Identität in Zeiten des kulturellen Wandels. Psychologische und soziale Folgen von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit

In 2015, 10 percent of the world’s population lived in poverty, on less than $1.90 a day. They suffer from lack of consumption and access to education and basic utilities. Governments and organizations strive to improve their living conditions by implementing different programs in low-income nations. I shortly describe three examples of such programs and their psychological impacts: (1) a laptop program for children envisioned to increase their educational opportunities, (2) microfinance services for poor people designed to help people develop their income-generating activity through training and micro-loans and (3) a small medium-sized enterprise development program designed to increase employment levels and foster sustainable development and peace. In all three cases, the long-term goal is to help people escape extreme poverty. The effectiveness of such programs is currently heavily debated in science and politics. In this context, I will describe how different aspects of identity are studied in social psychology and how these may change. In sum, the findings point to the development of an identity in which self-determined and agentic action is becoming more important. However, they also show how the traditional embeddedness in family and groups changes. The latter will have a major impact on how identities change in societies undergoing rapid economic growth. Future research should investigate these long-term and possibly less positive consequences.