Abstract
In the social and behavioural sciences, the concepts of selection and adaptation have been fruitfully applied to the analysis of human behaviour. While most researchers agree that humans are bio-cultural entities, theoretical approaches differ in their emphasis on the role and relevance of natural selection (Barkow et al. 1992), cultural pressures, or the interaction between the two systems in influencing human behaviour (Durham 1991; Richerson and Boyd 2005). The aim of this chapter is to emphasize the role of individuals as active agents in shaping their cultural environment and in promoting its complexity. From this perspective, attention will be paid to psychological selection, that is the individual processing of bio-cultural information (Csikszentmihalyi and Massimini 1985), and to its potential in fostering personal growth and culture empowerment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L. and Tooby, J. (1992) The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bassi, M. and Delle Fave, A. (2004) ‘Adolescence and the Changing Context of Optimal Experience in Time: Italy 1986–2000’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 5: 155–79.
Baumeister, R. F. (2005) The Cultural Animal. New York: Oxford University Press.
Brune, M. (2000) ‘Neoteny, Psychiatric Disorders and the Social Brain: Hypotheses on Heterochrony and the Modularity of the Mind’, Anthropology & Medicine, 7: 301–18.
Chirkov, V. I. and Ryan, R. M. (2001) ‘Control versus Autonomy Support in Russia and the US: Effects on Well-Being and Academic Motivation’, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32: 618–35.
Cloak, F. T. (1975) ‘Is a Cultural Ethology Possible?’ Human Ecology, 3: 161–82.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975) Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997) ‘Activity, Experience and Personal Growth’, in J. Curtis and S. Russell (eds), Physical Activity in Human Experience: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Beattie, O. (1979) ‘Life Themes: a Theoretical and Empirical Exploration of their Origins and Effects’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 19: 677–93.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Csikszentmihalyi, I. (eds) (1988) Optimal Experience. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Massimini, F. (1985) ‘On the Psychological Selection of Bio-cultural Information’, New Ideas in Psychology, 3: 115–38.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K. and Whalen, S. (1993) Talented Teenagers. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Delle Fave, A. (2004) ‘A Feeling of Wellbeing in Learning and Teaching’, in M. Tokoro and L. Steels (eds), A Learning Zone of One’s Own. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 97–110.
Delle Fave, A. and Bassi, M. (2000) ‘The Quality of Experience in Adolescents’ Daily Lives: Developmental Perspectives’, Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs, 126: 347–67.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (1991) ‘Modernization and the Quality of Daily Experience in a Southern Italy Village’, in N. Bleichrodt and P. J. D. Drenth (eds), Contemporary Issues in Cross-Cultural Psychology. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger B. V.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (1992) ‘Experience Sampling Method and the Measurement of Clinical Change: a Case of Anxiety Disorder’, in M. W. de Vries (ed.), The Experience of Psychopathology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2000) ‘Living at Home or in Institution: Adolescents’ Optimal Experience and Life Theme’, Paideia, 19: 55–66.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2003a) ‘Optimal Experience in Work and Leisure among Teachers and Physicians: Individual and Bio-cultural Implications’, Leisure Studies, 22: 323–42.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2003b) ‘Drug Addiction: the Paradox of Mimetic Optimal Experience’, in J. Henry (ed.), European Positive Psychology Proceedings. Leicester: British Psychological Society.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2004) ‘The Cross-cultural Investigation of Optimal Experience’, Ricerche di Psicologia, 27: 79–102.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2005a) ‘The Investigation of Optimal Experience and Apathy: Developmental and Psychosocial Implications’, European Psychologist, 10: 264–74.
Delle Fave, A. and Massimini, F. (2005b) ‘The Relevance of Subjective Wellbeing to Social Policies: Optimal Experience and Tailored Intervention’, in F. Huppert, B. Keverne and N. Baylis (eds), The Science of Wellbeing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Diamond, J. (2005) Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking Books.
Dunbar, R. J. M. (1998) ‘The Social Brain Hypothesis’, Evolutionary Anthropology, 6: 178–90.
Durham, W. H. (1991) Coevolution: Genes, Culture and Human Diversity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Ferrari, M. and Mahalingam, R. (1998) ‘Personal Cognitive Development and its Implications for Teaching and Learning’, Educational Psychologist, 33: 35–44.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999) ‘Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans’, American Psychologist, 54: 493–503.
