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 11
An Introduction to the Study
of Culture and Psychology

Cultural diversity is one of the most important topics in the world today. Here
in the United States, we live, work, and play with an increasing number of
people from all cultures, countries, and walks of life. New immigrants alone
make up 10% of the total U.S. population, and that does not include all of the
cultural diversity that has existed in this country for decades. In many other
countries as well—in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania—people of different
countries and cultures come together more today than ever before. While this
increasingly diversifying world has created a wonderful environment for per-
sonal challenge and growth, it also brings with it an increased potential for mis-
understandings that can lead to confusion and anger. “Diversity” is a buzzword
for “difference,” and conflicts and misunderstandings often arise because of
these differences.
Cultural diversity is one of our biggest challenges. Corporate America is at-
tempting to address that challenge through workshops, seminars, and educa-
tion in diversity throughout the workforce. The educational system has ad-
dressed diversity by hiring and retaining faculty of color and infusing material
related to different cultures throughout the curriculum. Government has at-
tempted to deal with diversity through policies such as equal employment op-
portunity and affirmative action.
At the same time, the challenges that face us in the name of cultural diver-
sity and intercultural relations also represent our biggest opportunities. If we
can meet those challenges and turn them to our favor, we can actualize a poten-
tial in diversity and intercultural relations that will result in far more than the
sum of the individual components that comprise that diverse universe. This
1

1
2 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

2 ■ Chapter 1

sum will result in tremendous personal growth for many individuals, as well as
positive social evolution.
It is in this belief that this book was written—to meet the challenge of di-
versity and turn that challenge into opportunity. Doing so is not easy. It re-
quires each of us to take an honest look at our own cultural background and
heritage, their merits and limitations. Fear, rigidity, and sometimes stubborn
pride come with any type of honest assessment. Yet without that assessment,
we cannot meet the challenge of diversity and improve intercultural relations.
In academia, that assessment brings with it fundamental questions about
what is taught in our colleges and universities today. To ask how cultural diver-
sity colors the nature of the truths and principles of human behavior delivered
in the halls of science is to question the pillars of much of our knowledge about
the world and about human behavior. From time to time, we need to shake
those pillars to see just how sturdy they are. This is especially true in the social
sciences and particularly in psychology—the science specifically concerned
with the mental processes and behavioral characteristics of people.

The Goals of Psychology

No field is better equipped to meet the challenge of cultural diversity than psy-
chology. And in fact, psychology has met, and continues to meet, the challenge
of culture through a subfield known as cross-cultural psychology. To get a bet-
ter handle on what cross-cultural psychology is all about, it is important first to
have a good grasp of the goals of psychology.
Psychology essentially has two main goals. The first is to build a body of
knowledge about people. Psychologists seek to understand behavior when it
happens, explain why it happens, and even predict it before it happens. Two
aspects of psychology are important in achieving this goal: the conduct of psy-
chological research and the creation of theoretical models of behavior. Research
and theory go hand in hand in psychology.
The second goal of psychology involves taking that body of knowledge and
applying it to intervene in people’s lives, hopefully to make those lives better.
Psychologists perform various important roles in pursuit of this goal: as thera-
pists for individuals, families, and groups; as counselors in schools, universi-
ties, churches, and other community organizations; as trainers in businesses
and work organizations; and as consultants for police, lawyers, courts, sport
organizations, athletes, and teams. Psychologists work on the front lines, deal-
ing directly with people to affect their lives in a positive fashion.
The two goals of psychology—creating a body of knowledge and applying
that knowledge—are not mutually exclusive. They share a close relationship, as
well they should. Psychologists who are on the front lines do not work in a
vacuum; they take what psychology as a field has collectively learned about
human behavior and use that knowledge as a basis for their applications and
interventions. This learning initially comes in the form of academic training of
counselors, therapists, and consultants as they achieve academic degrees from
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 3

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 3

universities. But it continues well after formal education has ended, through
continuing education programs and individual scholarship—reviewing the lit-
erature, attending conferences, joining and participating in professional orga-
nizations. Applied psychologists engage in a lifelong learning process that helps
them intervene in people’s lives more effectively. Likewise, research psycholo-
gists are cognizant of the practical and applied implications of their work. In
fact, most researchers and theoreticians are well aware that the value of psy-
chological theory and research is often judged by its practical usefulness in so-
ciety (see, for example, Gergen, Gulerce, Lock, & Misra, 1996). Theories are
often tested for their validity not only in the halls of science but also on the
streets, and they often have to be revised because of what happens in those
streets.
Theory/research and application/intervention are thus the two goals of psy-
chology as we see them. Although some psychologists may choose to focus on
one or the other, it is important to remember that psychology as a collective
whole seeks to achieve both. Cross-cultural psychology has a special meaning
to mainstream psychology because of these goals.

Cross-Cultural Research and Psychology

Most research on human behavior conducted in the United States involves
American university students as study participants. The reasons are largely
pragmatic. University faculty need to do research, for themselves as much as
for the field, and the easiest population to access is often university student
volunteers. Another reason has been a lack of concern about issues of diversity
and its impact on theory and research, and quite frankly, some of the political
ramifications of doing such research. As a result, the majority of the informa-
tion and research you read about in textbooks and research articles in main-
stream psychology is based on studies involving American college or university
student participants or samples.
There is nothing wrong with such research, and the findings obtained from
such samples are definitely true for those samples. These findings may be rep-
licated across multiple samples using different methodologies. In short, many
findings may weather tests for scientific rigor that would normally render them
acceptable as a truth or principle about human behavior. However, a basic
question still remains: Is what we know as truth or principle about human be-
havior true for all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, culture, class, or
lifestyle? This question has particular import when you consider the nature of
the samples generally included in psychological research.
Cross-cultural research* asks these questions by examining and testing
them in people of differing cultural backgrounds. In cross-cultural research,
these questions are addressed quite simply—by including participants of more
than one cultural background and then comparing data obtained across the

*Boldface terms are defined in the glossary at the end of the chapter.
4 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

