Cross-cultural Psychology Research Articles

Strong-ties and weak-ties rationalities: toward a mental model of the consequences of kinship intensity

There is growing evidence of the connection between variations in kinship intensity and cross-cultural differences in psychological traits. Contributing to this literature on kinship intensity, we put forward a mental model to explain the enduring connection between ancestral niche and psychological traits. Our model posits that two primary orientations or dispositions—strong-ties and weak-ties rationalities—have co-evolved with our ancestral niches to perpetuate—by internalizing and reproducing—the social structure (such as preferences for certain attitudes, values, and beliefs) of the ancestral niche. The findings from 1,291 participants across four societies—China, India, Taiwan, and the United States—support our hypothesis that strong-ties (weak-ties) rationalities, when activated, will endorse strong-tie (weak-ties) values and beliefs. This proposed model contributes to the toolbox of cultural and cross-cultural psychology in a twofold sense: First, in addition to the index of kinship intensity, it offers a measure of kin-based rationality as another predictor of psychological traits; second, it renders intelligible the niche and rationality disconnect prevalent in the globalizing era.

Exploring mindfulness interventions across cultures: a comparative meta-analysis of mindfulness interventions for athletes in Western and Eastern contexts.

Applying mindfulness training across cultures can be challenging because its internal motivation depends on values, but there are differences between Western and Eastern contexts. This meta-analysis examines the comparative impacts of the Western Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) approach and the culturally-adapted Chinese Mindfulness-Acceptance-Insight-Commitment (MAIC) mindfulness training for athletes, to explore the importance of cultural adaptation in cross-cultural psychology to psychological skills training. This meta-analysis was registered with Prospero (ID: CRD42023474474) and adhered to the PRISMA principles. The PICO search methodology was employed to identify pertinent Chinese and English literature across six databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP) from 2003 to 2023. The evidence originated from randomized controlled trials. Effect sizes were evaluated across three primary domains: athletic performance, mindfulness, and psychological flexibility, and heterogeneity and publication bias. Both MAC and MAIC demonstrated positive effects across all outcome categories in 18 studies. MAIC exhibited substantially larger effect sizes compared to MAC. In mindfulness (MAIC: g = 1.273, p < 0.001; MAC: g = 0.521, p = 0.001), sports performance (MAIC: g = 0.945, p = 0.015; MAC: g = 0.550, p < 0.001), MAC did not provide evidence of improved psychological flexibility (g = 0.076, p = 0.747), while MAIC demonstrated significant benefits (g = 0.964, p < 0.001). While MAIC is based on MAC, it yields more significant outcomes. This may be the "Insight" component introduced by MAIC, which skillfully integrates Eastern context. The MAIC strategy not only becomes more appropriate for local athletes but also indirectly enhances their mindfulness, athletic performance, and psychological flexibility, resulting from cultural adaptation. The new idea not only solves the culture shock caused by the direct application of Western MAC approach on Chinese athletes, but also provides a new solution to the problem that there is insufficient evidence to support the effect of the MAC approach on "psychological flexibility." Investigating differential effects between MAC and MAIC contributes to understanding the significance of culturally adapting mindfulness training and transnational movement of practices. The findings will assist practitioners in selecting evidence-based protocols tailored to athlete needs and cultural contexts. Prospero (ID: CRD42023474474).

Cross-Cultural Psychology and Compassion

Cross-cultural psychology evaluates how cultural factors influence people’s behaviour and mental processes. Cross-cultural psychology aims to understand individual differences and commonalities, and to develop an appreciation, respect, and knowledge of cultures distinct from one’s own. Compassion refers to the emotional response of understanding, empathising with, and desiring to alleviate or reduce the suffering or distress of others. Compassion involves noticing the pain or difficulties another person is experiencing and being motivated to help, often characterised by acts of kindness, support, and caring. This entry paper explores the intersection of these two concepts, illustrating how insights from cross-cultural psychology can contribute to fostering compassion.

