Lene Arnett Jensen

Lene Arnett Jensen, Senior Research Scientist, Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts)

Title of presentation:

Cultural-Developmental Thoery: Self and Social Science in a Global World

Abstract:

One-size-fits-all theories, which were popular in 20^th century psychology, are often too rigid and too biased to adequately capture the complexities of individual selves and human relations across diverse and changing cultures. On the other hand, one-for-every-culture does not seem appealing either. It raises the specter of theoretical pandemonium and does not capture the fact that humans everywhere share common psychological characteristics. In this presentation, I will propose that an alternative is to conceptualize theories that are “cultural-developmental” in nature. To describe this new theoretical approach, I will primarily draw on work in the area of moral development as an example. This will include a focus on adolescence. I will also suggest how a cultural-developmental approach may be applied to many other areas of human development.