4 ■ Chapter 1

cultural groups. This research approach is primarily concerned with examining

how our knowledge about people and their behaviors from one culture may or
may not hold for people from another culture.
Cross-cultural research can be understood in relation to mainstream aca-
demic psychology as a matter of scientific philosophy. This term refers to the
logic underlying the methods used to conduct research and generate knowledge
in psychology. Knowledge depends on research to confirm or disconfirm hy-
potheses; research involves a methodology designed to collect data that can fal-
sify or support hypotheses. Methods involve many specific parameters, one of
which includes decisions about the number and nature of the participants in
the study. Cross-cultural research involves the inclusion of people of different
cultural backgrounds—a specific type of change in one of the parameters of
methodology.
What is the difference between cross-cultural research and other types of re-
search that change a parameter of a study? If we consider cross-cultural research
from the standpoint of scientific philosophy, other studies that change other
parameters of research—such as the specific tests or measures that are used, or
the procedures by which data are collected—also raise important questions
about the generalizability of findings. Changes can also occur in characteristics
of the participants other than their cultural background, such as their socio-
economic class, age, gender, or place of residence. All these types of changes are
important in relation to the philosophy underlying psychology’s science. But the
meaning of a study and its findings differs if it compares different cultures than
if it compares different ways of measuring a variable, for example. This differ-
ence is related to what may be considered the cross-cultural approach.
The cross-cultural approach that cross-cultural research brings to main-
stream psychology goes far beyond simple methodological changes in the stud-
ies conducted to test hypotheses related to truth and knowledge. It is a way of
understanding truth and principles about human behaviors within a global,
cross-cultural perspective. Cross-cultural research not only tests similarities
and differences in behaviors; it also tests possible limitations of our traditional
knowledge by studying people of different cultures. In its narrowest sense,
cross-cultural research simply involves including participants from different
cultural backgrounds and testing possible differences between these different
groups of participants. In its broadest sense, however, the cross-cultural ap-
proach is concerned with understanding truth and psychological principles as
either universal (true for all people of all cultures) or culture-specific (true for
some people of some cultures).
Some truths are true for all. Psychologists call these universals. Some truths
and principles, however, are not absolutes; they are culturally relative and cul-
turally bound. There is much about the world and about human behavior that
is true for one culture but not for others. It may very well be the case, therefore,
that even though a finding is replicated in studies involving subjects from a
given culture and society, it is not true for another culture or society, and vice
versa. The results of psychological research are bound by our methods, and the
very standards of care we use when we evaluate the scientific rigor and quality
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 5

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 5

of research are also bound by the cultural frameworks within which our sci-
ence occurs (Pe-Pua, 1989).
In the United States, as in many countries, psychology is segmented into
specific topic areas—for example, clinical, social, developmental, personality,
and the like. Cross-cultural psychology and cross-cultural approaches are not
topic-specific. Cross-cultural researchers are interested in a broad range of phe-
nomena related to human behavior—from perception to language, child rearing
to psychopathology. Cross-cultural psychologists and cross-cultural research
can be found in any specific area or subdiscipline within psychology. What dis-
tinguishes a cross-cultural approach from a traditional or mainstream ap-
proach, therefore, is not the phenomenon of interest but the testing of limita-
tions to knowledge by examining whether that knowledge is applicable to
people of different cultural backgrounds. The approach, not the topic, is what
is important in cross-cultural psychology.
In the past few years, cross-cultural research in psychology has gained
newfound popularity. Much of this popularity is due to the current focus on
cultural diversity and intergroup relations and the increasing diversity of the
U.S. population. Increasing problems and tensions in intercultural relations
and a growing recognition of the limitations of the psychological literature have
also enhanced awareness of the need for a cross-cultural approach. Interest in
cross-cultural research is certain to increase, especially with events such as the
terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.
In a much larger sense, an increased interest in cross-cultural psychology is
a normal and healthy development, questioning the nature of the truths and
principles amassed to date and searching for ways to provide an even more ac-
curate picture of human behavior across people of different cultural back-
grounds. As psychology has matured and such questions have been raised,
many scientists and writers have come to recognize that much (but not all) of
the research and the literature once thought to be universal for all people is
indeed culture-bound. The increasing importance and recognition of cross-
cultural approaches in the social sciences, and in psychology in particular, are
reactions to this realization. Cross-cultural research and scholarship have had
a profound impact on our understanding of truths and principles about human
behavior.

Defining Culture
It is fashionable today in mainstream psychology to talk about culture. Unfor-
tunately, many psychologists and laypersons alike use the words culture, race,
nationality, and ethnicity interchangeably, as if they were all the same terms
denoting the same concepts. Do these terms all refer to the same concept? Al-
though there is clearly some overlap among them, there are also important dif-
ferences among them. Recognition of these differences is important for a
clearer understanding of cross-cultural research and its impact on psychologi-
cal knowledge.
6 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

6 ■ Chapter 1

We will examine first how the term culture is used in everyday language and
assess the breadth of life it refers to. After examining some previous definitions
of culture, we will then discuss a definition of culture for this book. We will
contrast this definition of culture with race, ethnicity, and nationality, and sug-
gest that culture is what makes these terms important, especially in relation to
understanding psychological similarities and differences among these social
constructs. We will also suggest that the constructs of gender, sexual orienta-
tion, and disability can be understood in terms of culture as it is defined here.
Later in the chapter, we will discuss how culture influences human behavior,
and the contribution of culture to the field of psychology and to our own lives
as well.

