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8 - About chicken and eggs: four methods for investigating culture–behaviour links

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Ronald Fischer
Edited by
Fons J. R. van de Vijver ,
Athanasios Chasiotis  and
Seger M. Breugelmans
Ronald Fischer
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Fons J. R. van de Vijver
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Athanasios Chasiotis
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Seger M. Breugelmans
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
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Summary

Understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying observed differences in attitudes and behaviours between groups of people in different parts of the world has arguably been one of the major driving forces for the development of cross-cultural psychology (see Lonner, this volume). Variables thought to be associated with culture are used as an independent variable to describe and explain observable differences between people raised in different contexts. Cross-cultural studies of comparative nature are by necessity quasi-experimental, since individuals cannot be randomly assigned to different treatment conditions. Despite this limitation, the quest to understand (and maybe even predict) any emergent differences and similarities is necessary for a truly human psychology. In this chapter, I outline four different approaches that may contribute to this endeavour. These are: (1) culture-level studies, (2) studies unpackaging culture–behaviour links at the individual level, (3) cross-level studies and (4) experimental priming studies. However, I also critically examine the potential of these approaches to answer the question that is being asked, namely uncovering the nature of the link between culture and behaviour. To address this link, I also briefly need to discuss another central theme of the current volume, namely what we understand by culture. A consideration of definitions of culture in light of the four approaches to understanding the culture–behaviour/attitude link will lead to the identification of some inconsistencies and paradoxes. I start off by providing a very brief review of definitions of culture and then discuss two methodological issues (equivalence, isomorphism) that have some relevance for the following discussion.

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Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology , pp. 190 - 213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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