A general theory of human behavior from the view-point of physical science

This chapter presents an overview of the social development model (SDM)—a general theory of human behavior that integrates research on risk and protective factors into a coherent model. The goal of this synthesis is to provide more explanatory power than its component theories. This chapter first specifies the model constructs and their hypothesized relationships to prosocial and antisocial behaviors. It then provides a synthesis of what has been learned from empirical tests of social development hypotheses for predicting pro- and antisocial behaviors. This chapter also highlights interventions derived from the SDM and summarizes their impact on pro- and antisocial behaviors. Finally, the chapter concludes by presenting future directions for SDM-based research.

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The Future as Social Technology. Prediction and the Rise of Futurology

10.1093/oso/9780198814337.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jenny Andersson

Keyword(s):

General Theory ◽

Human Behavior ◽

World System ◽

Social Technology ◽

Future Developments ◽

The World ◽

Future Science ◽

The Future

Chapter 5 examines the experiments at RAND with a new future science, a “general theory of the future” capable of explaining human behavior and developments in the world system. The chapter also proposes that futurology was ultimately a failure, as forms of prediction encountered criticism and led to a discussion within RAND about the epistemological limits of prediction. As RAND researchers came to the conclusion that prediction was logically and empirically impossible, they shifted their interest from predicting actual future developments, to prediction as a “social technology”—a means of actively intervening into the future and shape desirable developments. The chapter zeroes in on the so called Delphi technology, the purpose of which was to conduct an expert driven reflection on a possible wide array of social futures, produce judgments on desirable and undesirable futures, and choose the optimal future.

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The power and powerlessness of academe: Toward a general theory of human behavior

Journal of African American Studies ◽

10.1007/s12111-005-1006-8 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 3-14

Author(s):

Melvin D. Williams

Keyword(s):

General Theory ◽

Human Behavior ◽

Power And Powerlessness

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Extreme self-sacrifice beyond fusion: Moral expansiveness and the special case of allyship

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001620 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daniel Crimston ◽

Matthew J. Hornsey

Keyword(s):

General Theory ◽

Biological Markers ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Relevant Dimension ◽

Special Case

AbstractAs a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice, Whitehouse's article misses one relevant dimension: people's willingness to fight and die in support of entities not bound by biological markers or ancestral kinship (allyship). We discuss research on moral expansiveness, which highlights individuals’ capacity to self-sacrifice for targets that lie outside traditional in-group markers, including racial out-groups, animals, and the natural environment.

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