The Use of the Term Culture in Everyday Language

Common usages of the word culture. We use the word culture in many dif-
ferent ways in everyday language and discourse. Sometimes we use the word
culture to mean race, nationality, or ethnicity. For example, we often refer to
people of African American ancestry as coming from African American cul-
ture, or Chinese people as coming from Chinese culture. But we also use the
word culture to reflect trends in music and art, food and clothing, rituals, tradi-
tions, and heritage. In short, we use the word culture to refer to many different
things about people—physical and biological characteristics, behaviors, music,
dance, and other activities. Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) and later Berry,
Poortinga, Segall, and Dasen (1992) have described six general categories in
which culture is discussed:
■ Descriptive uses highlight the different types of activities or behaviors asso-
ciated with a culture.
■ Historical definitions refer to the heritage and tradition associated with a
group of people.
■ Normative uses describe the rules and norms that are associated with a
culture.
■ Psychological descriptions emphasize learning, problem solving, and other
behavioral approaches associated with culture.
■ Structural definitions emphasize the societal or organizational elements of
a culture.
■ Genetic descriptions refer to the origins of a culture.
We use the concept and term culture to describe and explain a broad range
of activities, behaviors, events, and structures in our lives. In the United States,
we speak of cultural diversity, cultural pluralities, and multiculturalism in
many areas of life, including school and the workplace.
It is also important to recognize, however, that the word culture may have
different meanings or emphases in other cultures. If you refer to culture in Ja-
pan, for instance, a Japanese person may think first of flower arranging or a tea
ceremony rather than the aspects of culture we normally associate with the
word. Likewise, while learning about culture in this book, it is important to re-
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 7

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 7

member that this view of culture is only one view and other cultures may have
other views. We should not forget that our studies of culture and the ways in
which we understand cultural influences on behavior conceptually (this book
included) all stem from a particular view of culture—one that is rooted in
American thinking and science.
Because we use culture to refer to so many different things about life, it is
no wonder that it generates so much confusion and ambiguity. We can get a
better understanding of the complex nature of culture if we look at all the as-
pects of life referred to by the word culture.

Aspects of life touched on by culture. The word culture is used in many

different ways because it touches on so many aspects of life. In an early work,
Murdock, Ford, and Hudson (1971) described 79 different aspects of life that
culture had something to do with. Barry (1980) rearranged this list into eight
broad categories, which were also reported by Berry et al. (1992):
■ General characteristics
■ Food and clothing
■ Housing and technology
■ Economy and transportation
■ Individual and family activities
■ Community and government
■ Welfare, religion, and science
■ Sex and the life cycle
Culture is a complex concept embedded in many aspects of life and living.
Some aspects involve material things, such as food and clothing. Some refer to
societal and structural entities, such as government organization and commu-
nity structure. Others refer to individual behaviors, to reproduction, or to or-
ganized activities, such as religion and science.
Culture, in its truest and broadest sense, cannot simply be swallowed in a
single gulp (Malpass, 1993)—not in this book, not in a university course, not
in any training program. Although we will attempt to bring you closer to a bet-
ter understanding of what culture is and how it influences our lives, we must
begin by recognizing and admitting the breadth, scope, and enormity of culture.
Culture cannot possibly be contained within the pages of a book or the confines
of a university semester or quarter. Culture, in all its richness and complexity,
is huge.

Culture as an abstraction. Culture itself cannot be seen, felt, heard, or

tasted. What is concrete and observable to us is not culture per se but differ-
ences in human behavior—actions, thoughts, rituals, traditions, and the like.
We see the manifestations of culture, but we never see culture itself.
For example, in American culture we learn to shake hands when we greet
others, and handshaking has become ritualistic and automatic for many of us.
People of other cultures have different ways of greeting others. People of some
cultures, for instance, greet each other with a slight bow of the head. Some
8 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

8 ■ Chapter 1

cultures encourage this bow with hands together in front as in prayer. Some cul-
tures encourage a bow from the waist with the face lowered out of sight. Some
cultures engage only in an eyebrow flash. We can witness these actions and
many other behavioral manifestations of culture, and we infer that a cultural
difference underlies these various behaviors—that the behaviors are different
because the culture is different.
Culture is used as an explanatory concept to describe the reason we see dif-
ferences in behaviors such as greetings. In this sense, culture is an abstract, ex-
planatory concept. We invoke the concept of culture to describe similarities
among individuals within a group and differences between groups. We use the
concept of culture as an explanatory construct to help us understand and cat-
egorize those within-group similarities and between-group differences. It is a
theoretical or conceptual entity that helps us understand why we do the things
we do and explains the differences in the behaviors of different groups of
people. As an abstract concept, culture is a label.

The cyclical and dynamic nature of culture. But like many labels, culture
has a life of its own. Just as similarities within groups and differences between
groups give rise to culture as an abstract concept, that abstract concept feeds
back on those behaviors, reinforcing our understanding of those similarities
and differences. Culture helps to reinforce, promulgate, and strengthen the be-
havioral similarities and differences that produced it in the first place, produc-
ing a cycle of reciprocity between actual behaviors and our theoretical under-
standing of them as culture (see Figure 1.1).
This reciprocal relationship helps to explain why we are taught to do
many things simply because “that is the way they have always been done and
it is how they should be done.” Learning to eat a certain way, with a certain
etiquette, with certain foods, with certain utensils or with one’s fingers, in a
certain order, simply because “that’s the way things are done” is just one of
many examples of how the abstract concept of culture drives behaviors. En-
gaging in those behaviors further reinforces these aspects of culture. It is in
this fashion that culture and the actual behaviors culture describes share a
close, intimate relationship. And changing behaviors will be associated with a
change in culture.
Differences in behaviors between younger and older generations surely sig-
nal differences in the underlying culture of these two groups and contribute to
what we call the “generation gap.” There is always some degree of discrepancy
between behaviors mandated by culture and the abstract concept of culture.
There is never a one-to-one correspondence across people in the behaviors
mandated by an underlying culture and the actual behaviors that occur. In-
stead, there will always be some degree of discrepancy, however small, between
behaviors and culture, despite their close and intimate relationship. Thus, there
is always a dynamic tension in this relationship. In this sense, even as an ab-
stract concept or principle, culture is never a static entity. It is always dynamic
and changing, existing within a tensive relationship with the actual behaviors
it is supposed to explain and predict. The degree of tension between culture as
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 9

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 9

Figure 1.1 Cycle of reciprocity: Observing, labeling, feedback, and reinforcing. When something is
labeled culture, it becomes culture; then the culture reinforces the label.

The label feeds back on objective

and subjective aspects of culture.

