-Review of Cross-Cultural Psychology Intro (Lesson 1) -Introduction to text by Ward, Bochner and Furnham, The Psychology of Culture Shock (Lesson 2)

1. Introduction to Cross-Cultural
Psychology and Intercultural
Contact

2. Cross-Cultural Psychology
• Cross-cultural psychology generally
operationalizes culture as an antecedent
variable that lies outside of and apart
from the individual.
• Deeply rooted in Western traditions of
thinking, ethnocentric Euro-American
approaches have shaped the landscape
of cross- cultural research.

3. Cultural Psychology
• Cultural psychology sees culture as inside the
individual as a way of knowing and construing
the world and other people.

4. Culture
• Culture has been defined by shared
knowledge and meaning that is derived
through processes of interaction and
communication.
• Culture has been defined as the man-made
part of the environment that consists of both
subjective and objective elements and resides
in the mind of individuals as well as in their
environmental context.

5. Indigenous psychology
• Indigenous psychology understands
culture as subjectively created
systems of meaning but goes one
step further by taking informal folk
theories of psychological functioning
formalizing them into psychological
theories.

6. Conclusions
• Cross-cultural psychology is an inclusive
position that comprises cultural and
comparative approaches. –Berry’s notion
• The integration of findings from non-
Western societies presented by
indigenous psychology needs to be
emphasized in cross-cultural psychology.

7. Etic
• A descriptive system which is equally
valid for all cultures, representing
similarities and differences between
individual cultures
• Examines susceptibility to cultural
influences in individual actions and
thinking
• Culture-general construct

8. Imposed Etic
• A naïve application of Euro-American
theories and instruments to research
conducted in other settings is one of the
main methodological weaknesses in the
history of cross-cultural psychology.

9. Emic
• The emic approach defines ‘culture’ not
as an external factor but rather as an
integral part of human behavior.
• Not only research subjects are culture-
dependent (whole system of
psychological thought and its underlying
assumptions)
• culture-specific construct

10. Etic & Emic
• If emic approaches produce
instruments that satisfy the derived
etic criteria, comparative
examination in various cultures could
demonstrate differences or
similarities in psychological
functioning--towards universalism.

11. Berry’s Ecocultural Model
The model represents a conceptual
framework in which there are three types
of variables: (1) contextual variables that
include ecological and sociopolitical
variables, (2) process variables that include
biological and cultural adaptation and
transmission to individuals and (3)
psychological outcomes.

12. Ecocultural Model cont.
• The model is a symbiosis of cultural and
comparative aspects of the field, allowing for
cultural and ecological explorations of human
behavior within and across settings and
resembling the original notion of etic and emic
as complementary rather than conflicting
ways of achieving an understanding.
• Tries to consider situational factors

13. Problems w/Berry’s Model
• Methodological problems and the
view of culture as a nation-bound
and stable characteristic have
restricted its use.

14. Individualism and Collectivism
• Relationships between the individual and the
group
• Concerns the freedom of a person versus the
restrictions placed on an individual to achieve
common goals
-European and North American countries: high
on individualism
-Asian and Latin American countries: high on
collectivism

15. How the I-C manifests itself:
• At the personal level (identity)
• At the interpersonal or relational level
(preferred interactions and regulation of
social relationships)
• A the societal or institutional level
(association between the individual and
the groups to which they belong)

16. Personal correlates of I-C
Defines self-concept:
Interdependent or Independent selves
• In terms of internal characteristics or
traits that make us unique from others
• In terms of our affiliation with other
people

17. Interpersonal correlates of I-C
• Do the interests of the group take precedence
over the needs of individual members
(cooperative relationships and tight social
networks)?
• Are people more loosely tied to other people
and groups and focused on their own interests
(competition rather than cooperation, direct
communication style, superficial
relationships)?

18. Social correlates of I-C
• Self-worth is evaluated in terms of being
accepted and valued by ones in-groups (law-
abiding, family relationships, religious beliefs,
loyalty to institutions and authority,
considerate of others)
• Self-worth is evaluated by independence &
uniqueness (self-esteem based on individual
talent, achievement & recognition)

19. Antecedents of I-C
• Distinction between hunter-gathering
and agricultural societies, contemporary
view contrasts urban and rural
settlements
• Link between individualism and wealth
(significant link between a country’s rank
on I-C and its average national income)

20. Consequences of contact re: I-C
• Differing morals, social attitudes and
behavioral orientations
• Differing cognitive and communication
styles
• Barriers to effective interpersonal
communication and achieving mutual
goals

21. Other ways to classify countries in
terms of bipolar dimensions
(Hofstede, 1983)
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity-Femininity
Cultural dichotomies have to be put to the test
before using them as a basis for experimental
treatment

22. Challenges to Trait
Approaches/Cultural Dichotomies
• Notion of ethnocentrism in methodology and
theory
• Tendency to use one’s own standard as the
standard when viewing other groups
• “What is taken for granted, purposely
discounted, or inadvertently ignored in the
social behavior of one’s own culture may be
focal and objectified in another.”

23. Challenges to Trait Approaches
• Emphasis is placed on differences
between societies, portraying cultural
communities as holding mutually
exclusive, stable, and uniform views
rather than regarding variation and
change among individuals within each
group and similarities across groups.

24. Challenges to Trait Approaches
• Inability to capture when it is that culture
has a strong influence on an individual.
• Sometimes individuals act in culturally
typical manners and sometimes not, yet
a trait model, much like a stereotype,
implies a pervasive, continual influence
on culture.

25. Challenges to Trait Approaches
• Do not take into account the situational
specificity of norms and values
• Cannot meet the challenges of
globalization and are insensitive to any
interconnectedness and interaction
• Neglect the concept of cultural
complexity

26. Contemporary Research
(1) What is psychological, what is
cultural?
(2) What is universal, what is culture-
specific?
(3) What is specific to one case, what
is a general pattern?

27. Cultural Variables and Behavior
• According to Triandis, culture enters those
situations where interpersonal relationships
are not constrained by technology or other
contingent factors. Culture’s influence on
behavior is mediated by values and beliefs on
the internal side and ecological, social, and
political indicators on the external side. These
constraints have to be distinguished between.

28. Groups In Intercultural Contact
• Tourists: visitors whose length of stay exceeds
24 hours in a location away from home and
whose main incentive for travel is other than
financial (largest group of cross-cultural
travelers).
• Sojourners: temporary resident who
voluntarily goes abroad for a set period of
time usually associated with a specific
assignment or contract.

29. Groups In Intercultural Contact (cont.)
• International Students: In major receiving
countries have become part of the export
industry (at least 10% of student population
on many campuses throughout the world).
• International Business People
• Immigrants: migrants include those who
voluntarily relocate for long term
resettlement.
• Refugees