Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology

A timely evaluation of cross-cultural psychology, examining the fundamental questions of the discipline from a number of different perspectives.

Fons J. R. van de Vijver (Edited by), Athanasios Chasiotis (Edited by), Seger M. Breugelmans (Edited by)

9780521757515, Hitachi

Paperback, published 17 March 2011

602 pages, 25 b/w illus. 10 tables
22.6 x 15.3 x 3.1 cm, 0.94 kg

'Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology is an excellent, superbly written edited book. The editors and the internationally acclaimed authors give an insightful, informative and sophisticated state-of-the-art, along with future directions of the field. This is a 'must have' book.' David Lackland Sam, University of Bergen, Norway

Cross-cultural psychology has come of age as a scientific discipline, but how has it developed? The field has moved from exploratory studies, in which researchers were mainly interested in finding differences in psychological functioning without any clear expectation, to detailed hypothesis tests of theories of cross-cultural differences. This book takes stock of the large number of empirical studies conducted over the last decades to evaluate the current state of the field. Specialists from various domains provide an overview of their area, linking it to the fundamental questions of cross-cultural psychology such as how individuals and their cultures are linked, how the link evolves during development, and what the methodological challenges of the field are. This book will appeal to academic researchers and post-graduates interested in cross-cultural research.

Introduction Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Athanasios Chasiotis and Seger M. Breugelmans
Part I. Setting the Stage: 1. Fundamental questions of cross-cultural psychology Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Athanasios Chasiotis and Seger M. Breugelmans
Part II. Explanation of Cross-Cultural Differences: 2. Past and present of cross-cultural psychology Gustav Jahoda
3. The continuing challenge of discovering psychological 'order' across cultures Walter J. Lonner
4. The ecocultural framework: a stocktaking John W. Berry
5. Frameworks for explaining cross-cultural variance: a meta-analytic examination of their usefulness Dianne A. van Hemert
6. The relationship between individual and culture Seger M. Breugelmans
Part III. Methods for Studying Culture: 7. A fourfold conceptual framework for cultural and cross-cultural psychology: relativism, construct universalism, repertoire universalism, and absolutism Johnny R. J. Fontaine
8. About chicken and eggs: four methods for investigating culture-behaviour links Ronald Fischer
9. Qualitative and mixed methods research in cross-cultural psychology Alison Karasz
10. Bias and real differences in cross-cultural differences: neither friends nor foes Fons J. R. van de Vijver
Part IV. The Role of Development: 11. Cross-cultural research in the cultural historical activity theory tradition ?ichael Cole, Boris G. Meshcheryakov and I. V. Ponomariov
12. Self, family, and culture: what is common, what changes? Çi?dem Ka?itçiba?i
13. Biology, culture, and development: conceptual and methodological considerations Heidi Keller
14. Differences and universals in families across cultures James Georgas
15. An epigenetic view on culture: what evolutionary developmental psychology has to offer for cross-cultural psychology Athanasios Chasiotis
Part V. Concepts of Culture: 16. Cross-cultural differences as meaning systems Lutz H. Eckensberger
17. Ulysses returns: lessons from the logbook of a cross-cultural wayfarer Michael Harris Bond
18. Values: cultural and individual Shalom H. Schwartz
19. The cultural contexts of organisational behaviour Peter B. Smith
20. Rethinking culture and the self: some basic principles and their implications Chi-yue Chiu and Young-hoon Kim
Part VI. Conclusion: 21. Research on behavior-and-culture: current ideas and future projections Ype H. Poortinga.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Cultural studies [JFC]