Hayamizu, T. (1997) ‘Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Examination of Reasons for Academic Study Based on the Theory of Internalization’, Japanese Psychological Research, 39: 98–108.
Hui, H. and Luk, C. L. (1997) ‘Industrial/Organizational Psychology’, in J. W. Berry. M. H. Segall and C. Kagitçibasi (eds), Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology, vol. 3. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Iso-Ahola, S. E. (1997) ‘A Psychological Analysis of Leisure and Health’, in J. T. Haworth (ed.) Work, Leisure and Well-Being. London: Routledge.
Jablonka, E. and Lamb, M. J. (2005) Evolution in Four Dimensions. Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioural and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kasser, T. and Ryan, R. (1996) ‘Further Examining the American Dream: Differential Correlates of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goals’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22: 280–7.
Kubey, R. W. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990) Television and the Quality of Life. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Laland, K. N., Odling-Smee, J. and Feldman, M. W. (2000) ‘Niche Construction, Biological Evolution, and Cultural Change’, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23: 131–46.
Larson, R. W. (2000) ‘Toward a Psychology of Positive Youth Development’, American Psychologist, 55: 170–83.
Massimini, F., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Delle Fave, A. (1988) ‘Flow and Biocultural Evolution’, in M. Csikszentmihalyi and I. Csikszentmihalyi (eds), Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Massimini, F. and Delle Fave, A. (2000) ‘Individual Development in a Bio-cultural Perspective’, American Psychologist, 55: 24–33.
Mays, V. M., Bullock, M., Rosenzweig, M. R. and Wessells, M. (1998) ‘Ethnic Conflict: Global Challenges and Psychological Perspectives’, American Psychologist, 53: 737–42.
Mundinger, P. C. (1980) ‘Animal Culture and a General Theory of Cultural Evolution’, Ethology and Sociobiology, 1: 183–223.
Myers, D. G. (2000) ‘The Funds, Friends and Faith of Happy People’, American Psychologist, 55: 56–67.
Oettingen, G. and Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001) ‘Goal Setting and Goal Striving’, in A. Tesser and N. Schwartz (eds), Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Intraindividual Processes. Oxford: Blackwell.
Oishi, S. (2000) ‘Goals as Cornerstones of Subjective Well-Being: Linking Individuals and Cultures’, in E. Diener and E. M. Suh (eds), Culture and Subjective Well-Being. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Olievenstein, C. (2000) La drogue, 30 ans après. Paris: Editions Odile Jacob.
Oskamp, S. (2000) ‘A Sustainable Future for Humanity?’ American Psychologist, 55: 496–508.
Ranson, S. and Martin, J. (1996) ‘Towards a Theory of Learning’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 44: 9–26.
Richerson, P. J. and Boyd, R. (1978) ‘A Dual Inheritance Model of Human Evolutionary Process: Basic Postulates and a Simple Model I’, Journal of Social and Biological Structures, 1: 127–54.
Richerson, P. J. and Boyd, R. (2005) Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L. (2001) ‘On Happiness and Human Potentials: a Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being’, Annual Review of Psychology, 52: 141–66.
Ryan, R., Stiller, J. and Lynch, J. (1994) ‘Representations of Relationships to Teachers, Parents, and Friends as Predictors of Academic Motivation and Self-esteem’, Journal of Early Adolescence, 14: 226–49.
Salmela-Aro, K. and Nurmi, J. E. (1997) ‘Goal Contents, Well-Being, and Life Context during Transition to University: a Longitudinal Study’, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20: 471–91.
Sen, A. (1992) Inequality Reexamined. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stromberg, C. and Boehnke, K. (2001) ‘Person/Society Value Congruence and Well-Being: the Role of Acculturation Strategies’, in P. Schmuck and K. M. Sheldon (eds), Life Goals and Well-Being. Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber.
Tomasello, M. (1999) The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
van Mierlo, H., Rutte, C. R., Seinen, S. and Kompier, M. (2001) ‘Autonomous Teamwork and Psychological Well-Being’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10: 291–301.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2007 Antonella Delle Fave
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fave, A.D. (2007). Individual Development and Community Empowerment: Suggestions from Studies on Optimal Experience. In: Haworth, J., Hart, G. (eds) Well-Being. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230287624_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230287624_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-28003-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28762-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)