ABSTRACT
In the 1930s and 1940s, a major research focus of psychological anthropologists was the study of culture and personality. These studies were strongly influenced by Freudian research and often involved the use of psychoanalytic assessment tools to identify the basic personality type characterizing members of a specific culture. The culture and personality research of the 1930s and 1940s assumed that cultural practices shape personality. A major area of research in personality psychology has focused on identifying underlying dimensions of personality. Geert Hofstede & Robert McCrae, however, view personality traits as largely inherited. Thus, they reason that different personality traits would give rise to different cultural practices. Studies by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen indicated that several emotions tend to be universal in that they can be recognized across cultures. Collectivist cultures have been associated with a self-system that is inseparable from the social context.
