Definition
The modular theory of social development was proposed by Judith Rich Harris in her book No Two Alike: Human Nature and Human Individuality (Harris 2006). The theory is based on one of the tenets of evolutionary psychology: that different adaptive problems require different psychological mechanisms to solve them. The human mind is seen not as an all-purpose learning device but as a toolbox of specialized “modules,” which each evolved to deal with a specific adaptive problem. Harris proposed that three mental mechanisms are involved in the social development of children. They deal with three recurring developmental challenges: forming and maintaining beneficial relationships, becoming and remaining an accepted member of a group, and competing successfully with rivals. These mechanisms operate independently, collect different kinds of information from the environment, provide different...
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References
Harris, J. R. (1995). Where is the child’s environment? A group socialization theory of development. Psychological Review, 102, 458–489.
Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption. New York: Free Press.
Harris, J. R. (2006). No two alike: Human nature and human individuality. New York: Norton.
Harris, J. R. (2011). Explaining individual differences in personality: Why we need a modular theory. In D. M. Buss & P. H. Hawley (Eds.), The evolution of personality and individual differences (pp. 121–153). New York: Oxford University Press.
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Harris, J.R. (2017). Modular Theory of Social Development. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1550-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1550-1
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