Intervention Proposal: Using Lego in Collaborative Play as an Intervention for Intergenerational Trauma in Chinese-Canadian Families

Intergenerational trauma is traumatic events experienced by ancestors which passed down through generations of descendants. While there has been published literature on intergenerational trauma, there lies a gap for culturally appropriate interventions for immigrant families that experience this type of trauma. This intervention proposal aims to utilise published research as well as Lego in therapy to bridge the gap in cross-cultural psychology by creating a treatment intervention for immigrant families experiencing intergenerational trauma, more specifically, Chinese immigrant families. Participant criterium are immigrant families with one or more children between the ages of eight to twelve-years-old and can commit to a minimum of 18 consecutive weekly sessions at two hours per week in a supervised therapeutic setting with a trauma-informed mental health professional. Sessions are divided into two interview sessions, 12 pre-determined Lego building tasks with increasing difficulty, and four free-building sessions. The supervising professional will conduct pre- and post- intervention interviews to assess the participants’ baselines, promote constructive and concise communication during sessions, and debriefing with the family after each session. Expected outcomes of this Lego intervention for immigrant families experiencing intergenerational trauma are improved interpersonal communication skills, increased levels of trust, a better recognition of emotions with higher levels of emotion regulation skills, and living in a healthier family environment.

Turtle Island Indigenous Psychologies

This paper explores Indigenous psychology as a radical alternative to modern theories of psychology. I explain and define Western psychology as a dominating force which overshadows other psychological approaches. I then explore cross-cultural and previous ideas of Indigenous psychology as subsections of Western psychology. I explain that cross-cultural and Indigenous psychology are no different than Western psychology as they rely heavily on abstract, fixed meanings. Cultural psychology provides a radical approach which invites an Indigenous psychology based on a genuine understanding of Indigenous practices. I explore Turtle Island Indigenous Psychologies (TIIP) as local, interrelated, oral, ceremonial, and medicinal or healing. I then use TIIP as a radical perspective to critique the colonial or tautological approaches dominating Western psychology. I offer TIIP as a genuine, radical opposition to Western psychology which can only be used from a place of comprehensive understanding.

An approach to intercultural training deemphasizing cross-cultural differences

PurposeThis paper aims to present an approach to intercultural training (IT) in which course participants are informed about various approaches to differences between peoples. Pitfalls in communication are identified that are due to overgeneralization of incidental observations of behavior and to psychological mechanisms such as stereotyping, ethnocentrism and attribution. Effects of poor command of a second language and paralinguistic factors are also included.Design/methodology/approachIntercultural communication training or IT programs often over-generalize incidental observations and make attributions about broad differences between “us” and “others”. An approach to IT is described that challenges the way in which notions about “culture” and “cultures” tend to be used.FindingsA training module based on the principles mentioned is described that was originally developed for military officers preparing for international peace-keeping and peace-building missions and later has been administered in various settings and countries.Research limitations/implicationsAn exit questionnaire and postmission interviews have suggested positive effects of the training, but more systematic evaluation research is needed.Practical implicationsCross-cultural communication (3C) training is mostly about how other people differ from “us”. Better understanding may be gained with an approach that emphasizes how much humans everywhere are alike and that perceived differences can also be in the eye of the beholder.Social implicationsMutual understanding is critical to positive interaction. The approach to 3C training taken here explains how much humans everywhere are alike and puts manifest differences into perspective.Originality/valueThe training module builds on available knowledge, notably from cross-cultural psychology. Except for a questionnaire to demonstrate ethnocentrism, there is hardly new information. However, the approach arranges available knowledge in a way that is rather novel for the field of 3C training.

Pursuing Dreams, Confronting Paradoxes: Palestinian Students in Israeli Institutions

Through an immersive qualitative exploration, we delve into the narratives of East Jerusalem’s Palestinian students as they navigate the complexities of an Israeli teacher training college. Workshops and artistic expression unearth their aspirations, challenges, and coping strategies within a labyrinthine educational landscape. Our findings illuminate their indomitable spirit and unwavering pursuit of dreams despite isolation, discrimination, and the ever-present Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This study contributes to understanding minority students’ experiences in higher education, particularly those in conflict-ridden regions. Drawing upon Resilience Theory, Social Identity Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Cross-Cultural Psychology, we weave a multi-dimensional framework elucidating factors shaping academic achievements, identity formation, and psychological well-being. The fruits of this research empower educators and policymakers to nurture resilience and inclusivity among diverse student populations navigating tempestuous waters. Amplifying Palestinian students’ voices, our work stands as a clarion call for equity and social justice in education, even amidst adversity. We underscore the paramount importance of tailored support systems and interventions, illuminating education’s transformative potential as a catalyst for positive change within communities gripped by conflict.

