On Dynamic Contexts and Unstable Categories

Author(s):  
Andrew G. Ryder ◽  
Marina M. Doucerain ◽  
Biru Zhou ◽  
Jessica Dere ◽  
Tomas Jurcik ◽  
...  

This chapter discusses the lead author’s research program at the intersection of cultural psychology and clinical psychology from 1997 to 2017, emphasizing work conducted with one or more of the co-authors—former graduate students who are now independent researchers. After a brief consideration of formative research experiences, the chapter begins with research on the dynamic contexts of migrants undergoing acculturation. Much of this work challenges essentialized cultural groups, although it also tends to rely on standard measures of psychosocial adjustment. In contrast, the next part of the chapter covers research on the unstable categories of psychopathology observed when cultural variation is taken seriously. Much of this work challenges essentialized diagnostic categories, although it also tends to rely on standard group comparisons. The chapter’s final major section describes the development of cultural-clinical psychology, proposing a research agenda that would combine dynamic views of culture and psychopathology with implications for clinical practice.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mesoudi

Cultural evolution is a branch of the evolutionary sciences which assumes that (i) human cognition and behaviour is shaped not only by genetic inheritance, but also cultural inheritance (also known as social learning), and (ii) this cultural inheritance constitutes a Darwinian evolutionary system that can be analysed and studied using tools borrowed from evolutionary biology. In this chapter I explore the numerous compatibilities between the fields of cultural evolution and cultural psychology, and the potential mutual benefits from their closer alignment. First, understanding the evolutionary context within which human psychology emerged gives added significance to the findings of cultural psychologists, which reinforce the conclusion reached by cultural evolution scholars that humans inhabit a ‘cultural niche’ within which the major means of adaptation to difference environments is cultural, rather than genetic. Hence, we should not be surprised that human psychology shows substantial cross-cultural variation. Second, a focus on cultural transmission pathways, drawing on cultural evolution models and empirical research, can help to explain to the maintenance of, and potential changes in, cultural variation in psychological processes. Evidence from migrants, in particular, points to a mix of vertical, oblique and horizontal cultural transmission that can explain the differential stability of different cultural dimensions. Third, cultural evolutionary methods offer powerful means of testing historical (“macro-evolutionary”) hypotheses put forward by cultural psychologists for the origin of psychological differences. Explanations in terms of means of subsistence, rates of environmental change or pathogen prevalence can be tested using quantitative models and phylogenetic analyses that can be used to reconstruct cultural lineages. Evolutionary considerations also point to potential problems with current cross-country comparisons conducted within cultural psychology, such as the non-independence of data points due to shared cultural history. Finally, I argue that cultural psychology can play a central role in a synthetic evolutionary science of culture, providing valuable links between individual-oriented disciplines such as experimental psychology and neuroscience on the one hand, and society-oriented disciplines such as anthropology, history and sociology on the other, all within an evolutionary framework that provides links to the biological sciences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayse K. Uskul ◽  
Harriet Over

Recent research has demonstrated that cultural groups differ in how they experience ostracism and in how they behave in the wake of being ostracized. We review this literature paying particular attention to the role that one key cultural variable, social interdependence, plays in moderating responses to ostracism. Although the data present a complex picture, a growing number of studies have suggested that collectivistic cultures and high levels of social interdependence are associated with less negative responses to ostracism. We review explanations for observed cultural and individual-level differences in responses to ostracism and make a series of suggestions for future research that, we hope, will disambiguate current findings and offer a more nuanced picture of ostracism and the significance of cultural variation inherent within it.


Author(s):  
Özen Odağ

The current chapter focuses on the (cross-)cultural appeal of existing entertainment theories, showcasing the meager evidence that exists with respect to their universality. The central argument throughout the chapter is that most entertainment theories have originated in the Western world and little has so far been done to apply them to the much larger rest of the world. The rest of the world has shown to be profoundly different, however, with respect to various dimensions of human behavior and cognition, including self-concepts, emotion appraisal and display, valued affect, thinking styles, values, and well-being maxims. The chapter scrutinizes five pertinent entertainment theories for their ability to explain this cultural variation. It suggests the inclusion of fruitful macro- and micro-level concepts from cross-cultural psychology and intercultural communication to increase their global explanatory power. The main aim of the current chapter is to spark an overdue (cross-)cultural evolution of media entertainment scholarship.


