Social and Emotional Foundations of Purpose, Life Projects, and Identity Across Cultural Contexts

Social and emotional development shapes how individuals come to construct direction, continuity, and meaning in their lives. Emotional bonds with family, peers, and community; a sense of belonging within institutions and traditions; and the social scaffolding provided by relationships all influence how purpose emerges, how life projects are formed, and how identity develops in relation to others. This Research Topic examines these constructs through a social-emotional lens: how relational and emotional processes across the lifespan support (or constrain) the ability to form valued aims, sustain meaningful commitments, and construct a coherent sense of self in relation to one’s social world.Purpose provides an organizing orientation toward valued, beyond-the-self future aims. Life projects translate that orientation into concrete social commitments involving education, work, family, community participation, and spiritual life. Identity connects these commitments to an evolving, socially embedded understanding of who the individual is and who they seek to become. All three processes are shaped by emotional experience and social relationships, from parental and peer support, to institutional belonging, to culturally-transmitted narratives about a worthwhile life.Cultural context shapes what individuals and communities regard as meaningful social roles, which futures can be imagined, and which relational commitments people are supported in pursuing. In relatively individualistic contexts, social-emotional development around purpose may emphasize autonomy and self-directed goals; in other cultural settings, it may center more strongly on family responsibility, collective belonging, religious community, or intergenerational relationships. Comparing these contexts can reveal both shared social-emotional processes and culturally distinct configurations of belonging and agency.This topic is especially relevant under conditions of globalization, migration, and rapidly changing family and community structures, which expose individuals to multiple cultural models of belonging and connection while creating unequal social and emotional resources for pursuing them. We welcome submissions examining the social and emotional processes, relational, institutional, cultural, that shape how purpose, life projects, and identity are formed, sustained, revised, or abandoned across diverse cultural contexts and life stages. Topic editors: Ulisses F. Araujo, Marco Antonio Morgado Da Silva, Kendall Cotton Bronk Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85711/social-and-emotional-foundations-of-purpose-life-projects-and-identity-across-cultural-contexts