Indigenous psychology is the study of human behaviour and mind which has not been transported from other cultures or regions and has evolved solely from a singular culture or tribe (Ho, 1998). Often, colonies such as the aborigines, are regarded as inferior, barbaric and primitive (Gandhi, 2018). Many psychologists are Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic men, which doesn’t represent diverse cultures. Consequently, issues within low income societies are rarely addressed by many researchers, and thus a huge gap in the literature emerges (Berry, et al., 2011).

Enriquez (1990) is a prime of example of this; they carried out a study in the Philippines where the researchers would ask locals about their ideas on behaviour. Rural Filipinos became angered by this, showing how certain small-scale societies are devalued, ignored and experience cultural bias. Instead, a method of Pantangong-tangong was found to work best, which uses an ethnography approach where the participant is more in control of the conversation than the researcher as they are the expert (Pe-Pua, 2006).

Indigenous psychology is vital to understand cultures and small-scale societies which have different ideals and beliefs compared to the ‘normal’ scope in psychology. Crevelli, et al., (2016) adopt a naturalistic method, whereby they immersed themselves into Trobriander’s of Papua New Guinea. By doing this, researchers got to understand the small-scale culture, and could adapt any questionnaires or actives to better suit their needs. This challenges linguistic colonial methods which privilege English and western ideals and begins to address the gap in Indigenous psychology literature. Understanding small-scale societies is vital to better inform education and healthcare that can be adapted to suit their culture (Kim & Park, 2006).

 

References:

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Crivelli, C., Russell, J., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 113(44), 12403-12407. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1611622113

Enriquez, V. G. (ed.) (1990). Indigenous psychologies.Quezon City: Psychology Research and Training House.

Gandhi, L. (2018). Postcolonial Theory (2nd ed.). [Place of publication not identified]: Columbia University Press.

Ho, D. Y. F. (1998). Indigenous Psychologies: Asian Perspectives. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29(1), 88–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022198291005

Kim, U., and Park, Y.-S. (2006). The scientific foundations of indigenous and cultural psychology: The Transactional Approach. In U. Kim, K.-S.  Yang and K.-K Hwang (eds.), Indigenous and cultural psychology: Understanding people in context(pp. 27-48). New York: Springer.

Pe-Pua, R. (2006). From decolonising psychology to the development of a cross-indigenous perspective in methodology: The Phillippine experience. In U. Kim, K.-S. Yang and K. -K. Hwang (eds.) Indiginous and cultural psychology: Understanding people in context(pp.109-137). New York: Springer.

 

 

 

 

Multiculturism refers to the presence and support of ethnic groups within a new society (Berry, Poortinga, Breugelmans, Chasiotis & Sam, 2011). Gender refers to the learned beliefs and socially created constructs within different cultures, which teaches people gender ‘norms’ about male and female roles (Berry, et al., 2011). Many Non-western countries still have a patriarchal view on women, with social values and status often causing obstacles to escape patriarchal prejudices (Tichy, Becker & Sisco, 2009), for example the idea of women as being overly emotional and sexual and the insignificant view of the women’s rights in pro-life arguments (Macleod, Sigcau, & Luwaca, 2011). When migrating to western cultures, there can be clashes in the views and rights of women.

In the UK, the Equality Act (2010) protects gender, forcing employers to promote equality-based recruitment and allowing women the right to apply for the same jobs as men. Alwazzan and Rees (2016) found that women in work in Saudi Arabia experienced gender inequalities and gender stereotypes as their culture and government are biased towards women. Similarly, some non-western cultural norms promote child marriage, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), all of which decreases the value of women, and reinforces their role as being inferior as well as objectifies them.

Issues exist when non-western individuals migrate to western cultures, and vice versa, as they not be culturally aware of the change in cultural norms and views on the role of women. As a result, the UK is still fighting FGM and arranged marriages, as they want to prevent female rights. A consequence of this is appearing unwelcoming and infringe on intercultural relations.

