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Chapter 20 - From Changing Contexts to Individual Change: A Lifelong Journey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2025

By
Rainer K. Silbereisen
Edited by
Frank Kessel
Frank Kessel
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
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Summary

I discuss some of the biographical and historical roots of my lifelong interest in contexts of human behavior and development. These include experiences with youth problems related to broken families and jeopardized environments, as well as abrupt social change due to political turmoil (e.g., socialist system breakdown in Europe) and large-scale migration (e.g., to Germany and Israel). The culmination of many studies in various countries was the Jena Model of Social Change and Human Development. It brought together macro-level system change with individual adaptation of developmental tasks, and effects on well-being and other outcomes. The model placed perceived new demands in the middle (between macro change and developmental tasks), and conceptualized modes of developmental regulation (engagement versus disengagement). The results of such research underscored the relevance of multilayers of contexts for development and provided opportunities for scientific advice regarding public policy. They also informed interventions aimed at minimizing maladaptive development.

Keywords

Jena Model of Social Change and Human Developmentsocial changedevelopmentaltasksdemandsdevelopmental regulationwell-beingGerman unificationyouthsettingsBronfenbrenner
Type
Chapter
Information
Pillars of Developmental Psychology
Recollections and Reflections
 , pp. 222 - 232
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Suggested Reading

Lechner, C. M., Obschonka, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2017). Who reaps the benefits of social change? Exploration and its socioecological boundaries. Journal of Personality, 85(2), 257–269. https://doi.org.10.1111/jopy.12238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pavlova, M. K. & Silbereisen, R. K. (2016). Perceived expectations for active aging, formal productive roles, and psychological adjustment among the young-old. Research on Aging, 38(1), 26–50. https://doi.org.10.1177/0164027515573026.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silbereisen, R. K., Eyferth, K., & Rudinger, G. (Eds.). (1986). Development as Action in Context: Problem Behavior and Normal Youth Development. Heidelberg, New York: Springer. https://doi.org.10.1007/978-3-662-02475-1_1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silbereisen, R. K., Titzmann, P., Michel, A., Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Lavee, Y. (2012). The role of developmental transitions in psychosocial competence: A comparison of native and immigrant young people in Germany. In Masten., A. S., Liebkind, K., & Hernandez, D. J. (Eds.), Realizing the Potential of Immigrant Youth (pp. 324–358). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomasik, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Heckhausen, J. (2010). Is it adaptive to disengage from demands of social change? Adjustment to developmental barriers in opportunity-deprived regions. Motivation and Emotion, 34(4), 384–398. https://doi.org.10.1007/s11031-010-9177-6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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