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Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory inside Little Miss Sunshine

Susanna Alires-Medina
Child and Adolescent Psychology
Professor Mecherikoff
August 5, 2015

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Sociocultural theory explains how culture and society affect an individual's development. It also
explains how we are psychologically wired to pick up on human behavior and societal context.
AboutPsychology does an excellent job of explaining Vygostkys theory , Sociocultural theory
is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at important contributions that society makes to
individual development Cherry 1.) The Fox Searchlight Pictures film, Little Miss Sunshine
can be used as an example to explain Vygotkys Sociocultural theory. Olive Hoover is the main
character in the film. She is seeking independence but is still very insecure about her identity.
She also struggles with validation and tries very hard to be accepted by everyone else in the film.
Throughout the movie, Olive is placed in situations that affect her psychological growth.
Olives intrapersonal conflict and conflict between her family and also society can help
explain the Sociocultural theory. Laura Berk explains these levels of communication through
ecology zones. There is the microsystem, which includes intrapersonal though and a childs close
family. In this case, Olive and the other main characters; Her mother, father, brother, uncle and
grandpa The second zone is the mesosystem. This is her local community and neighborhood.
Olive was runner up in her local beauty pageant. Although her look was not conventional, the
contest was on a small enough that Olive fit in fairly well. The exosystem is on the same level as
the mesosphere but is not centered around the child. It includes the parents local church, health
care provider and work place. This system does not make itself apparent in the movie. The last
zone is the macrosystem. This system includes cultural values, laws, custom and resources
(Berk 27.) This zone plays a major role in the movie because American culture as a large
influence in this movie. Child beauty pageant, entrepreneurship, homosexuality, and lower
middle class families are all themes that are represented uniquely in the United States.

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In the beginning of the film, Olive is practicing dance routines with her grandfather. We
could say this kind of practice can be explained with the theory of the zone of proximal
development. (Cherry 1.) This is the idea that development occurs with scaffolding from an
adult, or someone who has mastered the presumed skill. Children can attempt and eventually
master a skill, but they will need guidance from someone. (Cherry 2.) Violets love and respect
for her grandfather is very apparent in the film. He is portrayed as a drug abusing, foul mouth,
hateful elderly man. One of Vygotskys ideas is that Oddly, Violet is a sweet, caring and jovial
young girl who thinks her grandfather's antics are just jokes. Laura Berk writes, Observations
by ethologists have shown that many aspects of childrens social behavior, including emotional
expressions, aggression, cooperation and social play, resemble those of primary caregivers
(Berk 25.) Throughout the film, Olive portrays characteristics that mirror her mother and father.
Both Olives parents are hard working, and Olive works relentlessly on her dance routine. Her
dad is very critical of the family and of others and Olive is afraid to disappoint her father. There
is a scene where she is talking to her grandfather and asks him he he thinks she is a loser. She
then says, Dad hates losers She has learned to become very critical of her failures and is scared
to disappoint her dad.
As I mentioned earlier, the exosystem is the zone that contains cultural beliefs and
traditions. Olive is on track with Vygotkys sociocultural theory on this level because she is
learning about cultural themes and accepts them very easily. In one scene, Olive orders her
waffles a la modey and the waitress explains that a la mode means with icecream. Her father
doesnt think it is a good idea because he is concerned with her weight. Olive exercises when she
does her routine and eats the meals her mother makes or buys so she seems pretty healthy. She is
a little overweight but she is still growing. In western cultures, it has been the cultural norm for

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women to be thin. Her father is obviously more worried about her appearance than he is her
health. Picking up on her fathers cues, she shies away from her ice cream with a look of guilt.
The rest of her family doesnt agree with her dad's ideas and they begins to share the ice cream.
They do this to make Olive reconsider not eating her ice cream. This tactic works and she starts
to eat her ice cream. A few scenes later, at the beauty pageant, Olive asks an adult Beauty Queen
if she eats icecream. The Beauty Queen answers, Yes, my favorite is Cherry Chocolate
Garcia.(Dayton and Ferris) Olive smiles. Vygotksys theory explains that Olive is looking for
acceptance and picks up on social cues. Olive learned that a Beauty Queen (her idol) eats ice
cream and therefore it is okay if she does too. One of my favorite scenes is when Olive is asking
her Uncle Frank why he tried to kill himself. This is already a very tough subject for a young
child to understand, but because suicide has affected someone in her microsystem, it has become
part of Olives development. She talks very casually to her uncle about his suicide attempt. Her
uncle has a very open communication line with Olive and explains to her that he was very sad
because he loved someone who didnt love him back. This is when the viewers find out that her
uncle is gay. This is another mature topic that Olive is learning about. She asks, HIM? It was a
him? You fell in love with a boy? Her Uncle Frank says, Yes, very much so. and Olive
replies, Thats silly (Dayton and Ferris). Olive doesnt really understand homosexuality or
suicide and it is apparent when she replies, Thats silly but she is not concerned or judgmental.
Culturally, homosexuality is still a touchy subject. Because Olive loves her uncle and her uncle
is very open about his sexuality and mental issues, she will develope a very unique and openminded view of sexuality dand depression just by being exposed to it at a young age. Burke
explains this when she writes, Children gain competencies by engaging in real life activities in
real life context. (Burke 28).

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Olive is very considerate and socially-conscious young girl. She is exposed to

unique situations and is developing a strong set of cultural values based on those experiences.
One negative remark I can make is that Olives father hindered her socio-cultural development
by being overly critical and superficial. In the end of the movie, the entire family supports Olive
as she dances at the beauty pageant. The routine Olive performed was very mature and sexual.
The audience does not think Olives dance routine is appropriate and the pageant crew tries to
take her off stage. Olives family is shocked also with her routine, but supports Olive anyway.
This is great for her development and a very loving way to end the film.

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Work Cited
Berk, Laura. (2014) .Infant Child and Adolescent Psychology. Boston, MA: Pearson
Cherry, Kendra.(2015) What is Sociocultural theory? AboutPsychology. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentecourse/f/sociocultural-theory.htm
Burger, Albert (Producer) John Dayton and Valerie Ferris (Directors) 2006. Little Miss
Sunshine [Motion picture] United States; Fox Searchlight Pictures.