Author(s):  
В.И. Казаренков ◽  
В. Бовэнь

В статье раскрыты целесообразность и прогностическая ценность изучения проблемы доверия в межкультурном взаимодействии. На основе анализа теоретических концепций обосновывается, что уровень выраженности доверия к представителям иных культурных групп выступает предиктором социально-перцептивных процессов в общении и опосредует выбор субъектом соответствующей стратегии межличностного взаимодействия в процессах межкультурной коммуникации. Представлены результаты эмпирического исследования, в котором выявляется содержание критериев доверия и недоверия студентов китайской, африканской и латиноамериканской общностей к сверстникам — представителям иных культурных групп. Эмпирически подтверждается предположение о существовании связей между доверием, недоверием и стратегиями взаимодействия иностранных студентов со сверстниками — представителями других культур. Анализируются обнаруженные корреляционные взаимосвязи между содержательными критериями доверия (недоверия) и манипулятивной, альтероцентрической, конформной, диалогической, индифферентной, авторитарной стратегиями интеракций во взаимоотношениях студентов с ровесниками — представителями других культурных групп. Полученные результаты косвенно свидетельствуют о том, что механизмы аттракции, выражающиеся в приязни, симпатии, дружелюбии, а также механизмы идентификации и рефлексии выступают в качестве предикторов отношений иностранных студентов к представителям иных культур, помогают преодолевать межгрупповые предубеждения и служат профилактикой манипулирования друг другом. Результаты исследования углубляют научные представления о проблеме доверия — недоверия в межэтнических отношениях, представляют практическую ценность для социальных психологов, специалистов в области кросс-культурной психологии при разработке профилактических и коррекционных мероприятий, направленных на повышение эффективности и коммуникативной культуры взаимодействия представителей разных социальных общностей. The article focuses on the feasibility and prognostic value of the investigation of interpersonal interaction. The analysis of theoretical concepts enables the authors to prove that the level of trust between people from different cultural groups can function as a predictor of social perception and can influence people’s choice of strategies of interpersonal interaction in situations of intercultural communication. The article presents the results of empirical research aimed at the investigation of criteria of trust and mistrust between students of Chinese, African and Latin-American communities and their peers belonging to other cultural groups. The empirical study proves that there is a correlation between trust, mistrust and the strategies of interaction foreign students use when communicating with their peers from different cultures. The article analyses the correlation between the criteria of trust (mistrust) and manipulative, alterocentric, conformal, dialogical, indifferent, and authoritarian interaction strategies employed by students for intercultural communication with their peers. The results indirectly demonstrate that the mechanisms of attraction expressed through friendliness, empathy and affection, as well as the mechanisms of identification and reflection serve as predictors of foreign students’ attitude to representatives of other cultures, help to overcome prejudices in intercultural communication, help to prevent interpersonal manipulation. The results of the research extend scholarly understanding of the issue of trust and mistrust in interethnic interaction and have a high practical value for social psychologists, specialists in the sphere of cross-cultural psychology, for specialists developing preventive and corrective measures aimed at the enhancement of the efficiency of interpersonal interaction between representatives of different social groups.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259866
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Li ◽  
Alexander S. English ◽  
Steve J. Kulich

As the early COVID-19 outbreak sparked xenophobia against people of Asian and Chinese background, we collected data from Chinese migrants worldwide to test how discrimination at a macro-level was perceived by the Chinese during COVID-19 globally. Specifically, we examined (1) whether/how the Chinese migrants were aware of discrimination against their co-nationals during COVID; (2) if so, whether anger was a predominant reaction of these Chinese towards certain exposure to relevant information; (3) how responses of anger transcend across the group of Chinese migrants. Integrating the ecological approach to media and cultural psychology, as well as the intergroup perspective of social psychology, we conducted a study that explored the impact of traditional media exposure to discrimination on collective anger—a process mediated by national identity among the Chinese migrants. Findings provide some evidence that geographically dispersed mono-cultural groups may share or identify with collective emotions when facing xenophobic threats in a macro context. Further examination of cultural distance (between China and the host country) among the Chinese migrants also revealed a particular interaction between host newspaper coverage and cultural distance on national identity. These findings suggest further research to examine the emotional norms of similar cultures bonded via strong collective identities in times of intergroup threat and the theoretical possibility for diasporic identity processes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Timothy Church

A comprehensive conception of personality would incorporate dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives considered within evolutionary and cultural contexts ( McAdams & Pals, 2006 ). In this article, I review evolutionary, cross-cultural, indigenous, and cultural psychology perspectives as they address these different aspects of personality across cultures. Evolutionary psychologists have focused most on evolved human nature (e.g., species-typical psychological mechanisms) and have recently considered evolutionary bases for heritable variation in dispositional traits. Cross-cultural psychologists have primarily addressed the universality of dispositional traits (e.g., the Five Factor Model) and characteristic adaptations (e.g., values, motives, and beliefs). Indigenous psychologists elaborate salient personality constructs for specific cultural groups, raising the question of whether these constructs represent culture-unique traits or culture-relevant expressions of universal dimensions (i.e., characteristic adaptations). Cultural psychologists de-emphasize dispositional traits, propose cultural differences in characteristic adaptations (e.g., conceptions of personality and self) and life narratives, and investigate dynamic constructivist perspectives on culture. After the review, I consider what an integration of these perspectives might look like and offer suggestions for research.


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ike Anggraika Kuntoro ◽  
Liliek Saraswati ◽  
Candida Peterson ◽  
Virginia Slaughter

We investigated cultural influences on young children’s acquisition of social-cognitive concepts. A theory of mind (ToM) scale (Wellman & Liu, 2004) was given to 129 children (71 boys, 58 girls) ranging in age from 3 years 0 months to 7 years 10 months. The children were from three distinct cultural groups: (a) trash pickers ( pemulung) living a subsistence lifestyle in Jakarta, Indonesia; (b) middle-class Jakartans living and attending preschools within 5 km of the pemulung group; and (c) middle-class Australians. All children were individually tested in their native language. Cross-group comparisons revealed no significant differences among the three groups in mastery of false belief (the traditional ToM indicator), despite their widely different socio-economic circumstances. However, the pemulung children were slower than the two middle-class groups in mastering two other ToM concepts, namely knowledge access and emotion concealment. These findings shed new light on patterns of cross-cultural consistency in false-belief mastery, as well as revealing cross-cultural variation in other ToM concepts that plausibly reflect variation in children’s everyday life circumstances.


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