Social Psychology Around The World

This long-awaited new textbook will be of enormous value to students and teachers in cross-cultural and social psychology. The key strength of Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures: Living and Working in a Changing World is how it illustrates the ways in which culture shapes psychological process across a wide range of social contexts. It also effectively examines the strengths and limitations of the key theories, methods and instruments used in cross-cultural research.

This book provides a one-volume overview of psychology’s globalization, and will serve as a handbook for psychology professors around the globe wanting to internationalize and diversify their courses and curricula and seeking innovative ideas to enrich their teaching. Topics covered include practical tips to diversify specific courses, such as abnormal psychology, lifespan development, and psychotherapy, and innovative methods of assessment of student learning. Additionally, a number of chapters focus on describing the training of psychologists and the history and future of psychology education in various nations and regions. Co-edited by six distinguished, international academics, the thirty-three chapters represent each major geographic region around the world, with authors based in nations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Instructors of cross cultural, cultural, and international psychology and of multicultural education will be especially interested in the book, as will program evaluators, policy makers, and university administrators.

In this special issue we consider the development of social psychology in three developed-world countries/regions: Australia, Canada, and Europe and in three majority-world countries/regions: India, Taiwan, and Latin America. Each author examines how social psychology has uniquely evolved from an imported discipline just introduced to their country or region into a mature, autochthonous science regularly contributing to the world’s research literature. Whether arising from a focal indigenization process or simply adapting and shaping the discipline to address the special issues arising within each country, insights are revealed about the special form and process the discipline has taken within geographically diverse countries.

`This book is not an arcane tome restricted for use by specialists in cross-cultural psychology. It deals directly with what it sets out to do: How can social psychology both address and incorporate what is known about cultural constants and variations in human thought and behavior? In achieving this, the authors have delivered in spades. Their book is a must for social psychologists, whether in their roles as teachers or researchers. Importantly, it is also a valuable text for advancing students of social psychology and should be required reading for any who propose to undertake postgraduate psychological research' - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology `It is useful in informing interactions with those of similar or different cultures and in understanding how cultural misunderstanding can occur. For these reasons I believe it is worth reading and would recommend' - The Psychologist `This will be my favourite text for recommending to graduate students who want to know what cross-cultural psychology is about. I wished all of their professors had read it. For example, I never saw levels of analysis explained so clearly. I was comforted by the statement in the book that many studies in the published literature don't clearly state their level of analysis - so failing to understand those articles is not only my problem! The book is impressively comprehensive and broad, yet very readable, up-to-date and practically oriented. Every source cited has been read critically and put into context. A masterpiece' - Geert Hofstede `The authors of this gracefully-written text have a vision of their field that incorporates but far transcends the experimental social psychology familiar to Americans. Using concepts and data from a range of cultures, they address problems in developmental, personality, and applied psychology, with a particular emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and global change. Not since Roger Brown's classic has a text made social psychology so interesting!' - Robert R. McCrae `This book is one of the best available texts on cross-cultural psychology. It reviews a large amount of cross-cultural studies and covers a wide range of perspectives on culture.... It reveals what is unique to cross-cultural psychology and reminds us that culture is central to the advancement of psychology as a discipline' - Patricia M Rodriguez Mosquera, Brunel University `The concept for this book is excellent. As a global society we have many pressing problems. It is wonderful to see these leading cross-cultural psychologists make a highly sophisticated effort at applying the resources of social psychology to the needs of cultures throughout the world' - Jim Nelson, Valparaiso University, USA Illustrating ways in which culture shapes psychological processes across a wide range of social contexts, Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures examines the strengths and limitations of the key theories, methods and instruments used in cross-cultural research. The book contains a broad range of pedagogical devices including: further reading and discussion questions at the end of each chapter; chapters on culture-level studies, personality and developmental issues, and a glossary of key terms.

This volume serves as a handbook for psychology professors around the globe who aim to internationalize and diversify their courses and curricula, and who seek innovative ideas to enrich their teaching. The work provides an overview of psychology’s globalization, and offers a broad range of suggestions for psychology instructors aiming to internationalize their undergraduate and graduate courses. Topics covered here include practical tips to diversify specific courses, such as abnormal psychology, lifespan development, and psychotherapy, and innovative methods of assessment of student learning. Additionally, a number of chapters focus on describing the training of psychologists, and the history and future of psychology education in various nations and regions. Co-edited by five distinguished, international academics, the thirty-five chapters represent each major geographic region of the world, with authors based in nations in Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Instructors of cross cultural, cultural, and international psychology and of multicultural education will be especially interested in the book, as will program evaluators, policy makers, and university administrators.

"Individually and collectively, the pieces balance cross-cultural psychology′s interest in the large scale community with psychology′s traditional emphasis on small groups, interpersonal processes, and individual thought, feeling, and action. The chapters range in topic, in level of analysis, and in emphasis on theory and application, but they harmonize to map the field - identifying where it has been and how it might develop. The central theme is that culture and individual psychology are inseparable and that understanding both will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of human behavior than either perspective in isolation. The book delivers: It offers important insights on the commonalties, universality, and uniqueness of human behavior. The book is dedicated to Harry C. Triandis and is truly a tribute to his work." — John F. Dovidio, Department of Psychology, Colgate University "In this book, cross-cultural psychologists from around the world honor the discipline′s founding father, Harry C. Triandis. The book has become a perfect overview of the state of the art in cross-cultural psychology." — Geert Hofstede, Tilburg University, The Netherlands "The past 10 years or so have seen a sharp increase in the number of college and university courses throughout the world that focus on culture as a powerful force that shapes the thought and behavior of all humans. It would be most difficult to organize and teach one of these courses without mentioning Triandis′s influence numerous times. I am extremely pleased that this book has been added to the cross-cultural literature." — from the Foreword by Walter J. Lonner, Western Washington State University This book celebrates Harry Triandis′s overall contribution to culture and social psychology in general, and his most original and significant contribution to this area, the concept of subjective culture. In this volume, top cross-cultural researchers who are deeply familiar with Triandis′s work critically examine the concept of subjective culture from a number of perspectives and extend it in many new directions of basic and applied social psychology. The result is an up-to-date examination of various topics and areas of social psychology from the unique perspective of subjective culture. One significant feature of this book is an attempt at framing and situating the concept of subjective culture within the current theoretical discourse on culture and psychology. Social Psychology and Cultural Context is the first survey of social psychology to integrate cross-cultural issues. This book not only utilizes several variants of the construct of subjective culture but also reflects the current state of affairs in the social domain of cross-cultural psychology. Written by world-renowned specialists, the chapters reflect valuable insights to students and researchers in both cross-cultural and social psychology.

Shows how the validity of empirical findings can be extended, and draws from a wide range of theories and research reported by social psychologists in countries from around the world. Various processes are shown to occur differently in cultural groups which are more collective than individualistic.

Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures Second Edition starts by asking why social psychology needs a cross-cultural perspective. It then examines cultural differences and their origins, before addressing traditional social psychological themes cross-culturally, for example group processes, self and identity, intergroup relations. Themes of contemporary relevance including migration, ethnic conflict and climate change are also covered. Key features: Presentation of concepts and theories made accessible to the reader using practical examples and everyday life experiences from diverse parts of the world Biographical portraits of key researchers in the field Coverage of the appropriate methods for conducting state-of-the-art cross-cultural research This textbook is appropriate for students of social and cross-cultural psychology. It will also interest practitioners wanting to understand the impact of culture on their fields of work, such as international relations, social policy, health promotion, ethnic relations and international business.