Alert during what? Beyond the “Big O” to a culturally-cognizant, process view of entrepreneurial alertness

AbstractEntrepreneurial alertness is a psychological aptitude generally associated with aspects of nascent venturing, centered on individuals’ environmental observations, the association of resources, and idea evaluation. A decade following the Tang et al. (2012) consensus construct and scale, critiques remain questioning its utility and unique value to the major conversations in entrepreneurship. Proponents put great emphasis on entrepreneurial alertness’s proven association with opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial actions. Yet, critics suggest it might be an unnecessary step offering little more than a positive association with opportunity recognition in a highly generalized and static way. The purpose of this paper is to address this tension. We do so through a ‘steel man’ approach to these valid concerns. Further, we question the logic of limiting a cognitive construct to a singular event: ‘opportunity recognition’ for a new venture (which we term here, the “Big O”). Drawing on a comprehensive framework inclusive of the full entrepreneurship phenomenon, and integrating insights from cross-cultural psychology, we put forth the case for an ongoing culturally contextualized process perspective towards venturing where individuals are alert to and pursue opportunities (and cope with threats) continuously. This paper provides a new framework for delineating a theoretically grounded “what” and “when” of entrepreneurial alertness.

Cultural Variations in Memory Disruption: The Part-List Cuing Impairment in Taiwan, Singapore, and the United States

This research examines the cultural generalizability of a well-established memory phenomenon, the part-list cuing impairment, in which people who receive a subset of a studied list as hints recall fewer items than those who do not. Extensive research conducted in North America and Europe has documented this impairment. Our investigation focused on competing hypotheses about possible cultural differences in this impairment. The first hypothesis was that the part-list cue impairment in recall is a culturally universal memory phenomenon (i.e., it is not modulated by culture). The second hypothesis focused on possible differences in part-list cuing impairment rooted in cultural differences in analytic versus holistic processing styles. Contrary to both hypotheses, our results indicated that the part-list cuing impairment was similarly strong in the United States and Taiwan, cultures that can both be considered relatively less multicultural. In contrast, the part-list cuing impairment was weaker among ethnic Chinese participants in Singapore, a culture that can be considered relatively more multicultural. The highly influential analytic-holistic cognition distinction, which would predict that ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Taiwan would be similar to each other but different from Americans, cannot account for these findings. Instead, we consider possible alternative explanations, such as the idea that multiculturalism might shape basic memory processes that are assumed to be culturally universal. Overall, this research highlights the importance of exploring psychological phenomena in cross-cultural psychology beyond two-culture comparisons and beyond the dominant paradigms for explaining East-West differences in cognition.

Теория и практика этнопсихологии: 20 лет в российском контексте

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;The article presents a report on the work of the international scientific and practical conference &amp;ldquo;Ethnopsychology: Theory and Practice&amp;rdquo;, which took place on November 16-17, 2023 in Moscow and was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Department of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Psychological Problems of Multicultural Education, Faculty of Social Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology &amp;amp; Education. The content of plenary and sectional sessions, master classes and round tables is reflected. The range of questions and problems raised during the conference reflects the current issues of Russian cross-cultural psychological research.&lt;/p&gt;

Advancing equity in cross-cultural psychology: embracing diverse epistemologies and fostering collaborative practices.

Psychology, and cross-cultural psychology (CCP) in particular, plays a pivotal role in understanding the intricate relationship between culture and human behavior. This paper sheds light on the challenges of inequity and marginalization, especially concerning scholarship from the Global South, which have roots in historical colonial practices. It highlights how intellectual extractivism and the predominance of Western research methodologies often overlook the contributions of Global South scholars and indigenous ways of knowing. Such imbalances risk narrowing the scope of psychological inquiry, privileging American and European perspectives, and undermining the richness of global human experiences. This paper calls for a shift toward more equitable collaborations and the recognition of diverse epistemologies. By advocating for genuine representation in research and valuing local knowledge, it proposes pathways for a more inclusive and authentic exploration of human behavior across cultures.

Music consumption and uses in Japan

This research investigates the relationship between music consumption and cultural dimensions within a Japanese context. Since Japan is the second largest music market globally, it is surprising that there is little focus on those factors often examined in cross-cultural research that might mean Western findings do not extrapolate well. A questionnaire using established measures of tightness–looseness, relational mobility, and ideal affect was used to test three main research questions. RQ1 was that there should be a relationship between cultural dimensions and musical taste, and this was fully supported. RQ2 was that cultural dimensions should relate to participants’ goals of music consumption, and this was largely supported. RQ3 was that there should be a relationship between socioeconomic status and musical taste, but this was not supported. The findings also supported several more specific research questions concerning how specific uses of music ought to relate to specific cultural dimensions. The findings of the study help us better understand the way music is consumed in relation to specific cultural dimensions in the context of Japan and beyond. It also extends the literature concerning music and cross-cultural psychology where prior research has not considered these dimensions within the context of music consumption.

