The Ecology of Human Development: Evolving Models for Cultural Psychology (original) (raw)

2010, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

The Whiting model aimed to provide a blueprint for psychocultural research by generating testable hypotheses about the dynamic relationships of a culture with the psychology and behavior of its members. This analysis identifies reasons why the model was so effective at generating hypotheses borne out in empirical research, including its foundational insight that integrated nature and nurture, its reconceptualization of the significance of early environments, and its attention to biopsychocultural dynamics active in those environments. Implications and the evolution of the ecological paradigm are tracked through presentations of three current models (developmental niche, ecocultural theory, bioecocultural microniche) and discussion of their related empirical literatures. Findings from these literatures converge to demonstrate the power of a developmental, cultural, ecological framework for explaining within-and betweenpopulation variation in cultural psychology. Keywords childhood, parenting, embodiment, biocultural anthropology Early Environments, Human Development, and Cultural Psychology The study of human development engages core anthropological concerns regarding not only the what but also the how, the why, and the so what of human diversity. Early work by Boas (1912) and his students "denaturalized" human differences by showing that much of the variation in behavior and appearance among societies was a product of culturally driven dynamics operating during development rather than of innate difference. Consistent with the relative neglect of childhood and development in much of later anthropology, few of Boas's students continued his focus on comparative human development, though Mead was a notable exception. The work of John Whiting, Beatrice Whiting, and their students dramatically advanced the field by allying a strong theoretical base with rigorous empirical research to build a collaborative comparative tradition grounded in integrated ecological theory (Munroe, Munroe, & Whiting, 1981; J. W. M. Whiting et al., 1966). The Whitings and their colleagues theorized the role of