Project Summary

The central focus of the Developmental Idealism and Family and Demographic Change project is developmental idealism—a network of cultural ideas, beliefs, and values concerning development and its connection to family structures and relationships. We study the extent to which these ideas, beliefs, and values of developmental idealism are known and accepted by ordinary people in various places around the world, as well as the mechanisms spreading developmental idealism. We also investigate the consequences of holding the ideas, beliefs, and values of developmental idealism for social, economic, familial, and demographic change. We study these phenomenon in the United States and in other settings.