References:

Alwazzan, L., & Rees, C. E. (2016). Women in medical education: Views and experiences from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Medical Education, 50(8), 852–865. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12988

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Equality Act (2010), c. 15. London: The Stationery Office.

Fiske, S. T. (2017). Prejudices in Cultural Contexts: Shared Stereotypes (Gender, Age) Versus Variable Stereotypes (Race, Ethnicity, Religion). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 791–799. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617708204

Macleod, C., Sigcau, N., & Luwaca, P. (2011). Culture as a discursive resource opposing legal abortion. Critical Public Health, 21(2), 237–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2010.492211

Tichy, L. L., Becker, J. V., & Sisco, M. M. (2009). The downside of patriarchal benevolence: Ambivalence in addressing domestic violence and socio-economic considerations for women of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Family Violence, 24(8), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9253-4

 

Mental health (MH) is a positive state of well-being, where an individual is productive and can effectively cope with life’s stressors (WHO, 2004). MH is challenging to asses as it’s hard to objectively substantiate (Angel & Williams, 2000), but by understanding a person’s culture (Rosenberg & Kosslyn, 2014) clinicians can make more informed diagnoses.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) is a classification system for MH. Previous editions failed to take other cultures into account; resulting in extreme universalism (Schweder, 2015). For example, white British teenagers with Anorexia often say they’re afraid of becoming fat and show preoccupation with their weight; which are in diagnosis criteria. Asian/British teenagers do not report this, but do report a loss of appetite, which was not within diagnosis criteria (Tareen et al., 2005). Consequently, Asian teenagers avoid diagnosis, with serious health implications and even death.  However, the DSM has taken steps towards moderate universalism by modifying some culturally determined criteria, for example; criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder now incorporates ‘the fear of offending others’, which reflects the Japanese cultures importance of avoiding harm to others over avoiding harm to self (Hofmann & Hinton 2014).

Subsequently, MH diagnosis is moving in the right direction through the DSM integrating culture into their diagnosis (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Hofman et al., 2014). However, cultural difference still underlie reporting rates cross-culturally; as MH assessments are done face-to-face. Some cultures feel more comfortable explaining MH whereas other cultures may minimize the severity of their symptoms due to cultural norms (WHO, 2004). Further research needs to look into alternative ways of reporting MH issues.

 

References:

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders(5th ed.). Washington, DC

Angel, R. J., and Williams, K. (2000). Cultural models of health and illness. In L. Cuellar and F. R. Paniagua (eds.), Handbook of multicultural mental health (pp. 25-44). San Diego: Academic Press.

Hofmann, S. G., & Hinton, D. E. (2014). Cross-cultural aspects of anxiety disorders. Current psychiatry reports, 16(6), 450.

Rosenberg, R. and Kosslyn, S. (2014). Abnormal psychology. 2nd ed. New York: Worth Publishers, pp.207-209.

Shweder, R. A. (2015). Chapter 5: Relativism and Universalism. In F. D., A Compantion to Moral Anthropology (pp. 85-102). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Tareen, A., Hodes, M., & Rangel, L. (2005). Non-fat phobic anorexia nervosa in British South Asian adolescents. International Journal of eating Disorders, 37, 161-165

World Health Organization. Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice (Summary Report) Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004.

 

 

 

Globalisation allows for global connectedness between all parts of the world, stemming from technology and economies (Smith & Cheung 2015). This results in mass movements of individuals, creating multicultural societies (Berry, Poortinga, Breugelmans, Chasiotis & Sam, 2011). 71,676 people were granted permeant residency in the UK in year ending March 2018 (rise of 23%) (Home Office, 2018); this, coupled with the highly controversial topic of Brexit, has given rise to xenophobia, and many negative societal ideologies have been accelerated.