We use the word culture as

a label for our observations. “culture”
Subjective Aspects
behaviors
beliefs
attitudes
values
We observe similarities etc.
within groups and
differences between
groups.

Objective Aspects
food
clothing
tools
etc.

Aspects of culture reinforce

the concept of culture.

an underlying construct and the behaviors that it mandates may be an impor-

tant aspect of culture itself. Some cultures may be characterized by a high de-
gree of tension, whereas others may be characterized by relatively less tension.
This difference in the degree of tension is most likely related to Pelto’s (1968)
distinction of tight versus loose societies.

Previous Definitions of Culture

Over the past 100 years or so, many scholars have made explicit their and the
field’s definitions of culture. There are probably as many definitions of culture
as there are theorists and students of culture. Although these definitions share
many similarities, they sometimes exhibit important differences as well. Well
over 100 years ago, for example, Tylor (1865) defined culture as all capabilities
and habits learned as members of a society. Linton (1936) referred to culture as
social heredity. Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) defined culture as patterns of
and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinct
10 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

10 ■ Chapter 1

achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts

(p. 181). Rohner (1984) defined culture as the totality of equivalent and comple-
mentary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifi-
able segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next
(pp. 119–120). Triandis (1972) contrasted objective aspects of culture, such as
tools, with subjective aspects, such as words, shared beliefs, attitudes, norms,
roles, and values. This distinction is also related to Kroeber and Kluckholn’s
(1952) concept of explicit and implicit culture. Jahoda (1984) argued that cul-
ture is a descriptive term that captures not only rules and meanings but also be-
haviors. Some theorists have defined culture in terms of personality (Pelto &
Pelto, 1975; Schwartz, 1978) and others as shared symbol systems transcending
individuals (Geertz, 1973). Berry et al. (1992) define culture simply as the
shared way of life of a group of people (p. 1).
More than a decade ago, Soudijn, Hutschemaekers, and Van de Vijver
(1990) analyzed 128 definitions of culture in order to identify common dimen-
sions among them. Their analysis revealed five semantic dimensions within
which the definitions could be placed. These researchers argued, however, that
instead of integrating all five dimensions into a single, cohesive definition of
culture, students of culture should be free to emphasize specific dimensions to
highlight particular concerns they may have about human behavior.

A Definition of Culture for This Book

Given the enormity of culture, the approach we have taken in researching the
literature, conducting our own research programs involving cross-cultural is-
sues, and writing this book is to adopt a definition of culture that is most ger-
mane and relevant for understanding the influence of culture on individuals at
different levels of analysis. Even with these parameters, culture is a rather dif-
ficult concept to define formally. We define culture as a dynamic system of
rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups in order to ensure their sur-
vival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors, shared by a
group but harbored differently by each specific unit within the group, commu-
nicated across generations, relatively stable but with the potential to change
across time. Let’s examine some of the key components of this definition.

Dynamic. Culture describes average, mainstream tendencies. It cannot de-

scribe all behaviors of all people in any culture. There will always be some de-
gree of discrepancy, however small, between behaviors and culture. This dis-
crepancy creates a dynamic tension as mentioned earlier. In this sense, culture
is not static. It is always dynamic and changing, existing within a tensive rela-
tionship with the actual behaviors it is supposed to explain and predict. This
degree of tension may be an important aspect of culture itself. Some cultures
may be characterized by a high degree of tension, whereas others may be char-
acterized by relatively less.

System of rules. Culture does not refer to any single behavior, rule, attitude,
or value. It refers to the entire system of these constructs. In this sense, culture
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 11

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 11

is like a syndrome (Triandis, 1994), involving a constellation of separate but

interrelated psychological components. We prefer the metaphor of a system
rather than a syndrome, however. Syndrome implies a core element with mani-
festations emanating from it, not unlike a disease pathogen with symptomatol-
ogy, whereas system focuses on the functional, working relationship among the
various components.

Groups and units. Culture exists on multiple levels—across individuals

within groups, and across groups within a larger group (such as a business cor-
poration). This definition of culture is applicable at multiple levels of analysis.
When applied to a group of individuals, the units are specific individuals
within the group. This is probably the most common usage. But other levels of
analyses are also possible. For example, a large corporation often comprises
multiple departments or sections. The company as a whole will have a system
of rules—both official company policy (explicit) and the unofficial way things
are done (implicit)—that constitutes that company’s organizational culture. In
this context, the group may be the company as a whole and the units the vari-
ous sections or departments within it.

To ensure their survival. The system of rules that comprise culture exists es-
sentially to ensure survival of the group. These rules also allow for units within
the group to coexist with one another, providing a framework for social order
instead of the potential chaos of a free-for-all. In many senses, culture is hu-
mans’ way of capturing, controlling, and avoiding chaos. The rules also allow
for groups and units to balance the needs of the group’s survival with the de-
sires, wishes, and needs of the unit, taking into account the larger social con-
text and the resources at hand. This concept is related to Poortinga’s (1990)
definition involving constraints on behavior.

Attitudes, values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors. This definition of culture

focuses on ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs—the contents of the mind of each
and every individual who lives in that culture. Not only do these aspects of cul-
ture exist in people’s minds, but they also exist as a social consciousness above
and beyond individuals. The behaviors that are shared are indeed observable
and are often seen in rituals or common, automatic behavior patterns that arise
because of shared cultural values and behavioral norms. These elements collec-
tively constitute the subjective aspects of culture (Triandis, 1972), as opposed
to the objective, tangible aspects. Without seeking to diminish the importance
of the objective elements of culture, we deem the subjective elements more im-
portant for our understanding of cultural influences on behavior.

Harbored differently by each specific unit. Individuals harbor their cul-

ture’s values, beliefs, behaviors, and the like, to differing degrees. That is, there
are individual differences in adherence or conformity to culture. The recogni-
tion of individual differences in culture forms one of the bases for understand-
ing the limitations of stereotypes, and is also related to Pelto’s (1968) classifi-
cation of tight versus loose societies.
12 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

12 ■ Chapter 1

Communicated across generations, relatively stable. Fads that come and

go, even though they have a life of their own and are shared by many people at
any one time, are not necessarily considered culture in the sense used here. In-
stead, culture is that system of rules that is durable, relatively stable over time,
and hence especially important in helping units within the group. Core aspects
of the system of rules are transmitted across generations.

