Abstract
Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture individuals’ basic understanding of what sort of world this is. How do children develop beliefs about the nature of the world? Is the world a good place? Safe or dangerous? Enticing or dull? Primals were initially introduced in social and personality psychology to understand beliefs about the world as a whole that may influence well-being and personality. This article introduces the concept of primals to developmental scientists and reviews preliminary research examining how primals relate to sociodemographic and well-being indicators. The article then situates the concept of primals in some classic developmental theories to illustrate testable hypotheses these theories suggest regarding how primals develop. Understanding how individuals develop basic beliefs about the nature of the world deepens insights into the human experience, including how malleable these beliefs might be and how they may be influenced by, and in turn influence, other domains of development.
Journal Section:
ARTICLE
References
1.
Alink
L. R. A.
, Cyr
C.
, & Madigan
S.
2019
The effect of maltreatment experiences on maltreating and dysfunctional parenting: A search for mechanisms
. Development and Psychopathology
31
1
1
7
.2.
Bandura
A.
, Ross
D.
, & Ross
S. A.
1961
Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models
. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
63
575
582
.3.
Belsky
J.
, & van IJzendoorn
M. H.
2017
Genetic differential susceptibility to the effects of parenting
. Current Opinion in Psychology
15
125
130
.4.
Blake
P. R.
, McAuliffe
K.
, Corbit
J.
, Callaghan
T. C.
, Barry
O.
, Bowie
A.
, Kleutsch
L.
, Kramer
K. L.
, Ross
E.
, Vongsachang
H.
, Wrangham
R.
, & Warneken
F.
2015
The ontogeny of fairness in seven societies
. Nature
528
7581
258
261
.5.
6.
Bronfenbrenner
U.
, & Morris
P. A.
2006
The bioecological model of human development
. In R. M.
Lerner
, & W.
Damon
(Eds), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development
(pp. 793
828
Wiley
.7.
Chen
X.
, McElwain
N. L.
, Berry
D.
, & Emery
H. T.
2019
Within-person fluctuations in maternal sensitivity and child functioning: Moderation by child temperament
. Journal of Family Psychology
33
7
857
867
.8.
Clark
D. A.
, & Beck
A. T.
2010
Cognitive theory and therapy of anxiety and depression: Convergence with neurobiological findings
. Trends in Cognitive Sciences
14
9
P418
P424
.9.
Clifton
J. D. W.
2020
Testing if primal world beliefs reflect experiences—At least some experiences identified ad hoc
. Frontiers in Psychology
11
1145
.10.
Clifton
J. D. W.
, Baker
J. D.
, Park
C. L.
, Yaden
D. B.
, Clifton
A. B. W.
, Terni
P.
, Miller
J. L.
, Zeng
G.
, Giorgi
S.
, Schwartz
H. A.
, & Seligman
M. E. P.
2019
Primal world beliefs
. Psychological Assessment
31
1
82
99
.11.
Clifton
J. D.
, & Kerry
N.
2022
Belief in a dangerous world does not explain substantial variance in political attitudes, but other world beliefs do
. Social Psychological and Personality Science
14
5
12.
Clifton
J.D.W.
, & Kim
E. S.
2020
Healthy in a crummy world: Implications of primal world beliefs for health psychology
. Medical Hypotheses
135
109463
.13.
Clifton
J. D. W.
, & Meindl
P.
2022
Parents think—incorrectly—that teaching their children that the world is a bad place is likely best for them
. Journal of Positive Psychology
17
2
182
197
.14.
Clifton
J.D.W.
, & Yaden
D. B.
2021
Brief measures of the four highest-order primal world beliefs
. Psychological Assessment
33
12
1267
1273
.15.
Crick
N. R.
, & Dodge
K. A.
1994
A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment
. Psychological Bulletin
115
1
74
101
.16.
Davoodi
T.
, & Clegg
J. M.
2022
When is cultural input central? The development of ontological beliefs about religious and scientific unobservables
. Child Development Perspectives
16
1
34
40
.17.
Elam
K. K.
, Mun
C. J.
, Kutzner
J.
, & Ha
T.
2021
Polygenic risk for aggression predicts adult substance use disorder diagnoses via substance use offending in emerging adulthood and is moderated by a family-centered intervention
. Behavior Genetics
51
5
607
618
.18.
Ellis
B. J.
, & Boyce
W. T.
2008
Biological sensitivity to context
. Current Directions in Psychological Science
17
3
183
187
.19.
Fearon
R. M. P.
, & Roisman
G. I.
2017
Attachment theory: Progress and future directions
. Current Opinion in Psychology
15
131
136
.20.
Fraley
R. C.
2019
Attachment in adulthood: Recent developments, emerging debates, and future directions
. Annual Review of Psychology
70
401
422
.21.
Hafer
C. L.
, & Bègue
L.
2005
Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges
. Psychological Bulletin
131
1
128
167
.22.
Harris
P. L.
2018
Children's understanding of death: From biology to religion
. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
373
1754
20170266
.23.
Henry
D. A.
, Miller
P.
, Votruba-Drzal
E.
, & Parr
A. K.
2019
Safe and sound? Exploring parents' perceptions of neighborhood safety at the nexus of race and socioeconomic status
. Advances in Child Development and Behavior
57
281
313
.24.
Huesmann
R.
2018
An integrative theoretical understanding of aggression: A brief exposition
. Current Opinion in Psychology
19
119
124
.25.
Janoff-Bulman
R.
1989
Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct
. Social Cognition
7
2
113
136
.26.
Kazantzis
N.
, Luong
H. K.
, Usatoff
A. S.
, Impala
T.
, Yew
R. Y.
, & Hofmann
S. G.
2018
The processes of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses
. Cognitive Therapy and Research
42
4
349
357
.27.
