Indigenous and Cultural Psychology: Understanding People in Context [Paperback]

 Indigenous psychology is an emerging new field in psychology, focusing on psychological universals in social, cultural, and ecological contexts

- Starting point for psychologists who wish to understand various cultures from their own ecological, historial, philosophical, and religious perspectives

It was once assumed that the bedrock concepts of psychology held true for all the worlds peoples. More recently, post-modern approaches to research have expanded on these Western models, building a psychology that takes into account the sociopolitical, historical, religious, ecological, and other indigenous factors that make every culture, as well as every person as agents of their own actions.

Indigenous and Cultural Psychology surveys psychological and behavioral phenomena in native context in various developing and developed countries, with particular focus on Asia. An international team of 28 experts clarifies culture-specific concepts (such as paternalism and the Japanese concept of amae), models integrative methods of study, and dispels typical misconceptions about the field and its goals. The results reflect culturally sound frames of reference while remaining rigorous, systematic, and verifiable. These approaches provide a basis for the discovery of true psychological universals.

Among the topics featured:

- Scientific and philosophical bases of indigenous psychology

- Comparisons of indigenous, cultural, and cross-cultural psychologies

- Socialization, parent-child relationship, and family

- The private and public self: concepts from East Asia, Europe, and the Americas

- Interpersonal relationships: concepts from East Asia, Europe,, and the U.S.

- Factors promoting educational achievement and organizational effectiveness in Asia

- The growth and inlc)