Snider, Reyson & Katzarska-Miller (2013) found that framing globalisation negatively can negatively decrease global-citizenship sympathy, expanding negative societal ideologies, such as; “immigrants steal our jobs” and “ethnic groups should keep their culture to themselves”. These connote segregation, negativity and avoidance (Gibson, Crossland & Hamilton, 2018), which can lead to ethnic minorities struggling with depression (Bhui, et al., 2005). Although equality laws ensure employers hire ethnically diverse individuals, tolerance around cultural differences can often be lacking. As Arrow (1998) explains in statistical discrimination theory; employers can hire individuals based on their average racial/cultural productivity characteristics. For example, a Muslim who takes part in Ramadan could be seen as less productive during this period due to lethargy, mood and sleep deprivation (Arrow 1998; Laer & Janssens 2011) and is therefore not hired.

Multiculturism should be promoted as it has been found to lead to increased creativity and problem solving within the workplace (Korzilius, Bücker, & Beerlage 2017), which is invaluable for employers.Cattaneo, Fiorio and Peri (2015) found no evidence of increased unemployment through the rise of globalisation; therefore, employers and employees should be educated on different cultures to avoid stigmas being believed.

 

References:

Arrow, K.J. (1998), “What has Economics to say about Racial Discrimination?”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12, 2, 91–100.

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bhui, K., Stansfeld, S., McKenzie, K., Karlsen, S., Nazroo, J., & Weich, S. (2005). Racial/ethnic dis- crimination and common mental disorders among workers: Findings from the EMPIRIC study of ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 496–501. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2003.033274

Cattaneo, C., Fiorio, C., & Peri, G. (2015). What Happens to the Careers of European Workers When Immigrants “Take Their Jobs”?. Journal Of Human Resources, 50(3), 655-693. doi: 10.3368/jhr.50.3.655

Gibson, S., Crossland, M., & Hamilton, J. (2018). Social citizenship and immigration: Employment, welfare, and effortfulness in online discourse concerning migration to the United Kingdom. Qualitative Psychology, 5(1), 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000078

Korzilius, H., Bücker, J. J. L. E., & Beerlage, S. (2017). Multiculturalism and innovative work behavior: The mediating role of cultural intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 56, 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2016.11.001

Laer, K. V., & Janssens, M. (2011). Ethnic minority professionals’ experiences with subtle discrimination in the workplace. Human Relations, 64(9), 1203–1227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711409263

Smith, D. S., & Cheung, M. (2015). Research note—Globalization and social work: Influencing practice through continuing education. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(3), 583–594.

Snider, J. S., Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2013). How we frame the message of globalization matters.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(8), 1599–1607.

Summary of latest statistics. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2018/summary-of-latest-statistics retrieved on 19.02.19

Ekman (1969;1984;1992) theorised that there were six basic, universal emotions; anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise; which has been supported by recent research (Vytal & Hamann, 2010; Scarantino & Griffiths, 2011). Ekman (1969) also established that culture can modify the way individuals interpret these emotions; known as display rules (DR). DR help individuals govern what emotions their culture deems acceptable or taboo (Ekman & Friesen 1975); implying they’re still understood, just downplayed.

Further to DR, culture shapes individual’s language of emotion. Russel (1991) found no word for disgust in polish or sadness in Tahitian. These emotions are meant to be universal, so why are there no words for them in these countries’ cultures? Furthermore, in Tibet, there isn’t a word for emotion itself (Russel, 1991), which welcomes methodological errors when trying to explain the studies, such as; item bias (Van de Vijer & Leung, 1997). However, it’s important to remember that just because an emotion has no word within a culture, it doesn’t mean it isn’t experienced; Kundera (1980) explains that ‘Litost’ (Czech for suffering from one’s own guilts and griefs) has no translation into any other language, but it is definitely felt by many.

Implications from cultural research on the universality of emotions shows additional research is required to fully understand its extent. Basic emotions are perhaps not as universal as originally thought; as Crivelli, (2016) found that agreement with Ekman’s predicted emotion labelling was around 0-16%. Subsequently, global companies and educators need to understand that culture affects peoples understanding of emotions; both interpreting them, their meaning, and conveying them. Consequently, reforms should be made to international and intercultural communication training (Matsumoto, 2007).