Kerry
N.
, White
K. C.
, O’Brien
M.
, Perry
L. M.
, & Clifton
J. D. W.
2023
Despite popular intuition, positive primal world beliefs poorly reflect indicators of privilege, including wealth, health, sex, and neighborhood safety
. Journal of Personality
28.
Kornienko
O.
, Ha
T.
, & Dishion
T. J.
2020
Dynamic pathways between rejection and antisocial behavior in peer networks: Update and test of confluence model
. Development and Psychopathology
32
1
175
188
.29.
Kusché
C. A.
2020
The PATHS curriculum: Thirty-five years and counting
. In D. W.
Nangle
, C. A.
Erdley
, & R. A.
Schwartz-Mette
(Eds), Social skills across the life span: Theory, assessment, and intervention
(pp. 201
219
Elsevier
.30.
31.
Lane
J. D.
2018
Children's belief in counterintuitive and counterperceptual messages
. Child Development Perspectives
12
4
247
252
.32.
Lansford
J. E.
, Godwin
J.
, Al-Hassan
S. M.
, Bacchini
D.
, Bornstein
M. H.
, Chang
L.
, Chen
B.-B.
, Deater-Deckard
K.
, Di Giunta
L.
, Dodge
K. A.
, Malone
P. S.
, Oburu
P.
, Pastorelli
C.
, Skinner
A. T.
, Sorbring
E.
, Steinberg
L.
, Tapanya
S.
, Alampay
L. P.
, Uribe Tirado
L. M.
, … Zelli
A.
2018
Longitudinal associations between parenting and youth adjustment in twelve cultural groups: Cultural normativeness of parenting as a moderator
. Developmental Psychology
54
2
362
377
.33.
Lerner
M. J.
, & Miller
D. T.
1978
Just world research and the attribution process: Looking back and ahead
. Psychological Bulletin
85
5
1030
1051
.34.
Lionetti
F.
, Aron
A.
, Aron
E. N.
, Burns
G. L.
, Jagiellowicz
J.
, & Pluess
M.
2018
Dandelions, tulips and orchids: Evidence for the existence of low-sensitive, medium-sensitive and high-sensitive individuals
. Translational Psychiatry
8
1
24
.35.
Ludwig
V. U.
, Crone
D. L.
, Clifton
J. D. W.
, Rebele
R. W.
, Schor
J. A.
, & Platt
M. L.
2023
Resilience of primal world beliefs to the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic
. Journal of Personality
91
3
838
855
.36.
Masten
A. S.
, & Cicchetti
D.
2010
Developmental cascades
. Development and Psychopathology
22
3
491
495
.37.
McDonald
K. L.
, & Asher
S. R.
2018
Peer acceptance, peer rejection, and popularity: Social-cognitive and behavioral perspectives
. In W. M.
Bukowski
, B.
Laursen
, & K. H.
Rubin
(Eds), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups
(pp. 429
446
Guilford Press
.38.
39.
Rege
M.
, Hanselman
P.
, Solli
I. F.
, Dweck
C. S.
, Ludvigsen
S.
, Bettinger
E.
, Crosnoe
R.
, Muller
C.
, Walton
G.
, Duckworth
A.
, & Yeager
D. S.
2021
How can we inspire nations of learners? An investigation of growth mindset and challenge-seeking in two countries
. American Psychologist
76
5
755
767
.40.
Rudolph
K. D.
, Lansford
J. E.
, & Rodkin
P.
2017
Interpersonal theories of developmental psychopathology
. In D.
Cicchetti
(Ed), Developmental psychopathology
(pp. 243
311
Wiley
. 41.
Sameroff
A.
2009
The transactional model
. In A.
Sameroff
(Ed), The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other
(pp. 3
21
American Psychological Association
. 42.
Sattler
F. A.
, Eickmeyer
S.
, & Eisenkolb
J.
2020
Body image disturbance in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A systematic review
. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity
25
4
857
865
.43.
44.
Seider
S.
, Clark
S.
, Graves
D.
, Kelly
L. L.
, Soutter
M.
, El-Amin
A.
, & Jennett
P.
2019
Black and Latinx adolescents’ developing beliefs about poverty and associations with their awareness of racism
. Developmental Psychology
55
3
509
524
.45.
Spencer
M. B.
1986
Risk and resilience: How Black children cope with stress
. Social Science
71
1
22
26
.46.
Stahlmann
A. G.
, Hofmann
J.
, Ruch
W.
, Heinz
S.
, & Clifton
J.D.W.
2020
The higher-order structure of primal world beliefs in German-speaking countries: Adaptation and initial validation of the German Primals Inventory (GPI-66)
. Personality and Individual Differences
163
110054
.47.
Thomas
K. J.
2022
A dark lens or a dark world? Conceptualising justice capital
. International Journal of Psychology
57
2
190
198
.48.
49.
Turaga
R. M. R.
, Howarth
R. B.
, & Borsuk
M. E.
2010
Pro-environmental behavior: Rational choice meets moral motivation
. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
1185
1
211
224
.50.
Wellman
H. M.
2018
Theory of mind: The state of the art
. European Journal of Developmental Psychology
15
6
728
755
.51.
Woolley
J. D.
, & Kelley
K. A.
2020
“When something like a ladybug lands on you”: Origins and development of the concept of luck
. Developmental Psychology
56
10
1866
1878
.52.
Zuberi
A.
2018
Feeling safe in a dangerous place: Exploring the neighborhood safety perceptions of low-income African American youth
. Journal of Adolescent Research
33
1
90
116
.© 2023 S. Karger AG, Basel
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
2023
You do not currently have access to this content.
