Theoretical Guidelines for a Psychology of Rural Development

Many processes related to rural development have a strong psychosocial component. Yet, there exists no specific psychosocial theoretical framework for addressing them. In this paper, then, we present a set of theoretical guidelines for analysing rural development processes and interventions from the perspective of psychology. In doing so, we draw upon an Actor-Oriented Approach and address concepts commonly used in rural development studies, such as human agency, social interfaces, worldviews, rationales and strategies, and explore their psychosocial dimensions. This enables us to advance a psychosocial understanding of the complexity and multi-determination that characterises processes of rural development, and thus in this way to add a new perspective to rural development studies.