Dwelling and healing with saints and jinn in the haunted landscapes of Palestine

The Jinn of Islamic and Middle Eastern popular mythology play a role in maintaining spatial divisions between sacred and profane space, public and protected areas, and acceptable and exceptional behaviour. Though research on jinn continues to be of importance in cross-cultural psychology, the rich relationship between jinn and place has largely been lost or severed. This paper seeks to restore this link through an examination of the relationship between unseen spirits and place in Palestine and throughout the Levant ( Bilad ash-Sham). Drawing upon both European and Palestinian historical ethnographic writing, as well as oral history interviews with Palestinian elders, this paper examines spatial practices that can attract, prevent, or heal harm from jinn and other unseen forces, as well as places where such spirits dwell, including graveyards, caves, wells, sacred trees, and shrines. Jinn play a dual role in helping to protect the sanctity of these places, while also threatening to violate the intimate space hearth and home. In this way, jinn play an important role in both establishing, and at times blurring and negotiating social mores and their related physical boundaries. In examining how jinn threaten the sanctity of homes and bodies, but also how place-dwelling spirits help to heal bodies and sooth souls, this paper moves beyond mere metaphorical understandings of spectral geographies to understand the material implications of unseen and imagined forces. By doing so, this paper builds upon recent research exploring the deep connection between the environment and spiritual/sacred understandings of place.

Iranian classical dance as a subject for empirical research: Anelusive genre.

Dance has entered mainstream empirical research: dance as an experimental stimulus, and dancers as movement experts. Informed by several sources, including primary sources (original, historical documents, and oral reports, such as interviews with practitioners and academic scholars of Iranian dance genres) and secondary sources (research literature), we describe what we label "Iranian classical dance" within this paper as an important resource for empirical research, not only in humanities scholarship but also, and importantly, for empirical aesthetics, emotion psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and affective neuroscience. For this purpose, we (1) describe the aesthetics, characteristics, and history of Iranian classical dance; (2) outline issues of definition and systematization; and (3) give an overview of the cultural complexities and sociopolitical issues regarding Iranian classical dance in the past 40 years, which have shaped its current form. After the political revolution of 1979 (Iranian solar calendar year: 1358), dance in Iran-both as everyday practice and as a cultural heritage-was first forbidden, and now remains heavily restricted. International, interdisciplinary research teams can contribute to safeguarding Iranian classical dance in the future by firmly enshrining it into empirical research on human dance. We outline empirical research perspectives on Iranian classical dance, dataset resources, and expert communities.

Juris G. Draguns (1932-2023).

Memorializes Juris G. Draguns (1932-2023), a noted cross-cultural researcher and author. in 1967, joined Pennsylvania State University, where he remained until his retirement in 1997 as professor emeritus. His presence at Penn State, along with George Guthrie, Muzafer Sherif, and Carolyn Sherif, made its program one of the outstanding early centers for cross-cultural psychology. He remained active after his university retirement, maintaining a part-time clinical practice and pursuing new research interests. During his career, he published more than 130 articles on such topics as microgenesis, cognitive style, models of psychopathology, and culture and psychology, as well as several books. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparative Culturology and Cross-Cultural Psychology: How Comparing Societal Cultures Differs From Comparing Individuals’ Minds Across Cultures

Cross-cultural research in social and behavioral sciences has expanded hugely over the past 50 years, but progress is currently hampered by a lack of appreciation of the profoundly differing principles and goals of two distinct traditions. The first is the main variant of cross-cultural psychology (CCP), focusing on how culture shapes individual psychological functioning. The second was pioneered by Hofstede. It studies societal differences, and we name it “comparative culturology” (CC). We explain how these two paradigms differ. CCP is grounded in psychology and typically looks for unobservable individual-level constructs, which supposedly exist independently of their measurement, to provide understanding of individual differences as affected by culture. CC is an interdisciplinary field whose roots and impact span sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, management studies, psychology, and beyond. CC measures cultural dimensions as group-level constructs created by researchers, which are best understood as ecological manifolds: conglomerates of conceptually and statistically associated variables (not necessarily held together by a single underlying factor) that collectively explain national (and other group) differences. Given these paradigmatic distinctions, the two fields need not, and cannot, use the same validation methods. They should co-exist and collaborate based on mutual appreciation of their differences, without attempts by either field to impose its idiosyncrasies on the other.

