Factors That Influence Human Development Essay

In our day and time, socioeconomic status, cultural context, and ethnicity play a huge role in human development. Human development begins while in the womb and at birth and continues through life heavily depending on these particular factors. These factors determine how a person communicates, works, looks, and chooses to live their daily lives. People are individuals and therefore, are all different people and will develop in different ways all depending on the influence of these three things in their lives. The first factor that influences human development is a person’s socioeconomic status. This indicates a person’s position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence. As a child, socioeconomic status has a big effect on the way a child is raised and the opportunities available to him/her. Children that come from high socioeconomic status families typically are more successful because they have more resources readily available to their children. They are able to afford high-quality childcare, education, and healthcare. Read more: Explain how children and young peoples development is influenced by a range of personal factors essay Their children are also typically more involved in recreational sports and extra-curricular activities broadening their children’s horizons and talents. Children that are raised in low socioeconomic families lack the financial, educational, and social support that would make them feel equal to children from higher social standing families. These feelings of unease and not fitting in can lead to low confidence and low motivation. Children have to live with these feelings and the circumstances they were born into until they become adults and can make their own livings. Anyone is capable of overcoming his or her circumstances! When children grow up, they get to decide how far they want to take their education and what type of career field they want to go into as well as where and how they will choose to fit into modern day society. Cultural context is also a large factor that shapes a person’s development. Culture is defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. Culture affects the way we dress, what we eat, what we believe, and even the way we think about life and make decisions. I think that culture is beginning to play a larger role in development as our country begins to grow exponentially with the number or foreign immigrants making this nation their home. Different cultures are beginning to merge together making their heritage and beliefs that much more important in the hearts of their people as they grow and develop into adults. For example, a Muslim or Hindu individual will celebrate certain holidays very differently than a Catholic or Christian individual. A person’s cultural beliefs and traditions have an affect on their everyday lives, and those things will be passed down through generations. One example of a culturally taught idea here in America is the typical â€Å"American Dream† that we, as American children, have been taught through childhood and youth. From an early age, we were taught and told that with hard work, determination, and never giving up on a dream, our opportunities would be endless. Culture is another huge factor on human development. According to the textbook, there is some confusion regarding the differences between race and ethnicity. Ethnicity or an ethnic group is defined as a people whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion. Race is defined as a group of people who are regarded by themselves or by others as distinct from other groups on the bases of physical appearance. Race can definitely be a misleading concept though. I think ethnicity and culture are very different things, but definitely go hand in hand pertaining to human development. Each human being is their own individual person, therefore, will grow and develop differently. Being a part of an ethnic group can have a very positive influence on a child or an adult by giving them a sense of belonging and identity; it helps them to discover and understand who they are and where they come from. It can also present negative consequences such as creating divisions between different groups of people which have caused discrimination and prejudice which in our history has unfortunately led to conflict and in extreme cases, war. All three of theses areas influence a person’s physical, cognitive, and social development in different ways. Explain why researchers interested in human development study different cultures. Give an example of a research question that would benefit from a multicultural comparison. This question can greatly be connected to the following one. Cultural tendencies are a huge factor in human development, so to get an accurate study regarding development; it would have to be a cross-cultural study. If you were questioning the correlation between height and weight of children from higher socioeconomic families versus children from lower socio economic families testing the theory that a major cause of malnutrition and low growth rate is family income and status, you would have to test your theory in different parts of the world and in different people groups. Things that would need to be considered are different styles of cooking and the way that certain people eat as well as amount of physical activity. For example, children in Africa whose job it is to work in the fields or help their family out doing some form of chores that most likely is outside and involves laborious activity are going to naturally get more physical exercise in their everyday lives that American children who sit in a classroom and then go home to play video games and maybe play an occasional game outside. Children raised in America definitely live a more sedentary lifestyle than most other people groups, and that is something to take into consideration when looking at things such as height and weight that ride on factors such as physical activity and activity level. This is the reason for researchers and psychologists that are interested in studying different cultures to get accurate answers to these questions regarding human development. Since culture, race, and ethnicity play such a huge role in development, it is necessary to study different types of people to make these assumptions. Review information related to Figure 1. 2 (Ecological Model). Explain your own development from a social, physical, and cognitive perspective from this model using at least three of the Five Characteristics of Development (page 11). This model illustrates the social, physical, and cognitive development of a person through these five different characteristics of development. The five systems are the Microsystems, exosystems, macrosystems, mesosystems, and the chronosystem. This model was created by Urie Bronfenbrenner to show how each person is significantly affected by interactions among a number of these overlapping systems. The microsystem seems to be the most critical in my personal opinion; they intimately and immediately shape development. Personally, the examples given in the model are the most important areas or things that mean the most to me as a person, and I would definitely say they are the things that have made me who I am today. My family, friends, and my faith are the most important things in my life and certainly have shaped my life. I was raised in a strong Christian family with two loving parents who support me in everything that I do. My faith is the cornerstone and foundation of who I am, and is my basis for decisions I make and the way I choose in which to live my life and the people I choose to surround myself with. I have an incredible group of friends that keep me grounded and sometimes I feel like they know me better than I know myself. These things that are included in the microsystem of development have certainly been heavyweights as I have developed into the woman I am today. The next system illustrated in this model is called the exosystem, which include external networks such as community, mass media, school/educational settings, and medical institutions that influence the inner circle of the microsystem. Personally, these areas definitely carry weight, especially in such a generation and society that is led by social networking and the media/entertainment industry. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all of the other social networking sites drive this generation, so I believe this system has a large impact on development. As far as schooling, since I am deciding to go back to school to aim for a master’s degree in nursing, this plays a huge role in my life and development. I spend large amounts of time focusing all of my attention on schoolwork and reading to further my education. The third area I feel like has had a large impact on my personal development and life itself is the macrosystem, which influences all of the other systems and includes cultural values, political philosophies, economic patterns, and social conditions. I think the one of these areas that has personally had the most influence on me is the social conditions. Being socially aware and socially open to meeting new people and being able to learn new ways to engage others at the college age level is crucial. When our high school group of friends breaks up and moves away to take on new endeavors of their own, you have to be able to adjust and meet new people, and I feel as if that is an area I have done really well in. I love to meet new people, and I think the reason for that is the social foundation that I already had established from growing up in an environment and around people who made me feel comfortable and established self-confidence and self-worth in me. These are the areas in which I feel like have greatly influenced my personal physical, cognitive, and social development.