ABSTRACT
Although it is generally agreed that the need and ability to inhabit a culturally organized environment are among the defining characteristics of human beings, it is a curious fact that until recently the role of culture in constituting human nature received relatively little attention in basic textbooks and leading journals, either of general or developmental psychology. This situation seems to be changing at an increasingly rapid pace. Since the early editions of this textbook, specialized handbooks and journals devoted to the topic of culture and psychology, much of it developmentally oriented, have appeared (Bornstein, 2009; Kitayama & Cohen, 2007; Valsiner & Rosa, 2007). Culturally inclusive psychological research has spawned new journals such as Culture and Cognition and Culture and Psychology, in addition to attracting more attention in major journals, some devoted specifically to development (e.g., Human Development) and some not (e.g., Psychological Review and Psychological Bulletin). Coverage of research featuring cultural themes has now become common in a number of introductory developmental psychology texts.
