Bücher der Reihe Elements in Psychology and Culture

An overview is given of cross-cultural psychology and cultural psychology, focusing on theory and methodology. In Section 1 historical developments in research are traced; it is found that initially extensive psychological differences tend to shrink when more carefully designed studies are conducted. Section 2 addresses the conceptualization of "e;culture"e; and of "e;a culture"e;. For psychological research the notion "e;culture"e; is considered too vague; more focal explanatory concepts are required. Section 3 describes methodological issues, taking the notion of the empirical cycle as a lead for both qualitative and quantitative research. Pitfalls in research design and data analysis of behavior-comparative studies, and the need for replication are discussed. Section 4 suggests to move beyond research on causal relationships and to incorporate additional questions, addressing the function and the development of behavior patterns in ontogenetic, phylogenetic and historical time. Section 5 emphasizes the need for applied research serving the global village.

Acculturation is the process of group and individual changes in culture and behaviour that result from intercultural contact. This Element presents variations in the meanings of the concept and a survey of empirical work with indigenous, immigrant and ethnocultural peoples around the globe that employed both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The author proposes an epistemological strategy to resolve controversial issues in the indigenous psychology (IP) movement. These include the nature of IPs, scientific standards, cultural concepts, philosophy of science, mainstream psychology, generalization of findings, and the isolation and independence of IPs.

This Element compares the nature of childhood in four representative societies differing in their subsistence activities: bands of Australian hunter-gatherers, Tibetan nomadic pastoralists, peasants and farmers residing in Maya villages and towns, and South Korean students growing up in a digital information society.

In this Element, Heewon Kwon and Joni Y. Sasaki review key findings and theories in gene-culture interaction research. Next, they discuss current issues and future directions in gene-culture research that may illuminate the path toward an explanatory framework.

The nature and challenges of the indigenous psychologies (IPs) are discussed from the perspectives of science studies and anthropology of knowledge. The Element describes general social conditions for the development of science and the IPs globally, and their development and form in some specific countries.

This Element discusses cross-cultural differences in subjective wellbeing, proposing that the major barrier to creating such comparability of measurement is a pervasive response bias that differs between cultures. Cummins concludes that current instruments are inadequate to provide valid cross-cultural measures of subjective wellbeing.

Describes noteworthy developments in cross-cultural psychology of the past half century. Presents events in a decade-by-decade format, allowing brief discussion of high points in each decade. Covers key aspects of culture-centered methodology in psychology and the teaching of culture-oriented psychology.