ABSTRACT
Cross-cultural psychology is the critical and comparative study of cultural effects on human psychology. In contrast to cultural psychology, which seeks to discover meaningful links between a culture and the psychology of individuals living in that culture, cross-cultural psychology examines psychological diversity and the underlying reasons for such diversity. Using a comparative approach, cross-cultural psychology examines the links between cultural norms and behavior and the ways in which particular human activities are influenced by various cultural forces. At least four types of knowledge about psychology can be recognized: scientific, popular (folk), ideological (value-based), and legal. No society is culturally homogeneous, and within the same cultural cluster, there can be significant variations, inconsistencies, and dissimilarities. Cross-cultural psychologists rely on science, social sciences, and the humanities to establish and conceptualize the main culture’s features in terms of cultural dichotomies. Cross-cultural psychologists use several approaches to examine human activities and experiences in various cultural settings. These include the natural science approach, the social sciences approach, the humanities approach, the ecocultural approach, the cultural mixtures approach, and the integrative approach.
