Environmental Factors Effect Social Engagement and Learning

I recently found an interesting story by one of my favorite social scientists, Shankar Vedantam. In this story he discusses how long, stressful commutes (the environmental factor) affects one's engagement with politics (the social engagement factor). It's an interesting study that I relate to, as I have a 40 mile commute every day on a very crowded interstate. I know the drive effects me emotionally, but I never considered how it might effect my engagement with society. This correlation brings me back to my favorite developmental theory: Bronfenbrenner's ecological developmental/learning theory. His theory explains how our environments (in all its levels) affects our development and learning. We are not an island to ourselves, indeed, and our environment impacts us in ways we often do not acknowledge.