cross-cultural psychology

(noun)

The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes, including both their variability and invariance, under diverse cultural conditions.

Related Terms

Examples of cross-cultural psychology in the following topics:

  • Cultural Psychology

    • Cultural psychology seeks to understand how forces of society and culture influence individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
    • Several subfields within psychology seek to examine these sociocultural factors that influence human mental states and behavior; among these are social psychology (discussed in another section), cultural psychology, and cultural-historical psychology.
    • Cultural psychology is the study of how psychological and behavioral tendencies are rooted and embedded within culture.
    • Cultural psychology is often confused with cross-cultural psychology; however, it is distinct in that cross-cultural psychologists generally use culture as a means of testing the universality of psychological processes, rather than determining how local cultural practices shape psychological processes.
    • So while a cross-cultural psychologist might ask whether Jean Piaget's stages of development are universal across a variety of cultures, a cultural psychologist would be interested in how the social practices of a particular set of cultures shape the development of cognitive processes in different ways.

  • Cultural Intelligence

    • The components of cultural intelligence, from a general perspective, can be described in terms of linguistics, culture (religion, holidays, social norms, etc.), and geography (or ethnicity).
    • As a result, individuals interested in developing their cultural quotient (CQ) are tasked with studying each of these facets of cultural intelligence in order to accurately recognize the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the culture in which they are immersed.
    • Hofstede's theory of cultural dimensions is particularly interesting, as it allows for a direct quantification of specific cultural values in order to measure and benchmark cultural norms in a relative and meaningful way.
    • Hofstede's theory was designed in the 1960s and 1970s, and has remained a relevant perspective in international business, international politics, and cross-cultural psychology.
    • This diagram illustrates the three factors that constitute an effectively intercultural understanding for management: Regional Expertise, Language Proficiency, and Cross-Cultural Competence.

  • Influences of Culture and Gender on Personality

    • These traits may vary from culture to culture based on differing values, needs, and beliefs.
    • There is a great deal of evidence that the strength of personality traits varies across cultures, and this is especially true when comparing individualist cultures (such as European, North American, and Australian cultures) and collectivist cultures (such as Asian, African, and South American cultures).
    • The cultural-comparative approach seeks to test Western ideas about personality in other cultures to determine whether they can be generalized and if they have cultural validity (Cheung van de Vijver, & Leong, 2011).
    • The third approach to cross-cultural studies of personality is the combined approach, which serves as a bridge between Western and indigenous psychology as a way of understanding both universal and cultural variations in personality (Cheung et al., 2011).
    • These traits vary from culture to culture.

  • Culture-Specific Nuances of Decision-Making

    • The process of making decisions is a complex psychological and sociological process, evolved both internally and externally.
    • As a result, the decision-making process is inherently differentiated across cultural groups, and these cross-cultural deviations are critical to understanding negotiations, conflicts, influences and motivations.
    • The Dynamic Model - Those who adhere to this perspective also recognize cross-culture differences in decision-making, but not as universally applicable as the dispositional model.
    • The antithesis is essentially 'counter-culture' culture, which dictates the opposite decision-making influence.
    • Tolerance for Ambiguity - A high tolerance for ambiguity or risk taking is 'counter-culture' culture, which dictates a high level of tolerance for going against the grain.

  • Defining Culture

    • Culture has evolved drastically as a term and a concept since inception.
    • While these 20th century definitions of culture are quite close to the modern day interpretations, the complex relationship between genetics, sociology, psychology, social sciences and neurology create an increasingly varied spectrum of possible definitions and interpretations of culture.
    • With this evolution and malleability of culture as a modern idea in mind, it is important to explore the various aspects of culture in society today.
    • As cultures continue to interact and cross paths with one another, understanding one another via culture minimizes cultural friction while maximizing on the potential synergies inherent in diversity.
    • Outline the various perspectives on the definition and aspects of culture.

  • The Impact of Culture on Business Operations

    • Most important to effective cultural management is the ability to synthesize a complex sociological and psychological understanding in the context of organizational behavior and strategy to integrate cultural diversity both internally to employees and externally to customers.
    • Due to the complexity of the question and the differences of culture from company to company, a number of researchers in sociology, psychology, and behavior have attempted to identify commonalities across the board to shed light on the evolution and expression of culture within companies or organizations.
    • Denison - Similar to Hofsede, Denison studied organizational culture in pursuit of idenitfying critical dimensions affecting internal culture.
    • Cross-cultural management requires cultural intelligence (sometimes referred to as 'CQ') along with an open-minded and empathetic mindset.
    • It provides a strong platform for cross-cultural managers to be insightful decision makers.

  • Introducing Health Psychology

    • Health psychology is the application of psychological theory and research to health, illness, and healthcare.
    • Health psychology, often referred to as behavioral medicine or medical psychology, is the application of psychological theory to health-related practices.
    • The field of health psychology includes two sub-fields.
    • The biopsychosocial model views health and illness behaviors as products of biological characteristics (such as genes), behavioral factors (such as lifestyle, stress, and health beliefs), and social conditions (such as cultural influences, family relationships, and social support).
    • Define the focus and goals of the field of health psychology

  • Evolutionary Psychology

    • Evolutionary psychology seeks to understand human behavior as the result of psychological adaptation and natural selection.
    • Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective.
    • Evolutionary psychology applies this same thinking to psychology, arguing that much of human behavior is the result of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.
    • Proponents of evolutionary psychology suggest that it seeks to bridge the division between the human social sciences (such as psychology and sociology) and the natural sciences (such as biology, chemistry, and physics).
    • Though the term "evolutionary psychology" was most likely coined by American biologist Michael Ghiselin in 1973, it wasn't until 1992 that the term was popularized by Jerome Barkow, Leda Cosmides, and John Tooby in their highly influential book The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and The Generation of Culture.

  • Inputs

    • The main inputs of forecasting include time series, cross-sectional and longitudinal data, or using judgmental methods.
    • Analysis of cross-sectional data usually consists of comparing the differences among the subjects.
    • This cross-sectional sample provides us with a snapshot of that population, at that one point in time.
    • Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across the life span, and in sociology to study life events throughout lifetimes or generations.
    • The reason for this is that unlike cross-sectional studies, in which different individuals with same characteristics are compared, longitudinal studies track the same people, and therefore the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations.

  • Abnormal Psychology

    • Abnormal psychology seeks to study, understand, diagnose, and treat psychological disorders.
    • Similarly, violating cultural expectations is not, in and of itself, a satisfactory means of identifying the presence of a psychological disorder.
    • Since behavior varies from one culture to another, what may be considered appropriate in one culture may not be viewed as such in other cultures.
    • In other cultures, however, such visions may be regarded as normal experiences that are respected and valued (Bourguignon, 1970).
    • The disturbances do not reflect expected or culturally approved responses to certain events.