Cross-Cultural Psychology

Cross-Cultural Psychology: Why Culture Matters addresses both established and very recentresearch in cultural and comparative cross-cultural psychology. The book is written by ProfessorKrum Krumov of Sofia University in Bulgaria and Professor Knud S. Larsen from Oregon StateUniversity. The authors are long-term colleagues with extensive research experience in cultural,cross-cultural and international settings.The book starts with a discussion of the tentative nature of cultural information given the forcesof globalization and communication integration. Weighing these issues still permits for somepowerful conclusions about differences that matter as well as human universals based on ourcommunalities. The reader is also provided with a through grounding in relevant researchapproaches and critical thinking that provides the basis for an evaluation of the research literature.Further, the book reports on what we know about the origin of culture, especially the forces ofcultural transmission and the evidence for socio-cultural evolution. The impact of culture and psychology on human development iscontrasted and evaluated. A chapter on language stresses the importance of evolutionary forces and the relationship to socio-culture. Inturn that discussion sets the stage for reporting the relevant research on cognition that yields information on the impact of genetics, butalso the affect of cultural evolution.A distinct contribution is the evaluation of human happiness and emotions. The book demonstrates tangible relationships to both theuniversal expressions of emotions, but also the impact of cultural values on well-being. Aconsideration of personality theory follows in the systematic and progressive discourse in thebook. Research is reported on Western, Eastern and Indigenous conceptualizations andresearch approaches. The discussion on the self is considered next and the authors evaluatecultural, social and comparative cross-cultural dimensions.Finally, a discussion of sex and gender follows as associated with salient cross-culturaldimensions. The book concludes with a discussion of the affect of cultural values in organizationalbehavior and a consideration of the relationship between culture and human health.