The Complexity of Human Psychological Functioning and a Purposeful Moral Education and Developmental Approach

• In Event: International Perspectives on Moral Development and Education

Abstract

In this paper we analyze youths’ purposes through the lens of the Theory of Organizing Models of Thinking (OMT), which provides a constructivist view of the dynamics of human psychological functioning, articulating cognitive and affective elements in how humans construct models of the reality. We present an analysis of qualitative responses from 560 Brazilian youth to exemplify how the OMT may be used as both a theory and a method to better understand purpose and its relations to the social, moral and individual development.

Authors

• Valeria Arantes, University of Sao Paulo

• Ulisses Ferreira Araujo, University of Sao Paulo