But with the potential to change across time. Despite the relative stabil-
ity of culture, it is never static. Culture is a dynamic entity, always in a tensive
relationship with the behaviors, attitudes, values, beliefs, and norms it is sup-
posed to describe. Units change over time, and because culture exists in a recip-
rocal relationship with its components, the tension allows for the possibility
that culture itself may change over time. Change is inevitable when the system
described by culture no longer accurately describes the mainstream average
tendency of the group. We have been witness to drastic cultural changes over
the past 30 years in the American culture, as well as in other cultures (such as
in Japan; see Matsumoto, 2002).

This definition of culture is similar to many previous definitions, especially

with regard to the sharing of psychological attributes and characteristics and
the communication of cultural elements across generations. It differs from pre-
vious definitions primarily in its broader concept of units within groups—not
only groups of individuals but also groups of groups. Thus, it enables us to un-
derstand culture in social structures and societies with multiple levels, such as
individuals within a family, families within communities, communities in re-
gions, and regions in countries; or individuals within a section, sections within
departments, departments within organizations, and organizations within an
international community. Culture can be described at all of these levels of
analysis, referring to individuals, groups, and social structures.
This definition of culture is “fuzzy,” in that it provides no hard-and-fast
rules to determine what a culture is or who belongs to that culture. Culture is
a sociopsychological construct, a sharing across people of psychological phe-
nomena such as values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. What defines mem-
bers of the same culture is whether they share these psychological phenomena.
What distinguishes members of one culture from another is the absence of
these shared phenomena.

Factors That Influence Culture

Cultures help to ensure the survival of groups and individuals by balancing the
needs of the individuals and groups with the resources available to meet those
needs. This is generally true whether we are talking about primitive cultures
with few resources and limited technology or the modern, urban societies that
exist in many countries of the world today. Given the necessity to survive,
cultures help to select behaviors, attitudes, values, and opinions that may opti-
mize the tapping of resources to meet survival needs. Thus, as suggested by
Poortinga (1990), out of all the myriad behaviors possible in the human reper-
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 13

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 13

toire, cultures help to focus people’s behaviors and attention on a few limited
alternatives in order to maximize their effectiveness, given their resources and
their environment.
Several factors affect this balancing act, and all of them influence culture in
some way. For example, the environment in which the culture exists will influ-
ence the nature of that culture. A land void of natural resources may encourage
teamwork and community spirit among its members and interrelationships
with other groups that have abundant resources in order to survive. These needs
and relationships will foster certain psychological characteristics and attributes
that complement teamwork, community spirit, and interdependence. In a land
with abundant resources, however, a society would have less need for such val-
ues and attitudes, and they would be less important in its culture.
Population density also affects culture. Societies with higher population
densities may require greater social order in order to function effectively. These
societies may encourage hierarchy and groupism, with related psychological at-
tributes, more than societies with relatively less population density.
Affluence is associated with culture. It has been shown to be related not
only to a cultural dimension known as individualism (Hofstede, 1980, 1983)
but also to national characteristics in emotionality (Wallbott & Scherer, 1988).
As societies become more affluent, they are more able to obtain resources with
less reliance on others, fostering these types of psychological characteristics.
Technology affects culture. Communication technology (such as cellular
phones and electronic mail), for instance, brings with it its own brand of com-
munication culture, in which rules regarding interactions and interpersonal en-
gagement change rather rapidly. The widespread use of computers has brought
with it the ability to work independently, loosening the reliance on others to get
work accomplished and the need to interact with coworkers. These types of
changes have the potential to bring about changes in psychological functioning
and behavior, which, in turn, lead to changes in culture.
Climate is yet another factor that affects culture. Groups that live near the
equator, in hot, humid, tropical areas, will exhibit a lifestyle that is very differ-
ent from that of groups living in temperate or arctic zones, with seasonal
changes and weather extremes. Differences in climate will affect the clothes
people wear, the types of foods they eat, storage and container systems for food
supplies, health (infectious and parasitic diseases tend to be more frequent in
hotter climates), and many other facets of living. People in hotter climates tend
to organize their daily activities more around shelter, shade, and temperature
changes that occur during the day. People who live nearer the poles may orga-
nize their lives around available sunlight. All of these factors are likely to influ-
ence people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and hence their culture.

An Individual as Well as a Social Construct

We often speak of the culture of a group as if it were a single, unitary concept
equally applicable to all members of the group. When we speak of Middle East-
ern culture, for instance, we tend to assume that all people with roots in the
14 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

14 ■ Chapter 1

Middle East are relatively homogeneous with regard to some psychological

trait, characteristic, or behavior. This assumption is also prevalent in cross-
cultural research. When a study compares people from the United States, Bra-
zil, and Puerto Rico, the implicit assumption is that individuals within the
groups are relatively homogeneous. At some level, culture is relevant for all
members of the group that comprise that culture. But the definition of culture
adopted in this book suggests something more than a single, unitary concept
that is inflexible across individuals. The definition of culture used here sug-
gests that culture is as much an individual, psychological construct as it is a
social construct. To some extent, culture exists in each and every one of us in-
dividually as much as it exists as a global, social construct. Individual differ-
ences in culture can be observed among people in the degree to which they
adopt and engage in the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors that, by con-
sensus, constitute their culture. If you act in accordance with those shared val-
ues or behaviors, then that culture resides in you; if you do not share those
values or behaviors, then you do not share that culture.
While the norms of any culture should be relevant to all the people within
that culture, it is also true that those norms will be relevant to different degrees
for different people. It is this interesting blend of culture in anthropology and
sociology as a macroconcept and in psychology as an individual construct that
makes understanding culture difficult but fascinating.

