Psychologists with a sociocultural perspective study cross-cultural differences in the causes and consequences of behavior. The sociocultural perspective is an important response to the criticism that previous psychological research has often been based on Western concepts of human nature, and that its subjects are mostly white middle-class Americans (Gergen et al., 1996). In order to properly account for cultural influences, comparisons of different populations within the same country should be included. For example, a researcher might compare Caucasian and African-American youth with eating disorders in the United States (see Chapter 11). Cultural factors can also be assessed across countries, such as comparing media coverage between the United States and Japan (see Chapter 16). Cross-cultural psychologists try to determine whether a theory developed by a researcher is applicable to everyone or only to a small, specific group of people. Cross-cultural perspectives can be applied to almost every topic of psychological research: Are people's perceptions of the world culturally shaped? Does the language people speak influence the way they experience the world? How does culture affect the way children develop into adults? How do cultural attitudes shape later life experience? How does culture affect how we feel about ourselves? Does culture influence an individual's likelihood of engaging in a particular behavior? Does culture influence the way individuals express their emotions? Does Culture Affect People's Rates of Some Mental Illnesses?

By asking these types of questions, sociocultural perspectives often yield conclusions that directly challenge other perspectives. For example, researchers have argued that many aspects of Freud's psychodynamic theory cannot be applied to other cultures that were very different from Freud's Vienna. This concern was raised as early as 1927 by the anthropologist Malinowski (1927) who, by describing the actual family situation of the Trobrian Islanders in New Guinea, where authority rests on the mother rather than the father, thoroughly Criticized Freud's patriarchal theory. Therefore, the sociocultural view holds that some of the general claims of the psychodynamic view are incorrect. Sociocultural perspectives present persistent and important challenges to theories that ignore cultural diversity and richness.

Psychologists with a sociocultural perspective study cross-cultural differences in the causes and consequences of behavior. The sociocultural perspective is an important response to the criticism that previous psychological research has often been based on Western concepts of human nature, and that its subjects are mostly white middle-class Americans (Gergen et al., 1996). In order to properly account for cultural influences, comparisons of different populations within the same country should be included. For example, a researcher might compare Caucasian and African-American youth with eating disorders in the United States (see Chapter 11). Cultural factors can also be assessed across countries, such as comparing media coverage between the United States and Japan (see Chapter 16). Cross-cultural psychologists try to determine whether a theory developed by a researcher is applicable to everyone or only to a small, specific group of people. Cross-cultural perspectives can be applied to almost every topic of psychological research: Are people's perceptions of the world culturally shaped? Does the language people speak influence the way they experience the world? How does culture affect the way children develop into adults? How do cultural attitudes shape later life experience? How does culture affect how we feel about ourselves? Does culture influence an individual's likelihood of engaging in a particular behavior? Does culture influence the way individuals express their emotions? Does Culture Affect People's Rates of Some Mental Illnesses?

By asking these types of questions, sociocultural perspectives often yield conclusions that directly challenge other perspectives. For example, researchers have argued that many aspects of Freud's psychodynamic theory cannot be applied to other cultures that were very different from Freud's Vienna. This concern was raised as early as 1927 by the anthropologist Malinowski (1927) who, by describing the actual family situation of the Trobrian Islanders in New Guinea, where authority rests on the mother rather than the father, thoroughly Criticized Freud's patriarchal theory. Therefore, the sociocultural view holds that some of the general claims of the psychodynamic view are incorrect. Sociocultural perspectives present persistent and important challenges to theories that ignore cultural diversity and richness.