UTS PRESENTATION

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Urie Bronfenbrenner
- American psychologist
- formulated and published the Ecological Systems Theory in 1979 to explain how the inherent
qualities of humans and their environments interact to influence how they grow and develop
- emphasizes the importance of studying humans in multiple environments, also known as
ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their development

Ecological Systems Theory

- states that human development is influenced by the different types of environmental
systems
- helps us understand why we may behave differently when we compare our behavior in
the presence of our family and our behavior when we are in school or at work
The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our
lifespan that may influence our behavior in varying degrees. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model
organizes contexts of development into five levels of external influence. These levels or systems
are categorized from the most intimate level to the broadest.
These systems include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and
chronosystem.

1. The Microsystem(Immediate Environment)

- The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the microsystem is the smallest and most
immediate environment in which we live. As such, the microsystem comprises our daily
home, school or daycare, peer group and community environment.
- The micro system's setting is the direct environment we have in our lives.
- The microsystem is the setting in which we have direct social interactions with social agents
such as our family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors and other people who have a
direct contact with us.
- How these groups or individuals interact with us will affect how we grow.
- More nurturing and more supportive interactions and relationships will understandably foster
one’s improved development.
- One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner unearthed in his study of
ecological systems is that it is possible for siblings who find themselves in the same
ecological system to experience very different environments.
- Therefore, given two siblings experiencing the same microsystem, it is not impossible for the
development of them to progress in different manners. Each child’s particular personality
traits, such as temperament, which is influenced by unique genetic and biological factors,
ultimately have a hand in how he/she is treated by others.
- The theory states that we are not mere recipients of the experiences we have when
socializing with these people in the micro system environment, but we are contributing to the
construction of such environment.

2. The Mesosystem(Connections)
- The mesosytem involves the relationships and interactions between the different
microsystems in one's life.
- It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such, involves linkages between
home and school, between peer group and family, and between family and community.
- This means that your family experience may be related to your school experience.
- An example of this is when a child’s parents are actively involved in the friendships of their
child, for instance, they invite their child’s friends over to their house from time to time and
spend time with them then the child’s development is affected positively through harmony
and like-mindedness.
- However, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and openly criticize them, then the
child experiences disequilibrium and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to negative
development.

3. The Exosystem(Indirect Environment)

- The exosystem pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or more settings,
one of which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly
nonetheless.
- The exosystem is the setting in which there is a link between the context where in the
person does not have any active role, and the context where in is actively participating.
- Based on the findings of Bronfenbrenner, people and places that children may not
directly interact with may still have an impact on their lives. Such places and people may
include the parents’ workplaces, extended family members, and the neighborhood the
children live in.
 - Suppose a child is more attached to his father than his mother. If the father goes abroad
to work for several months, there may be a conflict between the mother and the child's
social relationship, or on the other hand, this event may result to a tighter bond between
the mother and the child.

4. The Macrosystem(Social and Cultural Values)

- The macrosystem is the largest and most distant collection of people and places to a
person that still have significant influences on him or her.
- This ecological system is composed of the humans’ cultural patterns and values,
specifically their dominant beliefs and ideas, as well as political and economic systems.
- The cultural contexts involve the socioeconomic status of the person and/or his family,
his ethnicity or race and living in a still developing or a third world country.
- For example, being born to a poor family makes a person work harder every day.
- Another scenario is when children in war-torn areas experience a different kind of
development than children in peaceful environments.

5. The Chronosystem(Changes over Time)

- The chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time, which demonstrates the influence
of both change and constancy in the children’s environments.
- This includes the transitions and shifts in one's lifespan such as a change in family structure,
address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society changes such as
economic cycles and wars.
- One classic example of this is how divorce, as a major life transition, may affect not only the
couple's relationship but also their children's behavior. According to a majority of research,
children are negatively affected on the first year after the divorce. The next years after it
would reveal that the interaction within the family becomes more stable and agreeable.

Importance of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

- This theory has influenced many psychologists in terms of the manner of analyzing the
person and the effects of different environmental systems that he encounters. The ecological
systems theory has since become an important theory that became a foundation of other
theorists' work.
- By studying the various ecological systems, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems
Theory is able to demonstrate the diversity of interrelated influences on children’s
development. Awareness of the contexts that children are in can sensitize us to
variations in the way children may act in different settings.
- For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the
role of a terrified victim at home. Due to these variations, adults who are concerned with
the care of a particular child should pay close attention to his/her behavior in different
settings, as well as to the quality and type of connections that exist between these
settings.
References:

https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory/

https://explorable.com/ecological-systems-theory