Culture versus Personality

That there can be individual differences within a culture raises questions about
the difference between culture and personality. If culture exists as a psychologi-
cal phenomenon and if different people harbor it to different degrees, then
aren’t we really talking about personality and not culture? The fact that we
have defined culture as a sociopsychological phenomenon does indeed blur the
distinction between culture and personality. Many personality traits are socio-
psychological in nature. Treating culture as an abstract phenomenon, not based
on physical characteristics or national citizenship, contributes to this ambigu-
ity, as does the notion that culture can be different for different people.
Many attributes shared across members of a cultural group are psychologi-
cal in nature and are common referents in discussions of personality as well.
But there are important distinctions between this definition of culture and
what is traditionally considered personality. First, culture is a conglomeration
of attributes that are shared with other members of a cultural group. Although
there may be individual differences in the degree to which members of a cul-
tural group harbor those attributes, most members of the group do share the at-
tribute. This is not necessarily true for personality traits, which by definition
refer to individual differences in traits across people and not to differences in
the degree to which an attribute is shared.
A second important aspect of culture is stability, which is defined by cross-
generational education and transmission of cultural values and behaviors. Par-
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 15

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 15

ents, extended families, and peers serve as human socialization and encul-
turation agents across generations, ensuring that rituals, customs, beliefs, and
norms are communicated to younger generations in much the same way as
they were learned before. Schools, businesses, government agencies, laws, and
the like serve as institutional agents in enculturation and fill the same role to-
ward similar outcomes as do human agents. Consequently there is a great deal
of consistency in culture over time (despite the ever-present tension between
culture and behavior). Such continuity is not necessarily true for personality
traits. Personality is usually discussed in terms of traits or attributes of indi-
vidual people within their own lifetimes.
A final distinction between culture and personality revolves around the
idea of culture as a macroconcept, a social phenomenon. Not only does culture
exist in each and every individual, but it also exists as a social phenomenon, a
label depicting the programmed patterns of life we have learned and become ac-
customed to. As a social label, culture has a life of its own, reinforcing the be-
haviors it influences. These behaviors then feed back onto the social label of
culture, so that the label is reinforced as well. Culture thus has a cyclical nature
between its properties as a social label and the individual behaviors of its mem-
bers. Concepts of personality do not share commonality with social labeling,
nor with the cyclical nature of a social label (although it can be said that a per-
sonality label can cycle with individual behaviors).

Culture versus Popular Culture

From time to time, it is fashionable to refer to fads that come and go as “cul-
ture.” This is also referred to as “popular culture” by the mass media and in ev-
eryday conversation. Popular culture generally refers to trends in music, art,
and other expressions that become popular among a group of people.
Certainly popular culture and culture as we have defined it share some simi-
larities—perhaps most important, the sharing of an expression and its value by
a group of people. But there are also important differences. For one, popular cul-
ture does not necessarily involve sharing a wide range of psychological at-
tributes across various psychological domains. Culture as defined in this chap-
ter involves a system of rules that cuts across attitudes, values, opinions, beliefs,
norms, and behaviors. Popular culture may involve sharing in the value of a cer-
tain type of expression, but does not necessarily involve a way of life.
A second important difference concerns cultural transmission across gen-
erations. Popular culture refers to values or expressions that come and go as
fads or trends within a few years. Culture is relatively stable over time and even
across generations (despite its dynamic quality and potential for change).
Thus, although culture and popular culture have some similarities, there
are important differences as well. The cross-cultural literature in psychology
and the culture described in this book is the culture defined in this chapter, not
popular culture (although the psychology of popular culture is a topic well de-
serving of consideration).
16 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

16 ■ Chapter 1

Culture and Diversity

Given our functional definition of culture—one that is based on the function-
ing of psychological processes, rather than on social categories or constructs—
we believe that many categories and descriptions of people can be considered
as cultural groups. These categories include some that are typically associated
with culture, such as race, ethnicity, and nationality, but they also include oth-
ers not usually associated with culture, such as gender, sexual orientation, and
disability. Not only are people who belong to these groups similar in terms of
the defining characteristic, such as their nationality or sex, they also share
something else—a culture—and their underlying culture is one of the most
important features of these individuals. Their culture makes them unique and
diverse, especially in relation to their psychology.

Culture and Race

Race is not culture, although many people use the terms interchangeably. Two
people of the same race may be very similar or very different in their cultural
dispositions and in their actual behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. People of the
same racial heritage may share the same socialization processes and thus be
enculturated in similar ways. But it is also true that there need not be a one-to-
one correspondence between race and culture. Just because you are born with
certain physical or biological characteristics defined as “race” does not neces-
sarily mean you adopt the culture that is stereotypic of that race. Culture is
learned behavior; race is not.
In fact, although we use the term race as if we all know what we are talk-
ing about, there is actually considerable controversy surrounding it. Many con-
temporary scholars suggest that there are three major races—Caucasoid,
Mongoloid, and Negroid—but past studies of the origins of race have proposed
as many as 37 different races (Yee, Fairchild, Weizmann, & Wyatt, 1993). Al-
though laypersons typically use skin color, hair, and other physical character-
istics to define race, most physical anthropologists use population gene frequen-
cies. Regardless of which biological or physical characteristics one uses to
define race, the very concept of race is much less clear-cut than previously be-
lieved (Lewontin, Rose, & Kamin, 1984). Some authors have suggested that the
distinctions among races are arbitrary and dubious at best (Zuckerman, 1990).
Even studies of genetic systems, including blood groups, serum proteins,
and enzymes, have shown considerably more within-group than between-
group variation, suggesting that racially defined groups are actually more simi-
lar than different. There is also controversy about the origins of race. Prevalent
theories posit a common ancestor originating in Africa 200,000 years ago,
whose descendants then migrated to other parts of the world. Evidence for
these theories comes from physical anthropology and archaeology. Other theo-
ries and apparently conflicting sets of evidence, however, suggest that humans
may have existed in multiple regions of the world as far back as 2,000,000 years
ago and that intermixing among regions occurred (Wolpoff & Caspari, 1997).
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 17

