What cannot be used for this assignment are web pages, magazines, newspapers, text books, and other books. Finally, current research for our purposes is an article that was published within the last 5

International Journal of Psychology, 2015 Vol. 50, No. 1, 56 – 59, DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12128 Exploring the implications of social change for human development: Perspectives, issues and future directions Xinyin Chen Department of Applied Psychology-Human Development, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA R esearchers have investigated the implications of social change for human development from different perspectives.

The studies published in this special section were conducted within Greenfield’s theoretical framework (2009).

The findings concerning links between specific sociodemographic features (e.g., commercial activities, schooling) and individual cognition and social behaviour are particularly interesting because they tap the underlying forces that drive human development. To further understand the issues in these studies and in the field, a pluralist-constructive perspective is discussed, which emphasises the integration of diverse values and practices in both Western and non-Western societies and its effects on the development of sophisticated competencies in individual adaptation to the changing global community.

In addition, several issues are highlighted and some suggestions are provided for future explorations in this field.

Keywords:Social change; Culture; Human development. The implications of macrolevel social change for indi- vidual development have long been recognised in psy- chology, sociology and other social sciences (see Elder & Shanahan, 2006; Silbereisen & Chen, 2010). Over 80 years ago, Vygotsky and Luria conducted a series of studies that systematically examined the effects of the former Soviet Union’s radical restructuring of polit- ical and economic systems on human cognitive func- tions in villages of Uzbekistan and mountain pasture- lands of Kyrgyzstan (Luria, 1976). In the late 1920s and the early 1930s, people in these regions were required to participate in socialised activities, such as attending literacy programmes and engaging in collective evalua- tions of work plans. The researchers found that the pro- found socioeconomic and cultural changes significantly affected individuals’ social interactions and life experi- ences, which in turn produced new forms of knowledge and ways of thinking. For example, whereas illiterate peasants from the villages displayed concrete and prac- tical thinking constrained by the immediate physical fea- tures of objects, active kolkhoz (collective farm) workers and people who participated in short-term education pro- grammes displayed more mediated and abstract thinking based on discursive and logical mental processes. These Correspondence should be addressed to Xinyin Chen, Applied Psychology-Human Development, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, USA. (E-mail: [email protected]).

The preparation of the paper was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (#BCS-1225620). results, and similar results of studies that researchers con- ducted later in other societies (e.g., Rogoff, 2003), were consistent with Vygotsky’s cultural-historical perspective (1978), which asserted that human beings’ social prac- tices determined the development of higher functioning through reorganisation of mental processes.

Largely in accord with Vygotsky’s perspective, Greenfield (2009) proposed a theory of social change and human development, linking sociodemographic conditions, cultural values and learning environments, and pathways of human development. Taking a broad view on social changes in the world over the past two centuries, Greenfield identified several sociodemographic features — rural versus urban residence, substance-based versus commercial or industrialised economy, the use of simple versus complex technology and informal versus formal education — in defining two types of environ- ments,GemeinschaftandGesellschaft, and attempted to explain the associations between these features and human behaviour and cognition, with a focus on the role of cultural values. Greenfield (2009, 2013) argues that the movement betweenGemeinschaftandGesellschaft conditions typically corresponds to the shift between collectivistic and individualistic values, with the former © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science SOCIAL CHANGE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 57 facilitating the development of compliant – cooperative behaviour and context-bound cognition and latter facil- itating the development of independent behaviour and abstract cognition. Greenfield’s theory is characterised by, among others, (a) differentiating specific ecologoical features, although they are interrelated, (b) focusing on collectivistic and individualistic cultural values, pre- sumably as a mediator of the influence of social change on human development and (c) making no assump- tions about the direction of social change, despite the trend of global change over the past centuries towards Gesellschaft.

The studies published in this special section were conducted mainly within Greenfield’s theoretical frame- work (2009). Using methods such as historical cohort design, rural-urban comparison and cross-cultural study, the researchers examined relations between sociode- mographic features and children’s cognition and social behaviour in several traditionally rural societies includ- ing Arab communities in Israel, Maya communities in Mexico, a suburban region in Burma-Myanmar, and China. Data were collected through a variety of means including interviews, observations, experiments, content analysis of cultural products, and assessments of individ- ual responses to hypothetical situations. The results, in general, supported Greenfield’s theory. As the societies moved fromGemeinschafttoGesellschaft, individuals tended to become more abstract in cognition (Maynard, Greenfield, & Childs, 2015), have more subjectivist epistemic thinking (Weinstock, 2015), display more competitive and less cooperative behaviours (Garcia, Rivera, & Greenfield, 2015), express more equalitarian gender-related attitudes (Manago, 2015), perform fewer caregiver grooming behaviours (Thein, 2015) and hold more individualistic values (Zeng & Greenfield, 2015).

In some of the studies, the researchers examined the links between the sociodemographic features as suggested by Greenfield (2009) (e.g., engagement in commercial activities, schooling, use of mobile technology, level of urbanisation) and child and youth performance. The find- ings about differential roles of commerce and schooling at different historical times in Maya (Maynard et al., 2015), for example, are important in revealing the underlying driving forces for individual development. Together, these studies clearly make a significant contribution to the field.

In this essay, I offer another perspective on social change and human development, which I believe to be useful for further understanding and exploring the issues in the studies and in the field. This perspective, which I called a “pluralist-constructive” perspective, focuses on the ongoing social change in most countries in the world owing to globalisation and its impact on social- isation and human development (Chen, 2012a; Kagit- cibasi, 2012). According to this perspective, the rapidlyincreasing domestic and transnational migration of popu- lations, advance in information technology and commu- nication, and interaction among political, economic and cultural systems across regions have led to integration of diverse values and lifestyles, which constitutes a dis- tinct feature of the context for human development in Western and non-Western societies today. The socialisa- tion experience in the context of various cultural beliefs and practices helps children develop competencies and behavioural qualities that allow them to function flexibly and effectively in different circumstances.