MIsgivings about measurement invariance

This paper critically evaluates the conventional insistence on establishing measurement invariance (MI) in cross-cultural psychology. We argue that complex and seemingly arbitrary benchmarks for assessing MI can be unrealistic and effectively prohibit meaningful research. The widespread use of various MI criteria creates unnecessary and often unattainable hurdles for cross-cultural researchers who have made the effort to collect data in multiple cultural contexts. Additionally, the prohibitionist tone of discussions surrounding MI is unhelpful, unscientific, and discouraging. We argue that emerging findings that cultural differences might not be as widespread or profound as once assumed imply that significant cross-cultural differences in measurement should not be the default assumption. Additionally, we advocate a shift towards external validity as a more useful metric of measurement quality. Our overall message is that researchers who go to the considerable trouble of gathering data in more than one country should not be disadvantaged compared to researchers who avoid cross-cultural complications by gathering data only at their home campus.

A longitudinal comparison of maternal behaviour in German urban humans (Homo sapiens) and captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Comparative perspectives are crucial in the study of human development, yet longitudinal comparisons of humans and other primates are still relatively uncommon. Here, we combined theoretical frameworks from cross-cultural and comparative psychology, to study maternal style in 10 mother–infant pairs of German urban humans (Homo sapiens) and 10 mother–infant pairs of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), during the first year of infants’ development. We conducted focal observations of different behaviours (i.e. nursing, carrying, body contact, touching, grooming, restraining, approaching, leaving, rejection, aggression, mutual gaze, object stimulation), during natural interactions. Analyses revealed a more distal maternal style in WEIRD humans than in captive chimpanzees, with different behaviours being generally more common in one of the two species throughout development. For other behaviours (i.e. nursing), developmental trajectories differed between WEIRD humans and captive chimpanzees, although differences generally decreased through infants’ development. Overall, our study confirms functional approaches as a valid tool for comparative longitudinal studies.

The Structural-Genetic Theory Programme as General Theory to Social Sciences

The structural-genetic theory programme is an offshoot of Piagetian theory and Piagetian Cross-Cultural Psychology. It resorts to the application of stage theory to history, that is to parallels between ontogenetic and historical stages. Accordingly, the adolescent stage of formal operations evolved late in history, usually not before the 17th century, making and causing the Age of Enlightenment, with its manifestations: rise of physical sciences, industrial economy, formulation of liberty rights and humanistic philosophy, emergence of classical music, etc. The new theory offers possibilities to unify all human disciplines and social sciences under one common roof as they all need a general theory of the human being which stage theory can provide. They all deal with historical developments such as the history of language, law, sciences, economy, morals, philosophy, arts, worldview, religion, and politics that is shaped and carried by psychogenetic stage developments of humans in history.

The Psychological Basis of the Interaction of Elements of Chinese Culture and Culture of Islamic Peoples in China

The article attempts to describe Islam in China in terms of Chinese psychology and the Chinese culture’s style of adding new cultural material. The article highlights some elements of the cultural configuration thanks to which it is possible to observe interpenetration of two cultural complexes as the natural from the psychological point of interpenetration. Such elements include, for example, folklore and martial arts. Both folklore and martial arts as part of the cultural system in China play a significant role in the functioning of folk culture, used as “soft power” in the intercultural and interreligious dialogue within the People’s Republic of China and beyond its borders. The reason why the folklore elements and martial arts are considered as important in the given context hides in their role in Chinese cultural history. It is obvious that folklore is one of the basics of ethnic group genesis and identification. Chinese and Islam culture co-existence leads to the rejuvenation of folk tradition by means of introducing a new character recognizable for the domestic population. As for martial arts – it is a kind of way of narrating Chinese culture, natural and essential for people inside country and, in its turn, recognizable for external viewers. The methodology used in the analysis of materials is interdisciplinary. In the general framework of Cultural Studies the methods of Cross Cultural Psychology, Cultural Anthropology, and the Psychology of Religion are applied. The mixed methodology, based on the concept of cultural configuration, gives a focus on the combination of Chinese traditional and Islamic culture as objectively existing, living and natural.