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 17

Many psychologists today agree that race is more of a social construction

than a biological essential. Hirschfield (1996) suggests that people have a natu-
ral propensity to create categories, especially those dealing with human char-
acteristics. Because easily identifiable physical characteristics are often used in
this category-formation process, “race” becomes central to these folk theories
and thus gains cognitive and social meaning and importance.
Race as a social construction raises a number of other problems. Category
boundaries among the socially constructed races are ambiguous and vary with
social context (Davis, 1991; Eberhardt & Randall, 1997; Omi & Winant, 1994).
And people of different societies and cultures differ in their definitions of race.
In some cultures, race is a continuum along a dimensional scale, not a categori-
cal or nominal entity (Davis, 1991). Many Brazilians believe that race is not
heritable and varies according to economic or geographic mobility (Degler,
1971, reported in Eberhardt & Randall, 1997). In some countries, socioeco-
nomic mobility is associated with changes in perceptions of physical properties
such as skin color and hair texture (Eberhardt & Randall, 1997).
The study of psychological differences between races is of little scientific or
practical use without a clear understanding of the underlying causes of the simi-
larities and differences observed (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Zuckerman, 1990).
These causes will necessarily involve culture, as defined in this book, because
culture as a functional psychological phenomenon determines what is psycho-
logically meaningful and important for different races. Culture is what gives race
its meaning, and it is culture that psychologists should be concerned with.

Culture and Ethnicity

Ethnicity is another term used interchangeably with race and culture. It is most
widely used to describe different groups of peoples in the United States and ap-
pears to include concepts of both race and culture. Examples of categories typi-
cally referred to as ethnic groups include African Americans, Asians and Pacific
Islanders, Latinos, and Native Americans. Thus, ethnicity is generally used in
reference to groups characterized by a common nationality, geographic origin,
culture, or language (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993). The concept of ethnicity is
derived from the Greek word ethnos, meaning people of a nation or tribe.
Psychologists usually use ethnicity as a category to describe differences
among people—reporting, for example, ethnic differences in learning styles,
emotion, or parenting. When ethnicity is used only as a category, however, the
outcome can be more destructive than constructive. Although information
about ethnic differences on a broad range of psychological phenomena can be
useful, such information by itself does not explain the nature of the relationship
between ethnicity and psychology. Exactly what variables related to ethnicity
account for psychological differences among individuals and groups of individu-
als? The use of ethnicity (or race, for that matter) as a categorical descriptor
does little to address this important concern. Put simply, just knowing the
ethnicity (or race, or nationality) of a person does little to explain psychological
outcomes in cognition, emotion, motivation, or health (Phinney, 1996).
18 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

18 ■ Chapter 1

Given the limitations of ethnicity as a category descriptor, it is incumbent on

psychologists to go beyond the mere use of ethnic labels to explain individual
and group differences in psychology. Phinney (1996) has outlined three key as-
pects of ethnicity that deserve further attention: cultural norms and values; the
strength, salience, and meaning of ethnic identity; and attitudes associated with
minority status. We agree with the emphasis on culture as an underlying deter-
minant of psychological functioning. Culture makes ethnic group differences
meaningful, and psychologists should focus on it, as well as the other two as-
pects outlined by Phinney (1996), in understanding and describing ethnicity.

Culture and Nationality

Nationality refers to a person’s country of origin and is yet another grouping
variable that is often used interchangeably with culture. It is not uncommon,
for example, for people to speak of French culture, German culture, Chinese
culture, and even American culture. That is, in our language, we often equate
nationality with culture.
Nowhere is this clearer than in cross-cultural research. In many cross-
cultural studies, researchers obtain data from samples in different countries.
When they find differences between the samples, they interpret the differences
as a function of culture, not country. That is, researchers often assume that
culture underlies country.
It may not be a bad assumption to make. Certainly different countries and
nationalities are associated with different cultures as we understand them.
And this method of understanding culture and doing research has had its place
in the history of cross-cultural psychology.
But such practices are not without their share of problems. Nationality per
se is not culture. Just because a person is from France does not necessarily
mean that he or she will act in accordance with what we would consider the
dominant French culture or with our stereotypes of French people. Just as cul-
ture does not necessarily conform to race or racial stereotypes, culture does not
necessarily conform to nationality or citizenship. One’s passport does not nec-
essarily determine one’s cultural values.
Equating nationality with culture is also problematic in that it ignores the
possibility of multiple and equally important cultures coexisting within a na-
tion. To assume that everyone from the United States harbors the values, atti-
tudes, and opinions of the “dominant” American culture would be to ignore
the multiple cultures that exist within this country. Such multiculturalism
probably exists in many countries.
Again, as with race and ethnicity, what is important about nationality in re-
lation to psychology is not citizenship per se, but the underlying cultural atti-
tudes and values that affect individual and group psychology. It is incumbent
on psychologists to go beyond describing national differences and calling them
culture to examine what aspects of functional psychological culture contribute
to national differences in various areas of psychological functioning.
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 19

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 19

Culture and Gender

Psychologists draw important distinctions between the terms sex and gender.
Sex refers to the biological and physiological differences between men and
women, the most obvious being the anatomical differences in their reproduc-
tive systems. Accordingly, the term sex roles is used to describe the behaviors
and patterns of activities men and women may engage in that are directly re-
lated to their biological differences and the process of reproduction (such as
breastfeeding). In contrast, gender refers to the behaviors or patterns of activi-
ties that a society or culture deems appropriate for men and women. These be-
havior patterns may or may not be related to sex and sex roles, although they
oftentimes are. Gender role refers to the degree to which a person adopts the
gender-specific and appropriate behaviors ascribed by his or her culture.
Describing and understanding psychological gender differences requires us
to go beyond the biological, anatomical, or physiological differences between
men and women. Gender differences arise because of differences in the psycho-
logical cultures transmitted to men and women. Gender differences are thus
cultural differences, and men and women can be said to belong to different cul-
tures. Of course, they may also belong to a larger culture (such as a national
culture), and their gender cultures may coexist within the larger culture. This
is yet another example of how culture can be understood on multiple levels of
analysis, as the definition of culture presented earlier in the chapter suggests.

