Download Non-Stage Developmental Theories

Non-Stage
Developmental
Theories
Klaus Riegel
Leonard Pearlin
KLAUS RIEGEL'S - INTERPRETATION OF
DEVELOPMENT
 American
psychologist Klaus Riegel
suggest that development in adulthood
occurs not in predictable stages
 Instead,
individuals adjust in response to
the interaction of both internal and
external changes.
 His
theory accepts an internal biological
clock and a changing external social
clock.

He identified 4 interrelated internal and external
dimensions of development :
1. The INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSION
describes emotional maturity and independence, and the
maturity of mental processes.
2. The INDIVIDUAL BIOLOGICAL DIMENSION
describes physical and sexual maturity.
3. The CULTURAL-SOCIOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS
describes the expectations and opportunities that each
society defines for individuals.
4. The ENVIROMENTAL DIMENSION describes the
physical, economic, and political environment in which
the individual lives.
LEONARD PEARLIN'S THEORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS

He disagreed with stage theories, suggesting that
adulthood is not a series of transitions from one period of
stability to another , but rather a lifetime of continuous
change in which individuals might experience occasional
periods of stability.

He believed that people are able to change the life
structure at any time.

Pearlin is suggesting that the patterns that Erikson and
other developmental theorists have observed are a
COHORT (group) EFFECTS, that the changes in
behavior result from socialized responses to a common
social clock rather than from age-linked inner changes
 Four
elements determine the path that individual
lives will take :
1. Individual characteristics ,such as gender,
race, intelligence, family background, personality,
and education
2. The range of skills individuals have for coping
with stress or change
3. The availability of social support networks
4. The nature and timing of stress that requires
response
 Write
a two page reflection on how this
theory has applied to your life so far. Use
specific stages and the information from
those stages. Use specific personal
experiences as examples in your
response.