Developmental Idealism

Abstract

This paper extends theory and research concerning cultural models of development beyond family and demographic matters to a broad range of additional factors, including government, education, human rights, daily social conventions, and religion. Developmental idealism is a cultural model—a set of beliefs and values—that identifies the appropriate goals of development and the ends for achieving these goals. It includes beliefs about positive cause and effect relationships among such factors as economic growth, educational achievement, health, and political governance, as well as strong values regarding many attributes, including economic growth, education, small families, gender equality, and democratic governance. This cultural model has spread from its origins among the elites of northwest Europe to elites and ordinary people throughout the world. Developmental idealism has become so entrenched in local, national, and global social institutions that it has now achieved a taken-for-granted status among many national elites, academics, development practitioners, and ordinary people around the world. We argue that developmental idealism culture has been a fundamental force behind many cultural clashes within and between societies, and continues to be an important cause of much global social change. We suggest that developmental idealism should be included as a causal factor in theories of human behavior and social change.

Early Women, Late Men: Timing Attitudes and Gender Differences in Marriage

“…By contrast, the exogenous role is highlighted in developmental idealism theory. According to this theory, the dissemination of a powerful collection of values and beliefs that portray Western behavior as inherently good, modern, and causally connected to socioeconomic development, motivated individuals around the world to adopt Western marriage practices (Allendorf, 2017; Allendorf & Thornton, 2015; Thornton, Dorius, & Swindle, 2015). Regardless of whether timing attitudes are mediating underlying economic factors or acting as exogenous causal forces though, we view such attitudes as an important part of the marriage process and expect that they contribute to gender gaps in marital timing.…”

‘Wardrobe Modernity’: Western Attire as a Tool of Modernization in Turkey

“…'Nevertheless, the extent to which developmental idealism has been accepted or rejected in various countries has influenced health practices and outcomes, educational decisions, democracy, human rights, migration, elder care, women's status, and marriage and childbearing.' 16 A caveat in this connection is that presenting the basic messages of developmental idealism does not mean that they are endorsed or renounced in this article. Rather, the purpose of this article is to show the implications of developmental idealism for people's perceptions as well as their behaviour.…”

Developmental idealism in China

“…Some elements of the DI cultural model existed among ancient Greek and Roman writers, who indicated that human societies develop through similar stages but at different speeds (Nisbet, 1975; Pagden, 1982; Thornton, 2005; Thornton et al, 2015). These ideas were advocated by important European philosophers and social scientists during the 17 th , 18 th , and 19 th centuries.…”

“…DI has been disseminated across and within societies in nearly every part of the world through many different mechanisms (Thornton et al, 2015). The mechanisms spreading DI have varied across both time and geography.…”