 

References:

Crivelli, C., Russell, J., Jarillo, S., & Fernández-Dols, J. (2016). The fear gasping face as a threat display in a Melanesian society. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 113(44), 12403-12407. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1611622113

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica,1, 49–98.

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1975). Unmasking the face: A guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. Oxford, England: Prentice-Hall.

Ekman, P. (1984). Expression and the nature of emotions. In K. Scherer & P. Ekman (eds). Approaches to Emotion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum pp.319-344

Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169-200.

Kundera, M. (1980). Th ebook of laughter and forgetting (M. H. Heim, Trans.) New York: Knopf.

Matsumoto, D. (2007). Emotion judgements do not differ as a function of perceived nationality. International Journal of Psychology, 42(3), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590601050926

Russell, J. A. (1991). Culture and the categorization of emotions. Psychological Bulletin, 110(3), 426-450. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.3.426

Scarantino, A., & Griffiths, P. (2011). Don’t give up on basic emotions. Emotion Review, 3(4), 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073911410745

Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (1997). Cross-cultural psychology series, Vol. 1. Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc.

Vytal, K., & Hamann, S. (2010). Neuroimaging support for discrete neural correlates of basic emotions: A voxel-based meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(12), 2864–2885. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21366

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parenting styles (PS) are extensively researched (Lei, et al., 2018; Sangaw, Adams, Reissland, 2018), as parents are experts on their own children (Glascoe, 1998). Culture impacts PS as an individual’s exposure to culture affects their norms and values; which act as a ‘rulebook’ for parenting (Keshavarz, Somayeh & Baharudin 2009; Bornstein, 2012). Thus, identifying family models such as independence and interdependence is imperative to better understand and predict differences in PS and cater to different children’s needs.

Independence family model is commonly found within Western cultures (e.g America, UK) (Bornstein, 2012), whereas interdependence family model is representative of Non-Western cultures (Africa, Asia) (Berry, et al., 2011). Children learn what’s desired of them from their parents. Research demonstrates that American parents attempt to instil autonomy, assertiveness, verbal proficiency and independence in their children (Suizzo, Robinson & Pahlke 2008; Bornstein, 2012), whereas Japanese parents try to instil interdependence, emotional maturity, responsibility to the family and intergenerational respect (Bird 2010; Bornstein 2012). Differences in self-criticism and self-enhancement are found between Japanese and US students in regard to the effects of positive and negative incidents affecting their self-esteem (Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto & Norasakkunkit, 1997); with US students reporting increased self-esteem from positive life events, and Japanese students reporting decreased.

This shows the effect that autonomy and independence have on individual’s self-judgement; and highlights issues surrounding migration and possible mental health problems. More research is required to ensure these are not oversimplified ideas (Medin, Unsworth & Hirschfeld, 2007) that are overly generalised (Berry, et al., 2011), so that educators can bridge cultural differences to ensure all children are free to govern their selves and the direction of their lives (Berry, et al., 2011).

 

References:

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bird, K. (2010). The Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty: An Overview. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.1629262

Bornstein M. H. (2012). Cultural Approaches to Parenting. Parenting, science and practice, 12(2-3), 212-221.

Glascoe, F. P. (1998). Collaborating with parents: Using Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status to detect and address developmental and behavioral problems. Nashville, TN, US: Ellsworth & Vandermeer Press.

Keshavarz, Somayeh, Baharudin, &  Rozumah (2009) Parenting style in a collectivist cultures of Malaysia. European Journal of Social Sciences, 10 (1). pp. 66-73. ISSN 1450-2267

Kitayama, S., Markus, H., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 72(6), 1245-1267. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.72.6.1245

Lei, H., Chiu, M. M., Cui, Y., Zhou, W., & Li, S. (2018). Parenting style and aggression: a meta-analysis of mainland Chinese children and youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 94, 446–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.033

Medin, D. L., Unsworth, S. J., and Hirschfeld, L. (2007). Culture, categorization and reasoning. In S. Kitayama and D. Cohen (eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 615 – 644). New York: Guildford Press.

