ABSTRACT
In Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, developmental trajectory refers to the construction of an important complex activity in life. Developmental trajectories consist of the activities a person practices and expands over time and the settings those activities have been practiced in. Such activities provide ongoing motivation for a person and a sense of structure or pattern to life. The development of such a trajectory depends on entering a setting where the activity can be engaged in, and a microsystem that includes and supports it. The activity may be carried into other settings, and if they also support it, a trajectory is established. Such developmental trajectories then influence the person’s choices of, and access to, other settings that will support the increasingly important and complex activity. The concept of developmental trajectory is important to studying development because it helps us understand all important behaviors a person develops, both desirable and undesirable. The hypotheses associated with it guide the develecologist in planning ways to support desirable behaviors as well as ways to alter ecosystems so they are less likely to support undesirable behaviors, and perhaps bend trajectories in more developmentally appropriate directions.
