ABSTRACT
People live in a number of systems that influence the development of their values, beliefs, behavior, and attitudes (Bernal, Bonilla, & Bellido, 1995; Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Hogg, 1996; Jahoda, 1992; Lonner & Malpass, 1994). According to Bronfenbrenner, for example, the systems that support human development and behavior can be seen as occurring at four levels, each nested within the next. The microsystem is the immediate social settings-such as family, the peer group, and the workplace-that directly affect a person’s life. The mesosystem includes the links that connect one microsystem to another. Examples include job coaches, case managers, and natural support personnel. The exosystem includes neighborhood and community structures such as newspapers, television and public agencies that affect directly the functioning of smaller systems. Finally, the macrosystem includes the overarching patterns of culture, social-political trends, and economic systems. This overarching pattern of culture directly affects our values and assumptions, the meanings of words and concepts, and the potential universality of concepts.