Sangawi, H., Adams, J., & Reissland, N. (2018). The impact of parenting styles on children developmental outcome: The role of academic self‐concept as a mediator. International Journal of Psychology, 53(5), 379–387. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12380

Suizzo, M.-A., Robinson, C., & Pahlke, E. (2008). African American mothers’ socialization beliefs and goals with young children: Themes of history, education, and collective independence. Journal of Family Issues, 29(3), 287–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X07308368

 

 

 

 

Acculturation refers to individuals from one culture coming to long-term first-hand contact with other cultures, resulting in long term changes on both ‘host’ and ‘home’ cultures (Berry, 2011). Due to the current “refugee crisis,” 116,232 involuntary forced migrants sought asylum into Europe from Africa and Asia in 2018 (so far), 21.3% of which were children (UNHC, 2018). Children are an at-risk group as not only have they experienced trauma and stress, their education is interrupted (McBrien, 2005).

Not only do child refugees witness grief, violence, torture, and parental loss (Munz & Melcop 2018), they have to learn to adjust to their new academic environment. This is challenging as they experience discrimination, alienation and lack of adult support (Davies 2008; Portes & Rumbaut 2001; Sarr & Mosselson 2010). Furthermore, few school programmes support the complex needs of these children (Boyson & Short, 2012), so they must attempt to learn English, take novel subjects and be assessed against standardised English testing (Bartlett, Mendenhall, & Ghaffar-Kucher, 2017).

Policy makers and schools should take acculturation issues into account when planning curriculums, support and teacher training. More refugees are entering Europe and more needs to be done to ensure they can integrate into the host society without sacrificing their home culture (Berry, 2008). By promoting biculturalism, language learning, cultural awareness and bridging differing social agendas are additionally supported (Birman & Addae, 2015). It is important to improve the education system to fit refugees as it is often the first and main contact they have with the ‘host’ society (Sarr et al., 2010), acting as a primary acculturating organisation to promote integration and allow refugees to be accepted and succeed.

 

References:

Bartlett, L., Mendenhall, M., & Ghaffar-Kucher, A. (2017). Culture in acculturation: Refugee youth’s schooling experiences in international schools in New York City. International Journal Of Intercultural Relations, 60, 109-119. doi: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.04.005

Berry, J. W. (2008). Integration: A psychological and cultural perspective The meaning of integration. Tallinn: Estonian Integration Foundation.

Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Breugelmans, S. M., Chasiotis, A., & Sam, D. (2011). Cross-cultural psychology: Theory and applications (3rd Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Birman, D., & Addae, D. (2015). Acculturation. In C. Suarez-Orozco, M. Abo-Zena, & A. Marks (Eds.), Transitions: The development of children of immigrants (pp. 122–141). New York: New York University Press.

Boyson, B., & Short, D. (2012). Helping newcomer students succeed in secondary schools and beyond. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Davies, A. (2008). Characteristics of adolescent Sierra Leonean refugees in public schools in New York City. Education and Urban Society, 40(3), 361–376.

McBrien, J. L. (2005). Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 329–364.

Munz, D., & Melcop, N. (2018). The psychotherapeutic care of refugees in Europe: Treatment needs, delivery reality and recommendations for action. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2018.1476436

Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001a). The forging of a new America: Lessons for theory and policy. In R. G. Rumbaut, & A. Portes (Eds.), Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in america (pp. 301–317). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Sarr, C. U., & Mosselson, J. (2010). Issues in teaching refugees in US schools. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 109(2), 548–570.

UNHC, (2018, December 11) Mediterranean SituationRetrieved from http://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean