ABSTRACT
Much of psychology has been aimed at explicating stability-both at the individual person level and at the broader societal level. In explaining such stability, attention usually turns to biological factors. The explanations for a person’s character and behavior are widely believed to be antecedent to and independent from societal factors and life circumstances. The chapters of this volume present a very different view. There is emerging consensus that a person’s character and behavior are inseparable from the society the individual is embedded in-that the environment and contextual factors play key roles in shaping the person across the lifespan (e.g., Prilleltensky, 1989; Turner & Oakes, 1997). Although these issues have been debated in psychology for some time, the evidence now clearly indicates that people are potentially malleable in their character and behavior.