Culture and Disability

Persons with disabilities differ from those without in that they share some type
of physical impairment in their senses, limbs, or other parts of their bodies. Al-
though the lay public has generally viewed the main distinction of persons with
disabilities as the physical impairments they have, a growing body of work in
psychology has found important sociopsychological characteristics of disability
as well (for example, E. C. Clymer, 1995; Hughes & Paterson, 1997; Marks,
1997). Persons with disabilities share the same feelings, ways of thinking, and
motivations as everyone else. Beyond that, however, they also share some
unique ways of thinking and feeling that may be specific to the fact of their im-
pairment. To the extent that they share certain unique psychological attitudes,
opinions, beliefs, behaviors, norms, and values, they share a unique culture.
In recent years, a number of authors have begun to describe the culture of
disability (for example, Rose, 1995; Slee & Cook, 1994). These works high-
light the unique psychological and sociocultural characteristics of this group
of people, refocusing our attention on a broader picture of the person in un-
derstanding the psychological characteristics of persons with disabilities. Seen
in this light, psychological studies involving participants with disabilities can
be viewed as yet another example of cross-cultural studies, as they involve
comparisons not only of the presence or absence of impairment, but of more
important conditions of culture.
20 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology

20 ■ Chapter 1

Culture and Sexual Orientation

People form different sexual relationships with others, and the persons with
whom they form such relationships constitute a major aspect of their sexual
orientation. We often view these relationships as the sole or major defining
characteristic of a person’s sexual orientation. Yet one of the most important
aspects of any sexual orientation—whether straight or gay, mono or bi—is the
particular psychological outlook and characteristics that are shared by and
unique to each orientation.
These distinctive psychological characteristics may indeed be cultural. Un-
derstanding shared psychological attributes among people sharing the same
sexual orientation as cultural (for example, gay culture) has become not only
fashionable in recent years but well accepted in psychology (Abramson &
Pinkerton, 1995; Suggs & Miracle, 1993).
The common thread in this section is that people are often grouped on the
basis of shared characteristics that are oftentimes visible or otherwise easily
identifiable (race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, disability, or sexual orientation).
While there may or may not be objective bases underlying these classifications
or groupings, we cannot forget that they are important social constructs and cat-
egories. We use these groupings as mental categories, as Hirschfield (1996) has
suggested with race. Problems occur, however, when we consider these mental
categories as endpoints in and of themselves, instead of as gatekeepers to impor-
tant sociopsychological—that is, cultural—differences (and similarities) among
the categories. Thus, it is crucial to recognize that one of the most important fea-
tures of each of these social categories is its underlying culture—that unique set
of shared attributes that influences its members’ psychologies.
Is culture the only important underlying feature of these social groupings?
Of course not. There may be a host of other factors, personal and social, psy-
chological and biological, innate and environmental, that affects the psycholo-
gies and behaviors of these, and all, individuals. Culture is not the only factor,
although it is probably a very important one, in understanding individuals. The
interaction between culture and social categories—such as race, nationality,
disability, or sexual orientation—is a challenge for future research to uncover.
For now, it is important to recognize that culture is one of the most important
factors that gives each of these social categories its unique psychological mean-
ing, and it is culture that many psychologists should be concerned with.

Pancultural Principles versus Culture-Specific

Differences: Etics and Emics
One way of conceptualizing principles in cross-cultural studies is by using the
concepts of etics and emics. Etics refer to those aspects of life that appear to be
consistent across different cultures; that is, etics refer to universal or pan-
cultural truths or principles. Emics refer to those aspects of life that appear to
 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 21

An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 21

differ across cultures; emics, therefore, refer to truths or principles that are
culture-specific. These terms originated in the study of language (Pike, 1954),
with phonetics referring to aspects of language and verbal behaviors that are
common across cultures, and phonemes referring to aspects of language that
are specific to a particular culture and language. Berry (1969) was one of the
first to use these linguistic concepts to describe universal versus culturally rela-
tive aspects of behavior.
The concepts of etics and emics are powerful because of their implications
for what we may know as truth. If we know something about human behavior
that we regard as a truth and it is an etic, then it is true for all regardless of cul-
ture. However, if that something we know about human behavior is an emic,
then what we regard as truth is not necessarily what someone from another
culture regards as truth. In this sense, truth may be relative, not absolute. This
definition of truth should force us all to reconsider what we believe to be true.

How Does Culture Influence Human

Behaviors and Mental Processes?
How can we understand the influence of culture on human behaviors and
mental processes? Clearly, with the distinctions we have drawn here, cultures
are learned phenomena. Newborns have no culture (although they may very
well have biological and temperamental dispositions to learning certain cultural
tendencies; see Chapters 5 and 6). As children grow older, they learn specific
behaviors and patterns of activities appropriate and inappropriate for their cul-
ture, and they either adopt or reject those cultural values and mores.
Berry and his colleagues (1992) have suggested that the model presented in
Figure 1.2 describes how cultural practices can affect psychology. In this model,
three factors—the ecological environment, the sociopolitical context, and biol-
ogy—all affect cultural practices. These cultural practices, in turn, influence
psychological characteristics and traits. As Berry and colleagues point out, cul-
ture is not the only factor influencing psychology; biology and the sociopolitical
context influence individual psychologies as well. We would suggest that a host
of other factors also influence psychology, including familial and community
characteristics, cultural identity, affluence, and the like.
An important point to remember is that the factors involved in understand-
ing culture and psychology, as outlined in Figure 1.2, are not static or unidi-
mensional. The entire system is dynamic and interrelated; it feeds back on and
reinforces itself. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, there is a continual ten-
sion between individual behaviors within any culture and the cultural labels
that are used to describe them. Cultural changes occur when the cultural labels
no longer describe a majority of the individuals within that culture; thus, psy-
chological characteristics influence culture as well. As a result, the system is
not linear with influences going in a single direction; it acquires a life of its
own. And the glue we know as culture reinforces this system.
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555 descendentibus
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