This perspective is reflected in several major argu- ments. First, there is directionality in global social change towards the coexistence and integration of diverse, includ- ing conflictual and complementary, value systems (e.g., individualistic and collectivistic). Whereas many tradi- tionally agricultural societies become more urbanised and individualistic, Western industrialised countries may become more inclusive as indicated by greater accep- tance of group-oriented values, even though some aspects of the Western context may become more individualis- tic as indicated by Greenfield (2009). Moreover, values of autonomous-related qualities and mixed behavioural styles, which are considered by Greenfield representing an intermediate stage of social change toward individual- ism, may become increasingly common in both Western and non-Western societies. This argument also suggests that while new values from other cultures may exert a significant impact on individual attitudes and behaviours, they are unlikely to be adopted completely in their origi- nal forms, but instead may be integrated with the cultural traditions in the society.

Second, different values, such as those about auton- omy and connectedness, may serve different functions in human development. For example, whereas values of individuality likely help individuals achieve personal goals, values of social connectedness may help indi- viduals develop support systems, which are important for psychological well-being. Research in developing countries has shown that increased affluence and urban lifestyles that come with modernisation tend to allow for greater autonomy and independence (Kagitcibasi, 2012).

However, this social change does not necessarily weaken people’s needs for social support and interdependence, a phenomenon that is also demonstrated in the study by Zeng & Greenfield (2015). Moreover, according to this argument, individuals in Western countries also benefit from their experience of mixed values, including col- lectivistic values such as interpersonal cooperation and responsibility, because maintaining a balance between pursuing one’s own interests and establishing group harmony is critical to social functioning (e.g., Mac- coby, 1998). An interesting question for developmental researchers is how social competencies and skills devel- oped on the basis of integrated value systems help individ- uals adapt and succeed in the changing global community.

© 2014 International Union of Psychological Science 58 CHEN Third, social interaction in dyadic, group and larger settings is an important context that serves to mediate the links between social change and individual develop- ment. Social evaluation and regulation processes in social interaction play a crucial role in building and facilitat- ing the links (Chen, 2012b). Specifically, during interac- tion, adults and peers evaluate, and respond to, children’s behaviours in ways that are consistent with the norms and values endorsed in the community. Social evaluations and responses, in turn, may regulate children’s behaviours and ultimately their developmental patterns. There is evidence indicating that from middle childhood, peer groups are highly sensitive to social and cultural changes and that culturally directed interaction in peer activities exerts a significant influence on individual behaviours and devel- opment (e.g., Chen, Cen, Li, & He, 2005). At the same time, as children develop their social-cognitive abilities, they become increasingly active in interaction and in adaptation to changing circumstances by participating in the construction of new cultures to guide social evaluation and other activities (see Chen, 2012b).

Given this background, I would like to highlight sev- eral issues in the study of social change and human devel- opment, and provide some suggestions for future explo- rations. First, research from Vygotsky’s perspective has traditionally focused on cognitive and educational out- comes. Greenfield’s theory taps social behaviours such as independent versus interdependent behaviour and coop- eration versus competition that are related to individual- istic and collectivistic values. As illustrated in the stud- ies in this special section (e.g., Garcia et al., 2015; Man- ago, 2015), research on social and behavioural outcomes in the context of social change helps us understand its broader implications. Researchers should pay more atten- tion to relations between social change and human devel- opment beyond the cognitive domain. For example, our research team found that the recent massive social change in China was associated with a decline in children’s psy- chopathological functioning such as feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction (e.g., Chen, Wang, Li, & Liu, 2014), which appears to support the pluralist-constructive perspective.

Second, research on social change in Western coun- tries has mostly been guided by Elder’s life-course the- ory (Elder & Shanahan, 2006), which focuses on the negative effects of specific historical events, such as the Great Depression (Elder, 1974) and the fall of the Berlin Wall (Silbereisen, 2005), and buffering factors, such as entry into higher education or military service, mainte- nance of supportive relationships, and effective coping.

It is important to investigate long-term or enduring nor- mative social transformations in Western countries (e.g., Schoon, 2012), including current changes as a conse- quence of massive cross-border movement and immigra- tion of individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

This type of investigation is essential to the understandingof more comprehensive effects, both positive and nega- tive, of social change in the West on human development.

Third, social change affects not only the display of individual behaviour and cognition, but also their func- tional meaning or significance (Chen & French, 2008).

This has been illustrated in a series of studies concerning different relations between shyness and indexes of adjust- ment in Chinese children at different times (e.g., Chen et al., 2005). Future research should consider how social change is involved in defining the meanings of broader social-behavioural and cognitive characteristics, particu- larly from a developmental perspective, in other societies.

Finally, the implications of social change for human development are a complex issue, involving a number of factors at institutional, group and individual levels. As indicated earlier, social interaction, especially evaluation and response processes in interaction, may be an impor- tant mechanism for bridging sociodemographic condi- tions and individual functioning. Investigation of social interaction processes, particularly in naturalistic settings, will likely provide valuable information about the way in which social change shapes children’s and adolescents’ behaviours and developmental patterns. Social interaction research will also provide information about the way in which children and adolescents play an active role in their adaptation to social change. Manuscript received November 2014 Revised manuscript accepted November 2014 First published online December 2014 REFERENCES Chen, X. (2012a). Human development in the context of social change: Introduction.Child Development Perspectives,6, 321 – 325.

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