ABSTRACT
The concluding symposium at the IACCP Jubilee Congress, referred to as “the millennium symposium”, was aimed at a critical evaluation of the current state of affairs in cross-cultural psychology and an assessment of how and where it can make a contribution in the next 25 years. In this chapter the convenors give a brief account of the preparations and a synopsis of the presentations as they were given during the congress. As stated in the program, some of the basic issues addressed in the symposium included which theoretical and metatheoretical perspectives shape current cross-cultural psychology; which ones of these promise to sustain into the first quarter of the next century; whether these perspectives promise to open up cross-cultural psychology towards broader directions of growth and progress -- or conversely to narrow the outlook of researchers; what are the research and methodology implications of the current debates in the field; what research directions can be envisaged for the coming decades; what may be the future balance of pure and applied research emphasis; how is cross-cultural research expected to relate to the other social and behavioral sciences; how will it relate to applications; and how will it inform humane policies and contribute to human well-being, particularly in the face of increasing globalization.
