intentionality

n. a characteristic of an individual’s acts that requires the individual (a) to have goals, desires, and standards; (b) to select behaviors that are in the service of attaining the goal (e.g., means to an end); and (c) to call into conscious awareness a desired future state. Investigators differ as to whether (a) alone, (a) and (b) but not (c), or (a), (b), and (c) are required for intentionality to be attributable to an individual. The concept of intentionality, as developed by Franz Brentano, has been very influential in act psychology, phenomenology, and related approaches in hermeneutics.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

January 28th 2025

sociocultural perspective

1. any viewpoint or approach to health, mental health, history, politics, economics, or any other area of human experience that emphasizes the environmental factors of society, culture, and social interaction.

2. in developmental psychology, the view that cognitive development is guided by adults interacting with children, with the cultural context determining to a large extent how, where, and when these interactions take place. A major pioneer of this perspective was Lev Vygotsky, whose sociocultural theory posited that the developmental process was one of gradual mastery by children of their own “natural” cognitive functions through interaction with and guidance from more skilled individuals or mentors (e.g., parents, teachers) in their surrounding culture. See also guided participation; zone of proximal development.