Question

Marissa and Jessica, sisters born two years apart, grew up in an impoverished, violent neighborhood. As adults, Marissa is chronically jobless and is addicted to drugs while Jessica is a professor of economics at a community college. What might explain their different life outcomes?

Answer 1

differential susceptibility

Step-by-step explanation:

Differential susceptibility model was proposed by Jay Belsky, this theory explains the way two different individuals respond to the effect of their environment. In this theory there is the plastic group (which Marissa belong to) and the fixed group (which Jessica belong to). The plastic group are largely affected by the positive and negatives in their environment when compared to the fixed group.

The theory explains that people do not vary in the level at which they become vulnerable to the negative effect in their environment but that generally it is based on their developmental plasticity.