Quality of life' is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an intuitive appeal as a measure of the well-being of individuals, communities and nations. It is increasingly promoted as an aid for political decisions and public funding. But what does the concept really mean? And how can it be operationalized in teaching and research?

This is the first introductory text to offer a critical overview of the concept of quality of life and the ways in which it is researched. Using an inter-disciplinary approach the book covers every aspect of the concept...

This major new textbook by Jaan Valsiner focuses on the interface between cultural psychology and developmental psychology. Intended for students from undergraduate level upwards, the book provides a wide-ranging overview of the cultural perspective on human development, with illustrations from pre-natal development to adulthood. A key feature is the broad coverage of theoretical and methodological issues which have relevance to this truly interdisciplinary field of enquiry encompassing developmental psychology, cultural anthropology and comparative sociology.

The text is organized into...

This volume examines how agency in the life course can be conceptualized and investigates the specific ways in which personal characteristics and contextual variables play a role in shaping individual lives. The contributors offer differing perspectives on agency, how its expression changes over a lifetime, and how it is constrained, channeled, or altered by cultural and social institutions.

Each chapter focuses...

Changing Conceptions of Psychological Life is an interdisciplinary look at personal constructions of self. This book is a product of the 30th Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society. The contributing authors constitute the original cast invited to speak on the theme of how individuals come to construe psychological lives--their own and others. Their concerns are how our sense of ourselves emerges developmentally, culturally, and historically, and the implications such constructions have for personal, social, and political change. Together, the authors compose an international...

Reflecting author Cigdem Kagitcibasi's influential work over the last two decades, this new edition examines human development, the self, and the family in a cultural context. It challenges the existing assumptions in mainstream western psychology about the nature of individuals.

The author proposes a new model - the "Autonomous-Related Self" - which expands on existing theory by demonstrating how culture influences self development. The development of competence is examined from a contextual perspective, with a view towards global urbanization which is creating increasingly...