city participated in interviews, observations, and completed Kohn’s Q-Sort measure when their children were 3, 36, and 72 months of age. Parents’ child-rearing values differed significantly by social class: middle-class parents were more likely to value autonomy and self-direction in their children, whereas working-class parents were more likely to value conformity. In addition, the strength and direction of parental values changed significantly as their children developed. Parents were less likely to value autonomy and self-direction when their children were 36 months than when they were either 3 or 72 months. Middle-class parents were more likely to value conformity when their children were 36 than when they were younger or older

Still misused after all these years? A re-evaluation of the uses of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development

A theoretical review published in 2009 revealed that scholars who stated that their research was based on Urie Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development rarely used it appropriately. To what extent has the situation changed since then? We used the same methods to identify relevant articles as had been used in the 2009 article and found 20 publications whose authors explicitly claimed that Bronfenbrenner provided the theoretical foundation for their study. Although 18 of those publications included citations to the mature (mid-1990s) version of Bronfenbrenner's theory, only two appropriately described, tested, and evaluated the four major concepts of Bronfenbrenner's theory—proximal processes, person characteristics, context, and time. Failure either to correctly describe the theory or to critically test its central concepts poses significant problems for the future of family studies and developmental science. We discuss potential ways to improve this situation through metatheoretical, methodological, and pedagogical reflections

Practice and discourse as the intersection of individual and social in human development

My goal in this chapter is to show how a focus on everyday practices, including discourse, allows us to understand the interpenetration of individual and social in the course of human development. A practice-based approach does not seek to explain development by reference only to individual factors, without simultaneous consideration of the social context within which the individual is acting, or to social factors, without examining the ways in which the social world is experienced differently by the different individuals inhabiting it. Such an approach is in keeping with the ideas of Vygotsky and Piaget, both of whom (albeit in different ways) eschewed the dichotomy of individual and social (Smith, 1996; Tudge & Scrimsher, 2003; Tudge & Winterhoff, 1993). The difficulties inherent in this more systemic approach, however, stem from the fact that most scholars interested in development have not been trained to think systemically but rather in terms of causal models inspired by the positivist tradition (Guba & Lincoln, 1994)

Uses and misuses of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development

This paper evaluates the application of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory as it is represented in empirical work on families and their relationships. We describe the “mature” form of bioecological theory of the mid-1990s and beyond, with its focus on proximal processes at the center of the Process-Person-Context-Time model. We then examine 25 papers published since 2001, all explicitly described as being based on Bronfenbrenner's theory, and show that all but 4 rely on outmoded versions of the theory, resulting in conceptual confusion and inadequate testing of the theory

The development of gratitude in seven societies: Cross-cultural highlights

This study aimed to examine children’s expression of gratitude in Brazil, China, Guatemala, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States. Participants (N = 2,265) consisted of 7- to 14-year-olds (M = 10.56, SD = 2.09; 54.4% girls). Using hierarchical cluster analysis, we found four clusters of gratitude expression: (a) Russia and Turkey (moderate–high expression of connective, low concrete, and moderate verbal gratitude), (b) Brazil and the United States (low connective, higher rates of concrete, and moderate–high rates of verbal gratitude), (c) China and South Korea (higher rates of connective, lower concrete, and lower–moderate verbal gratitude), and (d) Guatemala (lower rates of concrete and connective gratitude, and higher rates of verbal gratitude). In addition, we found common trends in age-related differences for verbal and concrete gratitude among most societies. These findings support the argument for diligence in avoiding implicit generalizations based on research conducted mostly in Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic (WEIRD) societies

Implicit vs. explicit ways of using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory: Comments on Jaeger

There are many things to appreciate in Elizabeth Jaeger's [2016] paper. Initially she does a fine job describing the development of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory, showing the ways in which the theory changed over time from one that appeared (at least to his readers) to concentrate primarily on contexts of development to one in which proximal processes were placed front and center. As Jaeger notes, Bronfenbrenner had focused on context during the 1970s because contemporary developmental psychologists paid so little attention to it. However, from the start, he termed his theory “ecological” because he viewed development as arising from the interaction of individuals and the contexts in which they were situated

Processes and consequences of peer collaboration: A Vygotskian analysis

A sample of 162 children aged from 5 to 9 was pretested to discover each child's "rule" for predicting the movement of a mathematical balance beam. Children then worked alone, with a partner who used the same rule, with a partner who was more competent, or with a partner who was less competent. If partners' predictions differed, the dyad members were asked to discuss and reach agreement, but were not given feedback. All children were subsequently given 2 individual posttests. The results revealed that regression in thinking was as likely a consequence as improvement, both proving stable. Benefits accrued primarily to those whose partner was more competent, but understanding of the outcomes of collaboration required attending both to the nature of the rules (whether they allowed consistent or inconsistent prediction) and the shared understanding attained during the paired session