ABSTRACT
Meta-theories in human development are sets of assumptions about the nature of humans and the meaning of development—what it looks like, how it happens, what causes it. Examples of meta-theoretical assumptions about human development would be the idea that all development ends at 18, or that aging is a process of loss and decline. Assumptions about humans and their development are both descriptive, in that they depict the nature of humans and what development looks like, and explanatory in that they explicate the causes of development. Descriptive assumptions apply not only to humans, but also to the nature of the environments they inhabit, for example, whether the surroundings are considered to be “active” or “passive.” An “active” nature suggests that humans are inherently and spontaneously active and energetic; that by nature all people are goal-directed, agentic, self-regulating, conscious, and reflective beings.
