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Why is sociocultural stimulation important?

Why is sociocultural stimulation important?

March 4, 2024

On many occasions experts in the area of ​​social psychology have defended the idea that the human being is a social being by nature.

But what does this affirmation really mean and what implications can a lack in the relationship that it establishes with its surroundings have on the human being?

The needs of the human being: what are they?

The Hierarchy of Needs proposed by Abraham Maslow was presented in 1943 as a model in the form of a pyramid where five types of needs to be met by human beings are presented, ordered according to their complexity and relevance granted in the attainment of the maximum state of growth personal. At the base level are the physiological needs (food, for example), followed by the security needs (protection of the individual), the needs of social acceptance (belonging and love), the needs of self-esteem (assessment of one's own status) and , already at the top level, the needs for self-fulfillment (self-fulfillment).


The first four kinds of needs are called "deficit", since it is possible to satisfy them at a certain time, while the fifth is known as "need to be", because it is never completely satiated, it is continuous . When an individual is reaching the satisfaction of the most elementary needs, his interest in meeting the needs of higher levels increases. This displacement towards the top in the pyramid is defined as growth force . On the other hand, the decrease in the attainment of increasingly primitive needs is due to the action of regressive forces.

The satisfaction of needs

Maslow understands that every human being aspires to the satisfaction of needs of increasingly higher levels Although he admits that not all people want to conquer the need for self-realization, it seems that it is a more particular goal depending on the characteristics of the individual. Another important idea of ​​the author's model is that it highlights the existing relationship between action (behavior) and willingness to reach different levels of needs. Thus, the unmet needs are the only ones that motivate the behavior and not those already consolidated.


As can be observed, all the components of the pyramid of needs of the Maslow model are closely related to the significant relevance that the environment exerts on the human being. Thus, both the elements of the base or physiological as those of security, belonging and self-esteem can only be understood and given when an individual develops in society (at least in a psychologically adaptive way).

Relevance of environmental stimulation in humans

Infinite research has shown how the development of the human being is influenced by biological or genetic factors, environmental factors and the interaction between them. Thus, an internal predisposition is modulated by the context in which the subject develops and gives rise to a very particular conformation of the characteristics that it manifests, both cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally.


Among the environmental factors to be taken into account as determining factors in children's psychological development are:

  • The child's relationship with the environment , the affective bonds established with the referring figures derived from the affection and care behaviors derived from them.
  • The perception of stability of the surrounding frame (family, school, etc.).

Both aspects greatly influence the type of cognitive and emotional functioning that the child internalizes, the quality of their communication skills, adaptation to the changing environment and their attitude to learning.

An example of what is stated in the previous paragraph is illustrated by the medical experience of the physician Jean Itard with the wild child of Aveyron. The boy was found at the age of 11 years in the forest observing in him a behavior similar to an indomitable animal. After a substantial alteration of the context of the boy he was able to learn certain social skills, although it is true that progress was limited since the environmental intervention occurred at a very advanced stage of development.

Secondary intersubjectivity

In reference to the mentioned point on the affective bonds, also The role of the concept of "secondary intersubjectivity" can be considered relevant . Secondary intersubjectivity refers to the phenomenon that takes place in babies about one year of age and that consists of a form of primitive symbolic interaction between mother and baby, where two types of intentional acts are simultaneously combined: the praxes (such as point to an object) and interpersonal (the smile, physical contact with the other, among others).

A deficit in the achievement of this evolutionary milestone is determined by the establishment of an unsafe affective bond and can have significant consequences such as difficulty in building a symbolic world of their own, deficits in interpersonal communication and intentional interaction or development of stereotyped behaviors similar to those manifested in the autistic spectrum.

The contribution of the Ecological or Systemic Theories

One of the fundamental contributions in this regard have been the proposals of the Ecological-Systemic Theories, which defend the relevance of intervening not only in the subject in question, but also in the different social systems where it interacts as the family, the school and other environments such as the neighborhood, peer group, etc. At the same time, the various systems influence each other and others simultaneously .

From this systemic conception it is understood that individual behavior is the result of the relationship between the subject, the environment and interaction between both parties (transactionality). The system, therefore, is not equal to the sum of its components; It has a different nature. In this sense, this model gives a holistic vision to the process of human development, assuming that all the capacities of the subject in the infant stage (cognitive, linguistic, physical, social and emotional) are interrelated and form a global whole impossible to segment in areas specific.

Another feature that this theoretical proposal offers of child development is its dynamism, by which the context must adapt to the needs of the subject to facilitate the maturational process. The family as the main system in which the development of the child takes place also presents these three particularities commented (holism, dynamism and transactionality) and must be in charge of providing the child with a safe physical and psychological context that guarantees a global growth of the child in all development areas indicated.

Relationship between the concept of Resilience and Sociocultural Deprivation

The Resilience Theory emerged from the work of John Bowlby, principal author of the Theories of Attachment established between the baby and the figure of affective reference. This concept was adopted by the current of Positive Psychology and was defined as the ability to face adversity in an active, effective and reinforced way. Research shows that resilient people have lower rates of psychopathological alterations, since this phenomenon becomes a protective factor.

In relation to the issue of sociocultural deprivation, the Theory of Resilience explains that the person exposed to an environment that is not stimulating and adequate for development (which could be understood as adversity) can overcome this complication and achieve satisfactory development that allows him to advance through the different life stages adaptively.

Intervention in cases of socio-cultural deprivation: Compensatory Education Programs

The Compensatory Education Programs have the objective of reducing the educational limitations in groups that present sociocultural and economic deprivation that makes it difficult for them to obtain their inclusion in society as a whole in a satisfactory manner. Its ultimate purpose is to achieve a positive bond between family, school and community .

These programs are placed within an ecological or systemic explanatory perspective, which is why they prioritize directing their intervention in the environmental context in which the individual is circumscribed by analyzing and altering (if necessary) economic factors, offering psychoeducational guidelines on the relevance of collaborate with the school area, addressing the emotional problems of students and working to promote teacher training .

In conclusion

Throughout the text has been observed and contrasted as determinant results in the quality and enriquidora nature of the context in which an individual develops to facilitate or bring him closer to a greater emotional or psychological well-being. Once again, it is shown that the way in which the different factors interrelate is very diverse , both internal or personal as external or environmental, to configure how the individual development of each human being is produced.

Therefore, in the field of psychology, the attribution of a specific event or psychological functioning to a single, isolated and isolated cause can not be successful.

Bibliographic references:

  • Baeza, M. C. Educational intervention on fundamental problems of social maladjustment. (2001). //www.um.es/dp-teoria-historia-educacion/programas/educsocial/interv-educ.doc.
  • Cano Moreno, J. (2000). Educational attention to special needs related to the sociocultural context.
  • Del Arco Bravo, I. (1998). Towards an intercultural school. The teaching staff: training and expectations. Lleida: Current education.
  • Domingo Segovia, J. and Miñán Espigares, A. (2001). Special educational needs related to the socio - cultural context. Chapter 25, in the Psychopedagogical Encyclopedia of Special Educational Needs. Malaga: Aljibe.
  • Grau, C .; Zabala, J .; Ramos C. Early intervention programs as compensatory education: model of a structured program: Bereiter - Engelmann. Available here
  • Martínez Coll, J. C. (2001) "The social needs and the Maslow pyramid", in The Market Economy, virtues and disadvantages.

The Power of Motivation: Crash Course Psychology #17 (March 2024).


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