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Interpersonal relationships, human development, and the trajectory of economic change: a social constructionist perspective

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Abstract

The development of the human being and of the institutional and economic structures in which he or she lives does not take shape from the single individual, nor from society as a whole, but from the relationships between people within their daily life contexts, where aspirations, ideals, values, suffering, love, and solidarity, amongst other things, can be expressed and regarded. By adopting a social constructionist perspective, this article aims to describe the peculiar, irreplaceable role of interpersonal relationships in human development and economic change. By transmitting specific meanings, values, knowledge, and skills to individuals, interpersonal relationships—as highly personalised human interactions—can directly bolster people’s well-being, empowerment and resilience, foster cooperation, and prosocial behaviours, and shape the actions taken at the social, political and economic levels. This approach enriches the perspective on human development advanced by the literature on the capability approach and is adopted in the paper as a profitable lens for interpreting the process of structural change, making explicit the relevance of interpersonal relationships in shaping the trajectory of economic change.

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Notes

  1. For instance, many contributions in this field focus on the analysis of the connection between the social structure (as described, for instance, by interest group composition) and political and economic outcomes (e.g., Di Tommaso et al. 2020; Galambos 1983; Hrebenar 1997; Jessop 1990; Kalecki 1976; Lustig 1982; Tassinari 2019, 2021).

  2. As argued by Robeyns (2008), this position embraces ethical individualism but does not embrace ontological or methodological individualism (that consider society as built up from only individuals and presume that all social phenomena can be explained in terms of individuals and their properties). On this view, Sen’s commitment to ethical individualism is therefore compatible with a collective, democratic, institutionally embedded, and culturally rich response to social issues (Alkire 2010).

  3. Despite the liberal connotation often attributed to this notion of development, Sen recognises the relevance of specific types of freedoms, that are instrumental to empower people to engage actively in development processes, including (1) political freedoms, (2) economic facilities, (3) social opportunities, (4) transparency guarantees, and (5) protective security (Sen 1999, p. 38). These instrumental freedoms complement one another, strengthening the ability of individuals to participate in the process of development and capability expansion as effective agents (Sen 1999, p. 38). This may entail, for instance, the adoption of institutional arrangements that remove part of resource allocation decisions from the direct control of individual choices expressed in the markets, including educational and health provisions, unemployment benefits, statutory income supplements to the indigent and so on (Sen 1999). On this view, some scholars have labelled Sen’s position as paternalistic (e.g., Séverine 2002; Sugden 2006).

  4. There is a bidirectional connection between the social context and individual’s human development. As argued by Amartya Sen (1999, p. 31), “individual freedom is quintessentially a social product, and there is a two-way relation between (1) social arrangements to expand individual freedoms and (2) the use of individual freedoms not only to improve the respective lives but also to make the social arrangements more appropriate and effective”.

  5. In current research, well-being can be conceived from two different perspectives. While hedonic approach defines well-being as pleasure attainment and pain avoidance (often evaluated in terms of subjective happiness or subjective well-being), the eudaimonic approach defines well-being in terms of quality of life achieved by fulfilling one’s potential. Interpersonal relationships may be deemed relevant in well-being from both perspectives (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2001).

  6. In this context, altruism can be viewed as a subgroup of prosocial behaviours. It can be defined as “intrinsically motivated voluntary behavior intended to benefit another”—acts motivated by concern for others or by internalised values, goals, and self-rewards rather than by the expectation of concrete or social rewards or the avoidance of punishment (Eisenberg et al. 2006, p. 647). However, it is usually impossible to differentiate between altruistically motivated actions and actions motivated by other concerns, also because human behaviours are normally multideterminated (McMillan 2011). See also Sen (1991).

  7. Beyond the rigid dichotomy between individualistic and collectivistic orientations (which is never observed in reality, in favour of more nuanced positions between these two extremes), these two categories are useful for describing how societies in which people perceive a high degree of interdependence in achieving adequate outcomes tend to be oriented towards cooperation and interpersonal harmony, while communities that have developed modes of production that do not require group support tend to take more individualistic pathway as an adaptive response (e.g., Bugental and Goodnow 2006).

  8. While the neurological base of empathy seems to be associated with the existence of mirror neurons (Rizzolati and Craighero 2005), the mere activation of these neurons and of empathy itself does not necessarily entail the adoption of altruistic behaviour by people, highlighting the role played by the social context and prevailing culture in influencing individual prosocial conduct. As observed by Rizzolati and Craighero (2005, p. 120): “an empathic relationship between others and ourselves does not necessarily bring positive consequences to the others. The presence of an unhappy person may compel another individual to eliminate the unpleasant feeling determined by that presence, acting in a way that is not necessary the most pleasant for the unhappy person. To use the mirror mechanism—a biological mechanism—strictly in a positive way, a further—cultural—addition is necessary […] to give ethical norms that eliminate the negative aspects that are also present in the same biological mechanism”.

  9. An extensive literature in political economy emphasises the connection between conflicts within the social structure and political and economic outcomes. In a Marxian fashion, for instance, the class structure of society involves conflicting interests that organise power bases to compete in order to influence public policies and achieve economic outcomes aligned with their respective goals. In keeping with this view, many contributions describe the antagonism between social classes or other socioeconomic groups as a crucial driver of institutional and economic change (e.g., Di Tommaso et al. 2020; Galambos 1983; Hrebenar 1997; Jessop 1990; Kalecki 1976; Lustig 1982; Tassinari 2019, 2021).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers, for having provided very useful inputs and insights.

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Tassinari, M. Interpersonal relationships, human development, and the trajectory of economic change: a social constructionist perspective. Int Rev Econ 70, 177–193 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12232-023-00414-x

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