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Chapter 2 - Challenging Paradigms

It Takes a Village

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2022

By
Carolyn Aldwin
Edited by
Jamila Bookwala  and
Nicky J. Newton
Jamila Bookwala
Affiliation:
Lafayette College, Pennsylvania
Nicky J. Newton
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario
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Summary

I came of age at a time of great political and scientific turbulence and happily participated in challenging and changing dominant paradigms. My mentors and I challenged the simplistic causal paradigm in psychology, arguing instead for a more transactional model for studying stress and coping processes, as well as adult development. The paradigm I (often secretly) espoused was the psychology of consciousness. This included documenting the importance of mind–body transactions through the study of stress and coping processes, as well as purposive adult development through our work on stress, coping, and wisdom. This work was aided and abetted by collaborations with my marvelous life-long colleagues and graduate students, who have supported and challenged me in so many ways. Thus, paradigm shifts are not the product of just one individual, but rather require a community of like-minded souls, and I am grateful to have been part of this momentous change.

Type
Chapter
Information
Reflections from Pioneering Women in Psychology , pp. 28 - 41
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

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