Abstract
A new and urgent developmental task of adulthood is to learn to live with those who differ from oneself along dimensions of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, social class, and nationality. In order to promote discussion aimed toward achieving a better understanding of issues of multiculturalism and diversity, a conceptual framework is proposed. The conceptual framework is based on distinctions in how we define ourselves and our relationship to others and on contrasting perspectives on our intentions with respect to others. The conceptual framework is then used as a tool for setting forth a number of issues of multiculturalism and diversity. The article concludes with a discussion of the dynamics within the conceptual framework, including intraindividual and interindividual variation in adulthood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbey, E. (1968).Desert solitaire: A season in the wilderness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Blum, H. (1983, August 3). “Bias incident” at Staten Island's Miller Field: A tale of two neighborhoods.The New York Times. Also printed in P.S. Rothenberg (Ed.). (1988).Racism and sexism: An integrated study (pp. 31–35). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Driver, T. F. (1987).The myth of Christian uniqueness. New York: Orbis.
Feldberg, M. (1980).The turbulent era: Riot and disorder in Jacksonian America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Habermas, J. (1982). A reply to my critics. In J. B. Thompson & D. Held (Eds.),Habermas: Critical debates (pp. 219–283). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Habermas, J. (1984).The theory of communicative action. Volume 1. Reason and the rationalization of society. (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Boston: Beacon Press.
Hare-Mustin, R., & Marecek, J. (1990). Gender and meaning of difference: Postmodernism and psychology. In R. Hare-Mustin & J. Maracek (Eds.),Making a difference. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Harre, R. (1984).Personal being: A theory for individual psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kalantzis, M., & Cope, W. (1992, November 4). Multiculturalism may prove to be the key issue of our epoch.Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. B3, B5.
Kessler-Harris, A. (1992, October 21). Multiculturalism can strengthen, not undermine, a common culture.Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. B3, B7.
Leiss, W. (1972).The domination of nature. Boston: Beacon Press.
Leopold, A. (1949).A Sand County almanac. New York: Oxford University Press.
McCarthy, T. (1981).The critical theory of Jurgen Habermas. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
McKibben, B. (1989).The end of nature. New York: Random House.
Meacham, J. A. (1984). The social basis of intentional action.Human Development, 27, 119–124.
Meacham, J. A. (1989). Discovering the social-cultural context of research: Listening to and learning from research participants. In D. A. Kramer & M. J. Bopp (Eds.),Transformation in clinical and developmental psychology (pp. 136–153). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Meacham, J. A. (1991a). Conflict and cooperation in adulthood: A role for both? In J. D. Sinnott & J. C. Cavanaugh (Eds.),Bridging paradigms: Positive development in adulthood and cognitive aging (pp. 87–98). New York: Praeger.
Meacham, J. A. (1991b). The concept of nature: Implications for assessment of competence. In M. Chandler & M. Chapman (Eds.),Criteria for competence: Controversies in the conceptualization and assessment of children's abilities (pp. 43–64). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Meacham, J. A., & Boyd, C. (1994). Expanding the circle of caring: From local to global. In J. D. Sinnott (Ed.),Interdisciplinary handbook of adult lifespan learning (pp. 61–73). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Meacham, J. A., & Emont, N. C. (1989). The interpersonal basis of everyday problem solving. In J. D. Sinnott (Ed.),Everyday problem solving: Theory and applications (pp. 7–23). New York: Praeger.
Nash, R. F. (1989).The rights of nature. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Rolston, H., III. (1989).Philosophy gone wild. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Sampson, E. E. (1988). The debate on individualism: Indigenous psychologies of the individual and their role in personal and societal functioning.American Psychologist, 43, 15–22.
Sinnott, J. D. (1986).Sex roles and aging: Theory and research from a systems perspective. New York: Karger.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978).Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meacham, J.A. Identity, community, and prejudice. J Adult Dev 1, 169–180 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260092
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260092