Would you like to gain insights in how individuals develop across the lifespan and become active contributors to society?
The Lifespan Development and Socialization (LDS) track uses a multidisciplinary perspective on human development. Our goal is to better understand the processes that underlie the development of the marked differences in emotions, happiness, creativity, identity, learning ability, motivations, and the comorbidity of somatic and mental problems as they unfold over the lifespan. What is abnormal or healthy? What is the role of culture and society? How are individual differences and lifespan changes reflected in our interactions with parents, siblings, peers, friends, teachers, colleagues, romantic relationships, the jobs we choose, or society more broadly? How can we intervene in individual development? Our courses cover the domains of Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology, Sociology, Positive psychology, (ortho)Pedagogy and Educational Sciences, and Methodology and Statistics. We believe that happiness and somatic and mental health (and problems) can only be understood from a lifespan perspective that also covers the worlds in which we live and grow.
By the end of the program, students will be proficient in both theoretical and conceptual modeling and empirically studying how interpersonal contexts shape individual development across the life span. In addition, students will master research method techniques to analyze three-dimensional data (persons, variables and time points), such as dynamic network analyses, time-series analyses, and complex dynamic system models. Also qualitative methods (such as interviews and text analyses) and social network approaches (e.g., ego-networks and genograms) are part of our toolbox. Students have the opportunity to train in diagnostic and clinical skills for postdoctoral training during an internship. This program is designed to prepare students for PhD studies, but also for a professional career in social science research institutes and educational and clinical settings.