World of Activity #1: Exploring the theme of "Supportive Life Development"
by Oliver Ding
This article is part of the World of Activity series on the Activity Analysis site. In this series, we use the World of Activity toolkit as a creative heuristic to explore new themes and encourage discussions around resonant topics with your friends and colleagues.
In the first installment of this series, we introduce the SET Framework – a member of the World of Activity toolkit – to develop the new theme of Supportive Life Development. This theme introduces a set of operational concepts around Social Settings, designed to spark further exploration and dialogue.
This diagram above builds upon the SET framework and defines two types of social settings. The term "settings" is inspired by Roger Barker's behavior settings theory in ecological psychology. Here, it refers to relatively stable social contexts where behaviors unfold over time. While North American psychologists often use the term "situation," I prefer "settings" to emphasize the backdrop of ongoing, long-term behavioral events.
Social Settings: Primary and Secondary
The SET Framework is an abstract model that only defines a set of Theoretical Concepts. To apply it to a specific domain or activity, it is necessary to develop relevant Operational Concepts tailored to that context.
To explore the theme of Supportive Life Development, we introduce the the following two operational concepts:
- Primary Setting: Represents social contexts tied to routine activities in daily life, such as learning, work, relationships, parenting, and more. These activities form the foundation of people's lives.
- Secondary Setting: Represents social contexts where individuals face challenges or emotional and behavioral obstacles, necessitating professional intervention. Examples include mentoring, counseling, coaching, and psychological therapy services.
Core Structure: Subject - Host - Object
The SET framework, inspired by Activity Theory, establishes a triadic structure—Subject, Host, and Object—at the core of a social setting. Each element is situated within a specific context where corresponding activities occur:
- Subject: An individual person.
- Host: Another person engaged in a long-term project with the Subject, centered around a specific theme.
- Object: The task at hand, encompasses both what the individual aspires to do and what they are actively doing.
Dynamics in the Primary Setting
In Primary Settings, relationships often involve power differences, such as those between employer and employee, spouse and spouse, parent and child, or teacher and student. These dynamics may stem from societal roles or evolve through interactions. For instance, in a marriage, power dynamics can differ across couples and change over time.
The Object introduces a dual perspective:
- Anticipation: What one wants to do, linked to future aspirations.
- Performance: What one is doing, reflecting present tasks.
This discrepancy between Anticipation and Performance mirrors the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework. Whether such differences lead to conflicts or problems depends on the individual's practical development, not merely on logical distinctions.
Transition to the Secondary Setting
Power dynamics between Subject and Host, along with Anticipation-Performance gaps, often result in Conflicts. When these conflicts become unmanageable, the Subject seeks professional support, transitioning into Secondary Settings. Here, service providers (e.g., counselors, and coaches) act as secondary Hosts, offering solutions to resolve problems.
In some cases, the interaction between Primary and Secondary Settings becomes explicit. For example, in marriage counseling, the counselor (Host 2) works with both spouses (Subjects) to identify and address power dynamics.
A Creative Heuristic Tool
This diagram provides a concrete model designed as a creative heuristic tool to support your Early Discovery process.
It can be used to facilitate a variety of knowledge engagement activities, including:
- Conducting a structural analysis of a biography or life narrative.
- Reflecting on your own life experiences to identify significant patterns or dramatic turning points.
- Discussing conflicts and collaboratively developing potential solutions.
- Discovering and refining best practices for problem-solving and solution development.
This tool serves as a versatile framework for both personal reflection and collaborative exploration.
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